Yaacov Bergman
Encyclopedia
Yaacov Bergman is an Israeli born conductor
. He is currently the Musical Director and Conductor of the Walla Walla Symphony
, the Portland Chamber Orchestra
, the Siletz Bay Music Festival in Lincoln City, Oregon
and previously the Musical Director of the Colorado Springs Symphony, the New York Heritage Chamber Orchestra, and the 92nd St. Y Symphonic Workshop Orchestra in New York City
. Yaacov Bergman is married to pianist
and pedagogue Joan Behrens-Bergman.
with majors in conducting and composition
, he completed post-graduate studies at the Mannes College of Music
in New York as a student of Richard Westenburg
. He pursued further conducting studies under the guidance of Charles Bruck
, a disciple of Pierre Monteux
, as well as private study under Leonard Bernstein
. In 1998 he was the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Colorado Technical University
.
as conductor of the Osaka Opera Company's premiere performance of Verdi's opera Macbeth led to subsequent engagements which included La Traviata
in Osaka
and Kobe
. Bergman guest conducted with the Osaka Symphonica, a concert tour with the Israel Chamber Orchestra
and he recently served as principal guest conductor of the "North Atlantic Music Festival" in Denmark
. Maestro Bergman conducted a series of successful symphonic concerts in Cairo
, Egypt in 1995 and 1996 as the first Israeli conductor to appear in an Arab
republic. Bergman was engaged in a series of performances of La Boheme
in the Philippines
, and performances of Don Giovanni
, Carmen
, Tosca
, and La Traviata for the Cultural Center of the Philippines
in Manila
, where he has also conducted numerous symphonic concerts as principal guest conductor of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra
.
, the Edmonton Symphony in Canada
, the West Virginia Symphony, the Redlands Symphony, a debut performance with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
and a third appearance with the Brooklyn Philharmonic
in New York
, William Bolcom
, John Verrall
, Gwyneth Walker
, John David Earnest, Tania Cronin, David Glenn, and Tom Simon and composers from around the world including Arvo Part
, Gorecki, Kancheli, Tzur, Tzvi Avni
, Shariff and Ben-Amotz.
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
. He is currently the Musical Director and Conductor of the Walla Walla Symphony
Walla Walla Symphony
The Walla Walla Symphony is an orchestra based in Walla Walla, Washington, USA. Founded in 1907, the Walla Walla Symphony is the "oldest continuously operating symphony west of the Mississippi". The current Music Director and Conductor is Yaacov Bergman, who has held the position since 1987...
, the Portland Chamber Orchestra
Portland Chamber Orchestra
The Portland Chamber Orchestra is an orchestra based in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1947 by Boris Sirpo, its first performance was on May 27, 1947 at the Neighbors of Woodcraft Auditorium. Its home venue is Kaul Auditorium at Reed College.- First concert :...
, the Siletz Bay Music Festival in Lincoln City, Oregon
Lincoln City, Oregon
Lincoln City is a city in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States. It is named after the county. The population was 7,930 at the 2010 census.- History :...
and previously the Musical Director of the Colorado Springs Symphony, the New York Heritage Chamber Orchestra, and the 92nd St. Y Symphonic Workshop Orchestra in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Yaacov Bergman is married to pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and pedagogue Joan Behrens-Bergman.
Early years
Yaacov Bergman's early musical training began with violin and vocal studies, but he soon expressed an avid interest in composing and conducting. After graduation from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and DanceJerusalem Academy of Music and Dance
The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance , founded in 1958 as the Rubin Academy of Music, is located on the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.-History:...
with majors in conducting and composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
, he completed post-graduate studies at the Mannes College of Music
Mannes College of Music
Mannes College The New School for Music is The New School university's music conservatory. While the university's main campus is located in Greenwich Village, New York City, Mannes maintains its main academic building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan....
in New York as a student of Richard Westenburg
Richard Westenburg
Richard Westenburg was a lauded American choral conductor. He notably founded the Musica Sacra Chorus and Orchestra in 1964, serving as its director until 2007 when Kent Tritle took over as director. He also founded the Basically Bach Festival at Lincoln Center in 1979, running the festival for a...
