Yotam Haber is a composer based in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

. He is a 2005

Guggenheim fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

, a 2007

Rome Prize The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Prizes have been awarded annually since 1921, with a hiatus ...

winner in Music Composition., and was named a 2023-2024 Fulbright Distinguished Senior Scholar, teaching and researching at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.

Biography

Yotam Haber was born

October 27 Events Pre-1600 * 312 – Constantine is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. * 1275 – Traditional founding of the city of Amsterdam. * 1524 – French troops lay siege to Pavia. * 1553 – Condemned as ...

, 1976 in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and grew up in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, and

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

. He studied music composition at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

with Eugene O'Brien and

Claude Baker W. Claude Baker Jr. (born April 12, 1948 Lenoir, North Carolina) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. Biography Claude Baker attained a B.M. degree, magna cum laude, from East Carolina University in 1970. He subsequently stud ...

and then earned his doctorate at

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

with

Steven Stucky Steven Edward Stucky (November 7, 1949 − February 14, 2016) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer. Life and career Stucky was born in Hutchinson, Kansas. At age 9, he moved with his family to Abilene, Texas, where, as a teenager, he ...

and

Roberto Sierra Roberto Sierra (born 9 October 1953) is a Puerto Rican composer of contemporary classical music. Life Sierra was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. He studied composition in Europe, notably with György Ligeti in Hamburg (1979–1982), Germany. Af ...

. In 2013 Haber married visual artist Anna Schuleit. Haber has written music for leading new music ensembles and performers including the

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...

Alarm Will Sound Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member chamber orchestra that focuses on recordings and performances of contemporary classical music. Its performances have been described as "equal parts exuberance, nonchalance, and virtuosity" by the ''Financial Times' ...

Gabriel Kahane Gabriel Kahane (born July 10, 1981) is an American composer and singer-songwriter. Early life and education Born in Venice Beach, California, Kahane is the son of a psychologist mother and the concert pianist Jeffrey Kahane. He attended the N ...

Flux Quartet The FLUX Quartet is an American string quartet dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. It was founded in 1998 and is based in New York City. The group is renowned for its performances of Morton Feldman's String Quartet No. ...

, and

The Knights (orchestra) The Knights are a New York-based orchestra. While music students in the late 1990s, brothers Eric and Colin Jacobsen began regular informal chamber music readings at their home, inviting friends with a shared enthusiasm for the discovery and perfor ...

. He has been a fellow at the

Aspen Music Festival The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music students. Founded in 1949, the ...

and

Tanglewood Music Festival The Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Stockbridge and Lenox in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts. The festival consists of a series of concerts, including symphonic music, ch ...

, and artist colonies including

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowell ...

Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March ...

Aaron Copland House The Aaron Copland House, also known as Rock Hill or Copland House, is the former home of composer Aaron Copland for the last 30 years of his life, and now also a creative center for American music. Located on Washington Street in Cortlandt Manor ...

, Bogliasco Foundation, the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

's Bellagio Center, the Blue Mountain Center, and the Hermitage Artist Retreat. Haber served as the artistic director of the

MATA Festival The MATA Festival is a New York-based annual contemporary classical music festival devoted to championing the works of young composers. It was founded in 1996 by Philip Glass, Lisa Bielawa and Eleonor Sandresky and is currently under the leaders ...

from 2010 to 2014. His work at the MATA festival was lauded by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as "a testament to MATA’s enduring mission and to the high standards maintained by its current directors,

David T. Little David T. Little (born October 25, 1978) is a Grammy-nominated American composer, record producer, and drummer known for his operatic, orchestral, and chamber works, most notably his operas ''JFK (opera), JFK,'' ''Soldier Songs'', and ''Dog Days ( ...

and Yotam Haber." During his final festival ''The New York Times'' further remarked "If there is one thing that sets the MATA Festival apart from many of the other contemporary-classical bounties New York regularly produces, it might be a robust international representation, which seems to have grown sharply since Yotam Haber — a Dutch-born global citizen and the festival’s artistic director from 2009 until this year — has been at the helm." Recent major projects include a commission for a concert length work, ''A More Convenient Season'', for the

Alabama Symphony Orchestra The Alabama Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra based in Birmingham, Alabama. The orchestra's resident and principal conductor is Christopher Confessore. The Orchestra was first formed in April 1921 but had to close because of financial issu ...

with chorus and soloists commemorating the 50th anniversary of an explosion that killed four in a Baptist church in Birmingham on September 15, 1963. In 2015, Haber's first monographic album of chamber music, Torus, was released on Roven Records and distributed by Naxos to wide critical acclaim, hailed by New York's WQXR as "a snapshot of a soul in flux – moving from life to the afterlife, from Israel to New Orleans – a composer looking for a sound and finding something powerful along the way." In 2015 he was commissioned by the Kronos Quartet and Carnegie Hall for the 50 For the Future Project to write break_break_break for string quartet and electronics (electronics by Philip White). Haber's music has been well received, called "haunting" by ''

New Yorker New Yorker or ''variant'' primarily refers to: * A resident of the State of New York ** Demographics of New York (state) * A resident of New York City ** List of people from New York City * ''The New Yorker'', a magazine founded in 1925 * ''The New ...

'' critic

Alex Ross Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which he collaborated wi ...

and ''

''. The New York Times called Haber's ''From the Book of Maintenance and Sustenance'' "Alluring" and "Engaging" adding that "Mr. Haber used the soulful lower register of the viola to expressive effect, and its higher register to create intriguing timbres. Fluttering trills unfolded over lone piano notes; bell-like descending piano chords were echoed by gently ascending viola motifs. The piece faded to an enigmatic whisper at the end." Haber was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as one of five classical musicians "2014 Faces To Watch,” and chosen as one of the “30 composers under 40” by Orpheus Chamber Orchestra's Project 440.

Selected works

* LAST SKIN for 8 retuned violins * We Were All for Sinfonietta * I AM for Chorus and String Quartet * On Leaving Brooklyn for Chorus, solo voices, and Violin * New Ghetto Music for full orchestra, voice, and field recordings of Roman cantors from 1950 to 1960 * between composure and seduction for baroque violin, double bass, percussion * Hvem er Det (who is it) for two sopranos and mezzo-soprano * A Wine Dark Sea for string orchestra (commissioned by The Knights Ensemble) * death will come and she shall have your eyes for string orchestra, voice, field recordings of Roman cantors from 1940 to 1960 * Espresso for Wind Ensemble * Purity Guaranteed for violin and flute * Death in Venice for solo trumpet * The Little Bird Concerto for Nicolet Orchestra

Awards

*2021 The Benjamin Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters *2020 The Azrieli Commission for Jewish Music *2016

DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program The DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program (German: Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD) is a residential program for artists of all countries and ages run by the German Academic Exchange Service (German: ‘Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst', DAA ...

Grant *2016 MAP Fund for New Water Music, performed by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and 100 volunteer community musicians *2013 Fromm Foundation Commission *2013

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

Fellow *2007

*2005

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

*2004 ASCAP/CBDNA Frederick Fennell Competition *2002, 2004 ASCAP Morton Gould Award

References

External links

* http://www.YotamHaber.com * http://www.thedaysofyore.com/yotam_haber/ * http://www.wqxr.org/#!/people/yotam-haber/ * http://seriousmusicmedia.com/?page_id=1831 {{DEFAULTSORT:Haber, Yotam American male composers 21st-century American composers Aspen Music Festival and School alumni Living people 21st-century American male musicians Year of birth missing (living people)