Born: October 27, 1967 Primary Instrument: Guitar
Amir Perelman was born in Israel in 1967 and as a young child immigrated to the United States with his family. Some years later he returned to Israel and at the age of 15 began playing the guitar. In short time his talent and virtuosity were revealed. In his early twenties, Amir re-located to Europe where as an active musician, performed at jazz festivals and became a familiar face in many of Europe’s jazz clubs. Already a respected musician, he taught music at the Rotterdam Conservatory, composed scores for theatre, and commercial television both in Europe and Israel. During his formative years, Amir was exposed to a wide range of genres and musical styles which lead him to bind close working partnerships with some of the great masters of India Armenia and Perssia. Amir Perelman’s style and virtuosity have brought him to set up ensembles ranging from world music genres to Jazz. Their uniqueness and exceptional quality of sound have found their way to labels distributed both in Europe and Israel by Magda music. After ten years of extensive musical activity in Europe, Amir returned to Israel in 2003. Since then, he has been playing and leading ensembles in Israel while teaching at the Megiddo School of Music. For the past three years Amir has been leading the New Song Of Jerusalem Ensemble with a focus on the Jewish musical heritage from Sfaradic and Ashkenazi tradition two albums where released on Magda music from this project .
CNET Editors Review:
Skilled guitarist Amir Perelman meshes the many musical styles he's picked up while plucking his way around the globe. Whether dabbling in traditional Indian music or playing contemporary Western material, the Israeli composer seems to always teeter his tunes on the edge of complexity. He's gone as far as to modify his guitar to sound like a sitar, strumming dazzling melodies in the process.
cd review Ha'arets - Erez Switser:
There is no provocation behind “Prayers beyond Words”, the new album by Amir Perelman and the New Song for Jerusalem Ensemble. It is all refinement and restraint, respect for your fellow man, and generosity. The biblical texts do serve as an inspiration, yet it is a completely instrumental album, almost neutral is its theme, and the emotion that rises from it, more than being faith related, seems like a simple yearning for beauty and belonging. This same yearning finds its own partial fulfillment in the album itself. It has moments of great beauty.
