Avner Dorman

Avner Dorman (Hebrew: אבנר דורמן) (born April 14, 1975 in Tel Aviv, Israel) is an Israeli-born composer of contemporary classical music.

Biography

Avner Dorman holds a Doctorate in Music Composition from the Juilliard School [1] where he studied as a C.V. Starr fellow with John Corigliano.[2] He completed his Master’s degree at Tel Aviv University (where he majored in music, musicology, and physics) studying with former Soviet composer Josef Bardanashvili.[3]

At age 25, Avner Dorman became the youngest composer to ever win Israel's prestigious Prime-Minister's award. Since, he has been awarded the "ACUM" prize from the Israeli performing rights society for his Ellef Symphony.[4]Ma’ariv, the second largest newspaper in Israel, named Dorman “Composer of the Year” for 2002,[5] and the performance of his song cycle Boaz received the Israeli Cultural Ministry Prize for best performance of Israeli music the same year. Dorman’s Variations Without a Theme, premiered by Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in November 2003, won the 2004 Best Composition of the Year award from ACUM. This piece led to a commission from Zubin Mehta, PercaDu, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for Spices, Perfumes, Toxins!, a concerto for percussion duo and orchestra that became one of the most performed compositions of the decade.[6] Avner Dorman's music is published by G. Schirmer

Prominent orchestras that have performed Avner Dorman's music include the New York Philharmonic Orchestra[7] the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra,[8] San Francisco Symphony, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.

In 2006 Naxos Records released an album dedicated to Avner Dorman's piano works with Eliran Avni at the piano to critical acclaim. Ken Smith of the Gramophone Magazine wrote that “Dorman is not just a fresh, young voice, worth following. He’s also a composer whose music, particularly as rendered here by pianist Eliran Avni (for whom several of these works were written), fits well on the instrument and resonates strongly with the musical tradition at large.”[9] In 2010 Naxos Records release an album dedicated to Avner Dorman's chamber orchestra concerti. Avi Avital's performance of Dorman's Mandolin Concerto on this recording was nominated for a 2010 Grammy Award in the category of Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra.

Dorman is an Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation (IcExcellence) chosen artist since 2008, which is one of Israel's highest recognition for excellence in the arts.

He is currently a professor of theory and composition at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College. On May 29, 2013 it was announced that Dorman was appointed to be the next music director of CityMusic Cleveland chamber orchestra.

Compositions

Works for Symphonic Orchestra

Concertos for Chamber Orchestra

Music for Film and Dance

Chamber Music

Piano Solo

Concertos for Percussion

Concerto for Cello and Orchestra

Vocal

External links

References

  1. ↑ The Juilliard Journal, Feb 2012, Margaret Shakespeare, "Keeping It All in the Family"
  2. ↑ Los Angeles Times, July 26, 2009, Ng, "Composer Avner Dorman spices things up"
  3. ↑ Jerusalem Post, Feb 23, 2001, Zehavi, "Rock-music 'Brat' moves on
  4. ↑ Jerusalem Post, Feb 23, 2001, Zehavi, "Rock-music 'Brat' moves on
  5. ↑ Ma'ariv, Sep. 6, 2002, Ora Binur, "Composer of the Year"
  6. ↑ Lebrecht, Norman. "Last composer standing – guess who’s top now". Arts Journal. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  7. ↑ New York Times, March 19, 2009, Schweitzer, "Concerto for Percussion, With a Global Outlook"
  8. ↑ Los Angeles Times, July 26, 2009, Ng, "Composer Avner Dorman spices things up"
  9. ↑ Smith, Ken (September 2006). "Reviews". Grammophone.
  10. ↑ Conley, Paul (7 March 2012). "A Struggling City Finds Inspiration in Classical Music". NPR. Retrieved 14 December 2012.