Gilad Cohen, Composer

I'm so excited to announce that my piece "A Dark Matter" for flute, oboe, clarinet and piano has won the 2023 Left Coast Chamber Ensemble Composition Contest! See comments for a beautiful performance of the piece by Exponential Ensemble* (Pascal Archer, Anna Urrey, Kemp Jernigan, and Amir Farid).
The piece was commissioned for Exponential Ensemble by Chamber Music America with additional support from Composers' Guild of New Jersey.

We are delighted to announce the winner of Left Coast Chamber Ensemble's 2023 Composition Contest: Gilad Cohen for "A Dark Matter" 🎹

Left Coast is looking forward to performing "A Dark Matter" in the 2024-25 season. 🎶

Honorable Mention: Paul Novak for "entwining" 🎻

Learn more about these incredible composers and listen to their music at https://www.leftcoastensemble.org/contest-winners

What a beautiful performance of my piece ”A Dark Matter” (alto flute, oboe, clarinet and piano) from the last Mostly Modern Festival, played by Exponential Ensemble (Anna Urrey, Pascal Archer, Stuart Breczinski and Amir Farid).

The piece was commissioned for Exponential Ensemble by Chamber Music America.

A Dark Matter - Gilad Cohen | Mostly Modern Festival A Dark MatterMusic by Gilad CohenMOVEMENTS:0:00 - I. Pensive4:47 - II. With a heavy heart9:56 - III. Dark and heavy14:49 - IV. A beam of lightExponential Ens...

Having such a lovely time with the Israeli Chamber Project הפרויקט הקאמרי הישראלי talking about and making music at the American Harp Society, Inc. National Conference.

תלמידי האקדמיה למוסיקה בירושלים מוזמנים למפגש זום איתי מחר (שלישי) בנושא השראה ורעיונות ראשוניים, פיתוח ועיבוד החומר המוסיקלי ובניית קריירה כמלחינים. בין השאר נסתכל על חלקים משתי יצירות שלי, ראו לינקים בתגובות.

המחלקה ליצירה רב תחומית מארחת את ד"ר גלעד כהן, מלחין ותיאורטיקן רב תחומי, בוגר האקדמיה שלנו, כיום מרצה ב- Ramapo College, New Jersey.
מחר, יום שלישי, 7.6.22, שעה 16:00-17:30
בנושא: "איך מתחילים ואיך מתקדמים".
לקבלת הלינק לזום ניתן לשלוח מייל למרצה רוני רשף,
[email protected]
לפרטים: https://www.jamd.ac.il/node/7429

Gilad Cohen Amit Weiner Ronnie Reshef

This summer I'll be talking about scoring for harp and present my compositions at American Harp Society's National Conference in Sioux Falls, SD, June 22-25. Please join us! See my works for harp in the comments, and learn more about the conference at https://loom.ly/_hm5G3c

Proud to announce that I am a New Music USA Creator Development Fund awardee! I’ll use this support to collaborate with Ronvé O'Daniel on creating a piece for a rapper and an orchestra over the next year. Congrats to all of the awardees, see the full list here: newmusicusa.org/newsroom/2022-creator-development-fund-awardees

נרגש לקראת הבכורה הישראלית של שלישיית הפסנתר שלי ״סביב הקדירה״ במסגרת סבב קונצרטים של הפרוייקט הקאמרי הישראלי! היצירה הוזמנה במקור עבור Lysander Piano Trio על ידי Concert Artists Guild with support from the Adele and John Gray Endowment Fund.

״תמונות מהקרנבל״ ברעננה, כרמיאל, אילון ותל אביב 30.3-2.4

תמונות מתוך ״פטרושקה״ של סטרוינסקי, בגרסה שהזמין ההרכב ב-2017 מנגן החצוצרה והמעבד Yuval Shapiro. ההקלטה של ביצוע הבכורה הכתה גלים והעיבוד קיבל חיים משלו- בשנה שעברה הוא יצא לאור באופן רשמי ב״Boosey and Hawkes ומבוצע מאז ברחבי העולם.

השלישיה של היידן לחליל, צ׳לו ונבל היא יצירה אצילית אך וירטואוזית, והשתלבות הכלים כה טבעית שנותר לתמוה מדוע לא נכתבו יותר יצירות להרכב זה.

קטעי פנטזיה אופ. 73 של רוברט שומאן היא ללא ספק אחת היצירות האהובות והמנוגנות בספרות הקאמרית, והיא מסמלת את הסגנון האינטימי ופשטות ההבעה של המלחין בשיא תקופת פריחתו. הביצוע הפעם יואר בגוונים יוצאי דופן, בגרסה לקלרנית ונבל.