. He pursued further conducting studies under the guidance of Charles Bruck
Charles Bruck
Charles Bruck was a Hungarian-French conductor.Bruck was born in Temesvár, Kingdom of Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire, since 1920 Timişoara, since 1920 in Romania....
, a disciple of Pierre Monteux
Pierre Monteux
Pierre Monteux was an orchestra conductor. Born in Paris, France, Monteux later became an American citizen.-Life and career:Monteux was born in Paris in 1875. His family was descended from Sephardi Jews who came to France in the wake of the Spanish Inquisition. He studied violin from an early age,...
, as well as private study under Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
. In 1998 he was the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Colorado Technical University
Colorado Technical University
Colorado Technical University is a for-profit university in the United States. Founded in 1965, CTU offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees in a number of subjects, focused primarily in the business, management, and technology disciplines...
.
International Tours
His success in July 1996 in JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as conductor of the Osaka Opera Company's premiere performance of Verdi's opera Macbeth led to subsequent engagements which included La Traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
in Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
and Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
. Bergman guest conducted with the Osaka Symphonica, a concert tour with the Israel Chamber Orchestra
Israel Chamber Orchestra
The Israel Chamber Orchestra is an Israeli orchestra based in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. Primary funding comes from the Israel Ministry of Education and the Tel Aviv Jaffa Municipality....
and he recently served as principal guest conductor of the "North Atlantic Music Festival" in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. Maestro Bergman conducted a series of successful symphonic concerts in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt in 1995 and 1996 as the first Israeli conductor to appear in an Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
republic. Bergman was engaged in a series of performances of La Boheme
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, and performances of Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
, Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
, Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
, and La Traviata for the Cultural Center of the Philippines
Cultural Center of the Philippines
The Cultural Center of the Philippines is a government-owned and controlled corporation established to preserve, develop and promote arts and culture in the Philippines. The CCP was established through Executive Order No. 30 s. 1966 by President Ferdinand Marcos...
in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, where he has also conducted numerous symphonic concerts as principal guest conductor of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra
Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra
The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra is the nation's leading symphony orchestra and a resident company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines , located on Manila's shoreline...
.
North America Visits
Yaacov Bergman has guest conducted with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the San Diego SymphonySan Diego Symphony
The San Diego Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in San Diego, California. On 6 December 1910, it gave its first concert as the San Diego Civic Orchestra.Currently, the Symphony performs over 100 concerts each season...
, the Edmonton Symphony in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the West Virginia Symphony, the Redlands Symphony, a debut performance with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra is the orchestra of the Austrian national broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk . Founded in 1969 with the name of the ORF-Symphonieorchester , it is the only radio orchestra in the country...
and a third appearance with the Brooklyn Philharmonic
Brooklyn Philharmonic
The Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, commonly known as the Brooklyn Philharmonic, is an American orchestra based in the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City...
in New York
World Premieres
Bergman's interest in new music and multi-media concepts is reflected in his programming of many new works. He has presented premieres of pieces by noted American composers Robert StarerRobert Starer
Robert Starer was an Austrian-born American composer and pianist.Robert Starer began studying the piano at age 4 and continued his studies at the Vienna State Academy...
, William Bolcom
William Bolcom
William Elden Bolcom is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, two Grammy Awards, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. Bolcom taught composition at the University of Michigan from 1973–2008...
, John Verrall
John Verrall
John Weedon Verrall was an American composer of contemporary classical music.-Life:Prior to his University studies, Verrall studied composition with Donald Ferguson, followed by studies with R. O. Morris in London and Zoltán Kodály in Budapest. He obtained a B.M. degree from the Minneapolis School...
, Gwyneth Walker
Gwyneth Walker
-Personal:Walker grew up in New Canaan, Connecticut and is a graduate of Pembroke College in Brown University and the Hartt School of Music and holds B.A., M.M., and D.M.A. degrees in music composition...
, John David Earnest, Tania Cronin, David Glenn, and Tom Simon and composers from around the world including Arvo Part
Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer and one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-made compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from...
, Gorecki, Kancheli, Tzur, Tzvi Avni
Tzvi Avni
Tzvi Avni is an Israeli composer.-Biography:He was born in Saarbrücken, Germany, and emigrated to Mandate Palestine as a child. He studied with Paul Ben-Haim....
, Shariff and Ben-Amotz.