Noam Ben-Zeev (Hebrew: נעם בן-זאב, born 1954) is an Israeli music critic & journalist, educator and lecturer, active in the music scene in Israel since the beginning of the 1990s.
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Ben-Zeev has been the music critic and music journalist of Haaretz Daily Newspaper since 1992, and a member of the editorial staff since 1996. During that time he has published more than 3500 articles, reviews, columns, editorials, news items and interviews. In his journalistic writing, he concentrates on 20th Century and contemporary music, the sociological aspects of music, music education, and Israeli & Jewish music. He has traveled and reported from London, Berlin, Palermo, New York, Beijing, Istanbul, Seoul, Paris, Rome and Seville - among other places. In his Haaretz writings, he has been giving special voice to the Palestinian musical scene as well, within Israel and in the Palestinian Occupied Territories. He reported from Gaza, Jenin, Nablus, Bethlehem and Ramallah, writing about music education in Palestine, reviewing concerts and interviewing musicians.
Since 1990 he has been teaching music history and music education in various schools, among them Alon High School for the Arts and Sciences (1990–2006), Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts (1992–1995) the University of Haifa (since 2002),[1] and Levinsky College of Music (since 2009).
In addition to his Haaretz publications he has written two books: a concise textbook on the history of music called Five Glances at Music (1998, Sal Tarbut Artzi); and An Israeli Tune (Hebrew "Mangina Yisraelit", 2009, Hakibbutz Hamehuchad publishing house), on music, politics and society in Israel and Palestine.
He cooperated with director Reuven Hecker as a musical advisor on two documentary films about music: Luciano Berio (2000; 59 min., video), a portrait of the late contemporary Italian composer Luciano Berio (1925–2003), shot throughout Italy and at the Salzburg Festival; and Go in Peace, Rain (2007; Hebrew: Lekh Leshalom Geshem; 90 min., video), a film which follows an ancient Jewish liturgical melody and thus reflects a diminishing musical culture of Sephardic Synagogue music. This film was shot throughout Spain, France, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania, England, the Netherlands, and Italy.
Selected articles
Films: music advisor