״עת לילה״ לכינור ונבל של המלחין האמריקאי סבסטיאן קורייר היא יצירה סוחפת, הפורסת בפני המאזין את השלבים השונים של הלילה- דמדומים, חסר שינה, תפילת ערבית, רוח לילה, ואור הכוכבים.

בכורה ישראלית תושמע ליצירתו של המלחין הישראלי הרב גוני Gilad Cohen Music ״מסביב לקדירה״, ששמה מרמז על מקור הההשראה לכתיבתה- תמונתן המצמררת אך גרוטסקית של שלוש המכשפות במחזה ״מקבת״ של שייקספיר.

מחכים לכם ב- הסלון, קשת אילון Keshet Eilon, Israel Conservatory Tel Aviv ו- Karmiel Music Conservatory - קונסרבטוריון למוסיקה כרמיאל

Sivan Magen Guy Eshed Assaff Weisman Michal Korman Tibi Cziger

A potpourri of styles Composer Gilad Cohen grew up in Israel listening to Pink Floyd. He also played classical piano, and when he moved to the United States, he heard klezmer music in synagogue for the first time. On today's show, hear members of Musici Ireland play a piece that combines each of those styles: "A Trio for...

Thrilled about the South Korea premiere of my piece Doaa and Masa for harp solo, played by the spectacular Sivan Magen!

싸니까 믿으니까 인터파크 티켓

A lovely review of Lysander Piano Trio’s album Mirrors, which features my piece Around the Cauldron (commissioned for them by Concert Artists Guild with support from the Adele and John Gray Endowment Fund).

Our 2nd album, Mirrors, is back in the news! Thank you Fanfare Magazinezine for this wonderful review!

"The Lysander Piano Trio, consisting of violinist Itamar Zorman, cellist Michael Katz, and pianist Liza Stepanova, celebrates 10 years together with this release. This is an excellent collection of accessible contemporary chamber music, expressed in a very diverse variety of voices, and celebrates the ensemble’s commitment to the music of living composers. These are all premiere recordings, and four of the works were written for the trio. The recital opens with the liveliest work on the CD, Gilad Cohen’s Around the Cauldron, replete with sprightly tempos that evoke gypsy dances, and exuding a folksy sense of jauntiness overall (the title was inspired by the trio of witches in Macbeth). This follows from Cohen’s unabashed interest in pop music sources; he even wrote his doctoral thesis at Princeton on the music of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd.

Reinaldo Moya also looks to literature as a source for musical composition. Each of the variations are portraits of characters from novels, namely Adrian Leverkühn from Thomas Mann’s Doctor Faustus, Robert Frobisher in David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, Peter Els in Richard Power’s Orfeo, and finally, Johannes Wright and The Orchestra from Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Memory of Whiteness. I cannot speak to the veracity of Moya’s literary insight, but I can report that the music is beautiful, deceptively simple, yet enriched with subtle harmonic language and carefully constructed timbral blending, which are superbly rendered by these musicians.

Love Sweet is a setting of five poems by American poet Amy Lowell (1874–1925) by Jennifer Higdon. This is a wonderful addition to the contemporary art song repertoire, and I cannot imagine that it will not find a wider audience past this debut recording. One of the compelling characteristics of Higdon’s music, going back to her 1999 breakthrough piece blue cathedral, is her ability to find a long dramatic arch within the architecture of her work. In Love Sweet the arch connects the songs, which build to a dramatic peak in “A Gift,” followed by an emotional denouement in the final song, “A Fixed Idea.” It is not an effect that registers until one hears the entire five-song cycle, and it is strengthened in effect with repeated hearings. It is always exciting for me to encounter new recordings by Sarah Shafer, whose career I have been following since her student days at Curtis. With her combination of theatrical intuitiveness, musical intelligence and, not least, sumptuous vocal tonality, I have little doubt that she will be one of the outstanding sopranos of her generation.

Sofia Belimova’s brief Titania and Her Suite was commissioned by the Lysander Piano Trio among three other young talents in 2014, when the composer was 14 years old. It is a superbly constructed and whimsical tribute to A Midsummer’s Night Dream (which includes the character Lysander, whence the name of this ensemble). Belimova is a Wunderkind, no doubt. Remember the name.

William David Cooper uses the German translation of the biblical Psalm 137, By The Rivers of Babylon, which was first made by Martin Luther. In a way this is appropriate, as Cooper’s language is intensely reminiscent of the Second Viennese School. The structure of the work is a well laid out set of variations on the original melody, and the somewhat tortured, angular nature of the music is certainly a valid soundtrack for the Babylonian exile of the Jews (“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion”). One’s appreciation or disdain for the music of Schoenberg will predict an appreciation of this work.

