home | news | roster | MadAminA! | about maa      

   Music Associates of America
Osvaldo Golijov

Osvaldo Golijov (composer) born in 1960, grew up in an Eastern European Jewish household in La Plata, Argentina. Born to a piano teacher mother and physician father, Golijov was raised surrounded by chamber classical music, Jewish liturgical and klezmer music, and the new tango of Astor Piazzolla. After studying piano and composition at the local conservatory he moved in 1983 to Israel, where he studied with Mark Kopytman at the Jerusalem Rubin Academy and immersed himself in the colliding musical traditions of that city.

Upon moving to the United States in 1986, Golijov earned his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied with George Crumb. In 1990 Golijov received Tanglewood's Fromm Commission, resulting in Yiddishbbuk, which was premiered there by the St. Lawrence String Quartet in 1992. Working together with them was a turning point in Golijov's musical life, as they were the first group of players to dive into Golijov's volatile and category-defying musical world and project it in its true, full form.

In June 2002, EMI released Yiddishbbuk, a CD of Golijov's chamber music, celebrating ten years of collaboration with the SLSQ, featuring alto clarinetist Todd Palmer. While at Tanglewood, Golijov became personally acquainted with the Kronos Quartet. This relationship, now more that a decade old, has become a central one to Golijov. He has collaborated on about 30 works with them, including a series of arrangements of music from all over the world. Many of them appear in the CDs Caravan and Nuevo, both on the Nonesuch label. The continued collaboration with the Kronos Quartet also allowed Golijov to work with artists such as the gypsy band "Taraf de Haidouks", (who also participated in the recording of Golijov's soundtrack for Sally Potter's film The Man Who Cried, starring Johnny Depp and Cate Blanchett), as well as the Mexican rock band "Cafe Tacuba", klezmer master David Krakauer, tabla virtuoso Zakir Husssain, legendary Argentine musician and producer Gustavo Santaolalla, and the Mexican film director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu (Amores Perros).

In 2000, the premiere of Golijov's St. Mark Passion took the music world by storm. It was commissioned by Helmuth Rilling for the European Music festival to commemorate the 250th anniversary of J.S. Bach's death. The piece featured the Schola Cantorum of Caracas, with the Orquesta La Pasión (especially assembled for this work by Golijov together with percussionist Mikael Ringquist), all conducted by Maria Guinand. The CD of the premiere of this work, on the Haenssler Classic label, received Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations in 2002.

Golijov has received numerous commissions from major ensembles and institutions in the U.S. and Europe. His music is performed regularly by musicians such as Robert Spano, Dawn Upshaw, Gidon Kremer, and ensembles such as the Boston Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has been composer-in-residence at Merkin Hall in New York, the Spoleto USA Festival, the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Music Alive series, Marlboro Music, Ravinia, and several other festivals.

His chamber opera Ainadamar was premiered at Tanglewood in August 2003 and starred Dawn Upshaw with repeat performances scheduled in New York (Brooklyn Academy of Music) and Los Angeles. He is currently working on a set of folksongs for Dawn Upshaw on commission by Carnegie Hall. Those songs will have their premiere in Spring 2004 as part of the inaugural season of Carnegie's new Zankel Concert Hall.

In 2003, Golijov was awarded the coveted "genius grant" — $500,000 over five years — by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the only composer/musician thus honored that year.

Currently, Golijov is an Associate Professor at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, where he has taught since 1991. He is also on the faculties of the Boston Conservatory and the Tanglewood Music Center.

His works are published by Ytalianna Music Publishing and recorded on Nonesuch, Sony Classical, Hanssler Classics, and EMI.


home  |  about maa  |  roster  |  MadAminA!  |  news & events  |  contact us

© 2002-2007 by Music Associates of America. All Rights Reserved
music associates of america // 224 king street // englewood // new jersey // 07631