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Ittai Shapira

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Ittai Shapira (born December 18, 1972) is an Israeli-American violinist, composer, and curator. His compositions include Concierto Latino, a concerto for Solo Violin, and seven Double Concertos. He is the founder and artistic director of Sound Potential, Inc.,[1] an artistic consultant for the Weill Cornell Music and Medicine Program,[2] and is co-founder of the Ilona Feher Foundation[3] with violinist Hagai Shaham.

Early life and education

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Ittai Shapira was born in Rochester, NY, but grew up in Israel. He first studied with Rima Kaminkovsky, and later with Ilona Fehér. He continued his studies with Dorothy DeLay, Robert Mann[4] graduating from the Juilliard School class of 94.[5]

Performing career

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Engagements include performances with the BBC Concert Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic under Sir Neville Marriner, Cape Town Philharmonic, Czech National Symphony under Libor Pešek, Detroit Symphony under Yoel Levi, English Chamber Orchestra with Yuri Bashmet at the Barbican Centre, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Israeli Virtuosi at Alice Tully Hall, hosted by Itzhak Perlman, the Philharmonia, Polish Chamber Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Russian Philharmonic with Thomas Sanderling, and the Symphony Orchestras of Budapest, Harrisburg, Jerusalem, Omaha and Shanghai.[4]

Ittai Shapira made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2003 [6] with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, performing the world premiere of the Violin Concerto written for him[7] by compatriot Shulamit Ran. His live recording of this concerto is featured in a compilation of Shulamit Ran's works, performed by Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He returned to the stage as a soloist, with the American Symphony, and Glenn Close.[8]

Other performances include a tour of Finland and Sweden with the Oulu Sinfonia, a tour of Shapira's Violin Concertos Concierto Latino, with the Key West Symphony, and The Old Man and the Sea with The Knights.

He continues to tour as a soloist, with his own compositions, with orchestras in Austria, Brazil and the United States.

Compositions

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Ittai Shapira's first composition was a concerto for Solo Violin, Concierto Latino, recorded in 2011 by the London Serenata under the baton of Krzysztof Chorzelski.[9]

He went on to compose seven Concertos:

  • The Old Man and the Sea, a Violin Concerto[10] inspired by Ernest Hemingway's short novel, released in 2012 by Champs Hill Records with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. The work was co-commissioned by the Madison Theatre at Molloy College[11] for the inaugural season of the "Innovative Classics" series.
  • Magyar for two Violins, dedicated to colleague Hagai Shaham, was performed and recorded in Austria in 2014 with the dedicatee and the Arpeggione Orchestra, conducted by Robert Bokor.
  • The Ethics was composed for the 70th anniversary of the Theresienstadt camp. It is inspired by Brundibár, a Children's opera performed at the camp and was written in collaboration with anthropologist Natasha Zaretsky. The work premiered at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall in May 2015, written for Humanity in Action[12] and co-sponsored by the Blavatnik Family Foundation.
  • Sephardic Journeys, for Violin and Cello, is a musical story of the Sephardi Jews. It is a composition which examines questions of diaspora and migration, its inspiration originating from a desire to rebuild Identity, Empathy and collective memory through Music.[13] Co-commissioned by the Krueger Foundation, it was recorded in September 2017 by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with cellist Thomas Carroll and conductor Rumon Gamba.
  • Midnight's Children, a multidisciplinary project in close collaboration with Sir Salman Rushdie and visual artist Alexander Klingspor.[14] The two works are coupled on a recording with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales,[15] released by Champs Hill Records.
  • Chunhyang for Violin and Soprano, a collaboration with philosopher Laureen Park.[16]
  • The Stolen Generations is a concerto for Flute and Violin inspired by music of the Métis, Inuit and First Nations.[17]

He is also the creator of a set of Solo Violin Caprices.

Discography

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Ittai Shapira's discography[18] of over 20 CD's (for labels including Champs Hill Records,[19] EMI, Meridian Records, Sanctuary Classics, Quartz and Sony/BMG) includes both standard and contemporary repertoire.[20] Shapira's playing is featured in the soundtrack of a film made about Daniel Pearl, The Journalist and the Jihadi, and a children's project with Brooke Shields, The Runaway Bunny. The performance was hosted by Larry King and reached an audience of 55 million on the Jerry Lewis Telethon, and was nationally televised in the US.

Fourteen concertos have been dedicated[21] to him by composers such as Avner Dorman[22] and Dave Heath, the most recent being the Katrina Violin Concerto by Theodore Wiprud.[23] He has recently premiered a Violin and Mandolin[24] Concerto with Avi Avital, Tikkun Olam composed by Ariel Blumenthal[25] and conducted by Florin Parvulescu, a project he curated as a soloist in a joint project between the San Francisco Symphony and Conservatory.

