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Itamar Erez

Itamar Erez is an Israeli born Canadian composer, pianist and guitarist with a breadth of expression from European classical to jazz, world music and beyond.

Growing up in Tel-Aviv, Israel, Erez received several annual grants from the America-Israel Cultural Fund to support his early studies of guitar, piano and composition. Itamar has studied classical guitar with Mr. J. Urshalmi, known as a world expert in the classical guitar field. Under his guidance Itamar has performed at the 2nd International Guitar Festival In Tel- Aviv (1988) with great success. Along his guitar studies, Itamar continued with his piano and composition studies with renowned teachers such as M. Wiesneberg (piano, theory) and Prof. Abel Ehrlich (composition).

Initial pursuing a classical career, Erez studied composition at the Robert Schumann Musikhochschule, in Dusseldorf, Germany with Manfred Trojahn and with Simon Bainbridge at the Guildhall School of Music, in London, England. He also attended Film-Musik courses at the Darmstadt Institute for New Music and Music Education; and attended the Scottish Chamber Orchestra's Course for Young Composers on the Island of Hoy, Orkney, Scotland, with Sir Peter Maxwell Davis and Ms. Sally Beamish. He returned to Israel to continue his studies with Mark Kopytman at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. He continued his composition studies at UBC in Vancouver with Keith Hamel.

In 1994, Erez was short-listed for the English National Opera’s Stephen Arlen Award. In 1997 he was the recipient of the 1997 Israeli Prime Minister Creation Prize for Composers, and in 2000 Erez was a finalist in the 18th ALEA III International Composition Competition in Boston.

Erez's music has been commissioned and performed by various soloists, ensembles and orchestras throughout Europe, the Middle East, United States and Canada including The BBC Singers (UK), The Israeli Chamber Orchestra, The Ra'anana Symphonette Orchestra (Israel), Partita Radicale (Germany) ALEA III (Boston) and the Standing Wave Ensemble (Canada).

His works are published in Australia (http://www.redhouse.com.au), Israel and Canada, and Erez is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre (http:// www.musiccentre.ca)

Itamar Erez also composes music for theatre, modern dance, and film. In 2002-2004 he has collaborated with director Rafi Spivak in the short films “The Man In Pajamas” and “Fragments of Proximity”. The film “The Man in Pajamas” was featured in several film festivals in Canada and Europe. While in Germany, Itamar has participated as pianist in Steven Berkoff’s film ‘Decadence’, with famous film actress Joan Collins.

He has just completed working on music soundtrack for the documentary ‘Raised To Be Heroes’ for the 'National Film Board of Canada'. The film has been accepted to the prestigious ‘Hot Docs’ festival in Toronto and the first screening will be Apr 30th 2006.

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3
Album Review

Itamar Erez & Yshai Afterman: New Dawn

Read "New Dawn" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni


Israeli guitarist-pianist Itamar Erez, member of American- Turkish Sufi multi-instrumentalist Omar Faruk Tekbilek band, revisits some of his best compositions in an intimate setting in his album New Dawn, a duo with fellow Israeli percussionist Yshai Afterman, a disciple of master Israeli percussionist Zohar Fresco. Tough Erez is the composer of all the pieces, except Afterman solo, the two share equal leading roles, demonstrating an almost telepathic interplay. Most of the pieces were recorded on Erez ...

261
Album Review

Itamar Erez / The Adama Ensemble: Hommage

Read "Hommage" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni


Four years passed between the debut recording of Israeli pianist/guitarist Itamar Erez and this sophomore one. Desert Song (Self Produced, 2006), was recorded with his Canadian quartet, and after relocating to Israel he founded a local quartet, based on the same instrumentation that was introduced by the pioneering, genre-breaking quartet, Oregon. On Hommage, Erez expands his musical horizons, dedicating his compositions to few of his musical inspirations: Brazilian composer and guitarist/pianist Egberto Gismonti; Tunisian oud master Anouar ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

New Dawn

Self Produced
2013

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Hommage

Self Produced
2011

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