Osvaldo Golijov

Osvaldo Golijov was born into an eastern European Jewish family in La Plata, Argentina, on December 5th, 1960. He grew up listening to music as varied as klezmer, chamber classical music and the new tango of Astor Piazzola. And the osmosis between Latin American and Jewish traditions has been at the heart of his style. After studying in Jerusalem’s Rubin Academy, Golijov settled in the United States in 1986. In the early 1990s, he began working with two string quartets, the Kronos and the St. Lawrence.

Many consider that his career took off after the 1996 Oregon Bach Festival. His buoyant and empassioned version of the choral work “Oceana” intrigued conductor Helmuth Riling, who decided to commission Golijov to work on the text of St. Mark’s Passion. Four years later, his interpretation astounded critics and audiences around the world. It married Afro-Cuban drumming, Brazilian samba, synagogue cantillation and the chorals of the Schola Cantorum of Caracas. The CD of this work received Latin Grammy and Grammy nominations in 2002.

Golijov has been working closely with soprano Dawn Upshaw for years and his latest major composition “Ayre” was tailor-made for the world-renowned singer. The work is based on songs from Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic and Sephardic songs, and is considered one of the composer’s most daring works to date. The audacious mixture of sacred and profane music, with touches of electronic sounds, flamenco and klezmer rhythms, is all inspired by the traditions born in Andalusian Spain.

2006 saw collaborations on a concerto with Yo-Yo Ma and a film score with Francis Ford Coppola. The latter commissioned Golijov to work on the music of his film “Youth without youth”. At the same time, the hyper-active composer continued to work with the Kronos Quartet, and to teach both at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and the Boston Conservatory.

Known for his humility Golijov was honoured in early 2006 by seasons at the Lincoln Centre in New York and the Barbican Hall in London. The two prestigious venues devoted a month to a festival called “The passion of Osvaldo Golijov”. It coincided with the 45-year-old’s nomination as 2006 Composer of the Year by the “Musical America International Directory of the Performing Arts”.

February 2006

Daniel Brown

// ALSO