Israeli composer Oded Zehavi was born in Jerusalem in 1961. He is well versed in a wide variety of musical styles (pop/rock arrangements, soundtracks, electronic, chamber and orchestral music) and is renowned for his vocal scores and textual affinity for classics of Hebrew literature. His music has been premiered by a number of prominent musicians such as Zubin Mehta, Valery Gergiev, Marek Janowsky, Antonio Pappano, Ilan Volkov, Yoel Levi, Christian Lindberg, David Robertson and Nimrod David Pfeffer. His first concerto for piccolo and orchestra will be premiered by the Cleveland Orchestra in Severance Hall in 2024: a commission by its principal piccolo Mary Kay Fink under the baton of Fabio Luisi.
He is the recipient of numerous prizes and residencies, including the Schusterman Visiting Artist Residency (Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Institute of Music, Ohio, USA) and Prime Minister's Prize for Composition (Israel). Other awards include a research fellowship at the Frankel Institute for Jewish Studies at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Barlow Foundation Award (USA), Annenburg Trust (USA), National Endowment for the Arts (USA), Prime Minister's Prize (1995), Landau Prize for Stage Arts and the City of Tel Aviv-Jaffa's Engel Prize.
Zehavi began piano studies at an early age, and during his teen years worked as an arranger and programmer for the Israel Broadcasting Authority. His experience residing in the Middle East has profoundly affected his world view and musical direction.
He was awarded the Bachelor's degree in music from the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music and Dance under composers Andre Hajdu and Mark Kopytman. In 1986 he moved to the United States to begin graduate studies with George Crumb at the University of Pennsylvania.
During this period he wrote 'L.H.M: Israeli War Requiem' (after Britten) for children's choir, women's choir, vocal soloists and symphony orchestra, which was critically and popularly acclaimed upon its debut in Tel Aviv under conductor Noam Sheriff and the Rishon Lezion Symphony Orchestra. He completed doctoral studies with Sheila Silver at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, earning a PhD in 1992.
He subsequently returned to Israel and served as a senior lecturer at a number of academic institutions before accepting the position of Professor of Music at Haifa University, where he founded the Department of Music. He resides in Tel Aviv with his wife and two children.
photo by daniel tchetchik
©2022-23
ODED ZEHAVI
COMPOSER