The Lysander Piano Trio, in addition to being wonderful musicians, obviously have a good sense of programming, as they conclude this recital with music that touches on many of the elements of the balance of the music, but in a way that allows the listener to stretch out and relax the ears a bit, in an intellectual sense. Polish composer Jakub Ciupiski, currently based in New York City, writes in the manner of American Minimalism in this work. The Black Mirror is described by the composer as “a small-scale study of time, painted with dim colors, low contrast and simple contours.” As such, it is music that can be casually enjoyed, or examined carefully, a kind of optical illusion suggested by the title." © 2021 Fanfare

Jensen Artists Reinaldo Moya Jennifer Higdon Sofia Belimova William David Cooper Jakub Ciupinski Sarah Shafer, soprano. Dinin Arts Management & Consulting

So excited to have two pieces on Exponential Ensemble’s Exponential Ensemble 11th season! Can’t wait to work with these fabulous musicians: Kemp Jernigan, Spencer Myer, Pascal Archer and Anna Urrey.

Concerts So much has happened since our last in-person concert back in March of 2020, and the idea of being together has very much been on everyone's mind, both on and off stage. This season, we are presenting programs celebrating that theme with a striking line up of composers. We are looking forward to saf...

I am grateful for Chamber Music America for commissioning me to write a new piece for Pascal Archer and his Exponential Ensemble (flutes-oboe/English horn-clarinets-piano), with additional support from Composers' Guild of New Jersey. Premiere is scheduled for March 2022!

During its 2021 fiscal year, CMA distributed nearly $1.3 million through its six major grant programs: New Jazz Works, Performance Plus, and Presenter Consortium for Jazz, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; Classical Commissioning, supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Ensemble Forward, supported by The New York Community Trust; and Digital Residency, supported by CMA's Residency Endowment Fund.

To view the full list of grantees visit: https://www.chamber-music.org/about/press-room/article/08-23-2021/2021-Grantees

How do living composers express their musical roots when they move to other countries?
🇸🇾 Malek Jandali weaves millennia old melodies from his native Syria into his compositions.
🇮🇱 pays homage to his heritage by incorporating a French-Provencal Jewish tune into his Classic Rock infused style.
Hear their unique musical voices 4/15 "Music of Exile" RSVP ➡️ https://fb.me/e/1dknoaMu4

What makes Pink Floyd's music so powerful and evocative? Held live on Zoom, this lecture-discussion series explores the evolution of Pink Floyd’s style over the years, focusing on the inventive ways lyrics, composition, arrangement, production, performance, and visuals join together in making one of the most successful musical acts of all time. 🎼
I've been writing and lecturing about Pink Floyd’s music for over 15 years. In 2014 I co-produced the first-ever academic conference about Pink Floyd at Princeton University, which featured their producer/engineer James Guthrie, and I wrote my doctoral dissertation and published articles about the band.
Video recordings are available for any session you miss. Visit the series' website for info, video samples, and registration.

The Floydian Style — Gilad Cohen The Floydian StyleThe Evolution of Pink Floyd’s Music Sign up to the mailing list to receive updates about lectures and courses: First Name Last Name Email Address Sign Up Thank you! A short clip from the live Session no. 1 about the “steady jam” in early Pink Floyd.How do the arrangement and ...

Thrilled that my piece Firefly Elegy for clarinet, harp and strings was chosen as a Finalist in Kaleidoscope's 2020 Call for Scores, which attracted close to, ahem, 8000 submissions (Gosh, I didn't know there are 8000 composers in the world; we should start a political movement). I hope to have Firefly Elegy performed by this superb ensemble in their 2021-2022 season.
See first comment for a beautiful performance of Firefly Elegy by Israeli Chamber Project הפרויקט הקאמרי הישראלי, for whom the piece was commissioned by the Adele and John Gray Endowment Fund.

Today's the day! I'm excited to launch the first (and free!) lecture in my Zoom series all about Pink Floyd's musical evolution -- The Floydian Style. Join me TONIGHT at 6:15pm EST (less than 2 hours away!) on Zoom as we discuss Syd Barrett and the band’s initial style. Registration link in the comments!

FREE online lecture happening TOMORROW! How were the inventive features in Pink Floyd's first singles influenced by psychedelia and other 1960s' musicians?

Join us live on Zoom tomorrow (Wednesday March 3rd) at 6:15 EST (for free registration, see first comment).

How do Pink Floyd use their different singers effectively? Add more examples in the comments! 👇

Come to a FREE zoom lecture about their early style this Wednesday March 3 (for registration see comments).

Have you noticed the subtle musical differences between "Pigs on the Wing 1" and "Pigs on the Wing 2"? Although the music is almost the same, the different instrumentation mirrors the songs' meanings.