Biography

I write music, so that when we meet, you and I, we are not strangers anymore. Sharing common music is deeper than words. I write music, and so I am never too lonely, or too bored — the music accompanies and connects to the outer world, keeps challenging me day by day. Music for me has ever changing languages, colors, borders, laws, victories, jokes, adventures. Music can only heal, it never kills. Welcome to my journey.

Aviya Kopelman is a leading Israeli composer, born in Moscow and raised on it. Formed in Jerusalem, seasoned in Tel Aviv, and living in Berlin since 2024. From 2013 she served seven years as Composer-in-Residence of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Right upon her graduation recital, Aviya grabbed the attention of all of Israel's major newspapers, who described her music as "distinct, radical, pure, expressive, dramatic, and personal."

One of the youngest-ever recipients of the Israeli Prime Minister's Prize for Composition (2007), Kopelman is also the winner of the "Kronos: Under 30 Project," in which she was exclusively chosen to write a work commissioned and performed by the Kronos Quartet, co-commissioned with Carnegie Hall, New York, out of more than 300 competitors from across the world. The work has been performed in major venues around the world and recorded for CD. This major piece for string quartet followed naturally from Kopelman's first critically acclaimed work — her early String Quartet No. 1, written in 2000. She remained dedicated to string quartet writing, producing another substantial work, "Hidden Place," premiered and further performed by the Cremona Quartet.

Kopelman returned twice more to Carnegie Hall: first as a composer and piano performer in another commissioned work for singers and ensemble, and once again as part of the Professional Training Workshop with the Kronos Quartet.

Identity, memory and the personal

From the very beginning of her musical journey, Kopelman's attention has focused on questions of identity. Her works address the subject from personal, social, national, historical, gender and aesthetic perspectives, looking for a universal approach even in local and personal matters.

Among her pieces are works dealing with the memory of the Holocaust, with the Jewish theological-philosophical idea of free will and God's presence in our lives, and with the silence of the world during the Holocaust and how the climate of nationalism creates a general lack of empathy for humanity. "May They Rest in Peace" is dedicated to the victims of the terror of the Second Intifada; "Between Gaza and Berlin" was written during the 2014 "Protective Edge" military operation, referring both to the complicated political situation and to the cultural situation in Israel, which often seems caught between Western ambition and Middle-Eastern reality. Less charged works on the same terrain include a concerto for oud and violin — pointing at the musical culture being created in Israel and the Middle East today, which has much in common with the Baroque concerto grosso — and the symphonic overture "Ode to Jerusalem." She has set many Jewish texts, from Biblical verses to modern Jewish and Israeli poetry.

Feminism and the female artist

As a woman in a highly male-dominated profession, Kopelman feels increasingly connected to feminist issues and obliged to raise awareness and provoke thought on women-related subjects. One example is the Hebrew Magnificat, a piece for choir and orchestra that builds a Feminist-Jewish parallel to the common Magnificat, using Latin, German and Hebrew texts and chants focused on various aspects of maternity.

Other works address the role and identity of the artist — especially a female one — in society: always struggling, too often tragic. Kopelman has drawn on the poetry of Anna Akhmatova, Leah Goldberg, Yona Wallach and Emily Dickinson for works such as "Songs of Love & Distress" for voice and piano or string quartet, "Sooner and Later" for voice and string orchestra, percussion and drums, and the "Grief Measure" song cycle.

Experimentation and multi-genre work

In her commissioned work for the Kronos Quartet, "Widows and Lovers," Kopelman continued experimenting with the combination of live and pre-recorded electronics with acoustic instruments — an exploration begun in a cello solo work commissioned by the award-winning cellist Gavriel Lipkind, later performed by Kronos violist Hank Dutt. Another experimental work is "Anarchy in a Synagogue" for violin and Max/MSP live electronics.

Throughout her career, Kopelman has searched for her most truthful, accurate and up-to-date musical path, remaining curious about new musical universes and languages. One of her hallmarks today is multi-genre work combining her diverse musical passions. Some of her concert works intentionally blur the line between concert and non-concert music, being equally suitable for varied venues and audiences — including "Sooner and Later," "Grief Measure," "Belong Not" (commissioned by the San Francisco Girls Chorus), "Black Widow" (the third movement of "Widows & Lovers," often performed independently) and "Be Humble" for mixed choir on a text from the Tao Te Ching. Other works were written deliberately for non-concert ensembles: she formed a jazz-fusion ensemble, recorded an album of her songs, combined contemporary instrumental writing with alternative art-rock, and collaborated with many non-classical musicians.

Teaching and education

While composition is the core of her artistic career, Kopelman has also taught from a very early stage and sees it as a vocation. She has more than 13 years of postgraduate teaching experience at leading institutions such as the Rimon School of Music and Hed College, alongside continuous guest lecturing at Israeli higher-education institutions and workshops and courses for young people.

Kopelman holds an MA Summa Cum Laude in composition and is a Presidential Scholarship doctoral candidate at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. She has been a recipient of the Israel Institute Visiting Artists Program and of the Cité des Arts Paris residency.