Awards and recognition

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A recipient of the Clairmont Award, he has served as Classical Advisor at Molloy College and the Weill Cornell Music and Medicine Program, and has given concert lectures about Music and the Brain at the University of Cambridge (UK), Mount Sinai Hospital, and New York University. He has also given a concert lecture about the healing potential of music at One to One Global Forum, co-sponsored by the UN Foundation and Chabbad.

He was selected to be the first Affiliate at the Royal College of Music in London.

He is a recipient of the Victor Herbert Foundation award[26] in recognition of his projects as Soloist, Composer and Curator.

Further work

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Ittai Shapira co-founded the Ilona Feher Foundation[27] with violinist Hagai Shaham. The foundation is dedicated to the nurturing and promotion of young Israeli violinists.[28]

Shapira performs regularly for charitable causes, sharing the stage with performers such as Sandy Duncan, Cady Huffman, Donna McKechnie and Martin Short.

He is the founder and Artistic Director of Sound Potential,[29] Inc., a non profit foundation dedicated to medical, educational, and societal healing through music.[30]

Violin

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Ittai Shapira plays a 1745 Guadagnini Violin.[31]

References

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  1. ^ "Home". Sound Potential. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  2. ^ "Committee | Music & Medicine". music.weill.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  3. ^ "Ilona Feher Foundation". Ilona Feher Foundation. Archived from the original on 2021-01-19. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  4. ^ a b "Champs Hill Records - Welcome|". www.champshillrecords.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  5. ^ Wakin, Daniel J. (12 December 2004). "The Juilliard Effect: Ten Years Later". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  6. ^ Midgette, Anne (20 June 2003). "MUSIC REVIEW; A Mixed Bag of a Program With an Enthusiastic M.C." The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  7. ^ "CLASSICAL MUSIC AND DANCE GUIDE". The New York Times. 13 June 2003. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  8. ^ "Close Replaces Shields in 'Runaway Bunny' Concerto at Carnegie Hall April 29 | Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  9. ^ International, MusicWeb. "SHAPIRA Concierto Latino CHRCD020 [Byz]: Classical Music Reviews - June 2011 MusicWeb-International". www.musicweb-international.com. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  10. ^ "Sequenza21/ » Ittai Shapira's new violin concerto: The Old Man And The Sea". www.sequenza21.com. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  11. ^ "Molloy College: Madison Theatre at Molloy College Presents… Ittai Shapira and The Knights". www.molloy.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  12. ^ "Of Ethics and Empathy: Music as Memory and Survival by Natasha Zaretsky | Humanity in Action". Humanity In Action. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  13. ^ "Sephardic Journeys". Sound Potential. Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  14. ^ Ittai Shapira (2016-08-15), Midnight's Children Project: Sir Salman Rushdie, Alexander Klingspor, and Ittai Shapira, retrieved 2018-09-16
  15. ^ "BBC Radio 3 Broadcast of 'Midnight's Children'". Tashmina Artists. 2018-05-25. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  16. ^ "CHUNHYANG: #METOO IN THE PENTATONIC SCALE by Ittai Shapira and Laureen Park". ROOM A sketchbook for Analytic Action. 2018-06-19. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  17. ^ "The Stolen Generations | The Virtual Psychoanalytic Museum". www.virtualpsychoanalyticmuseum.org. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  18. ^ "Ittai Shapira". www.arkivmusic.com. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  19. ^ "Champs Hill Records - Ittai Shapira". www.champshillrecords.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  20. ^ "A Pair of Violin Virtuosos: Anderegg and Shapira". The Juilliard School. 2013-04-27. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  21. ^ "Ittai Shapira Interview - CompositionToday.Com". www.compositiontoday.com. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  22. ^ "Avner Dorman | America-Israel Cultural Foundation". America-Israel Cultural Foundation. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  23. ^ "Violin Concerto (Katrina) (2011) - THEODORE WIPRUD | Composer". THEODORE WIPRUD | Composer. 2011-01-01. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  24. ^ "Tikkun". Sentient MFM. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  25. ^ "Concerto honoring Daniel Pearl to premiere in S.F. – J." J. 2014-12-13. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  26. ^ "Molloy College: Ittai Shapira Receives Special Victor Herbert Foundation Award". www.molloy.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  27. ^ "Ilona Feher Foundation". Ilona Feher Foundation. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  28. ^ "Ittai Shapira | America-Israel Cultural Foundation". America-Israel Cultural Foundation. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  29. ^ "Home". Sound Potential. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  30. ^ Doctor, Empowered. "Can Music Heal? | Empowered Doctor". www.empowereddoctor.com. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  31. ^ "Ittai Shapira - Tarisio". Tarisio. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
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