Library
Bios
Yoav Gal
Composer Yoav Gal was born in Israel and has been living in New York since 1988. He is Bang on a Can selected composer for the 2005 People’s Commissioning fund. His other commissions include works for percussionist David Cossin, IR SHEL SHALOM, for solo vibraphone and pre-recorded voice and the current in progress, WE SHALL FIGHT, based on a Winston Churchill speech, for a small ensemble of audio-sample-triggering devices and cello. He is also working on a solo cello piece STRANGERS for Wendy Sutter. Gal has also been commissioned by groups such as Ensemble Pamplemousse, ICE, and the Now ensemble.
Gal’s work is concentrated primarily on the marriage of music and image. In addition to music composition he is also a multi-discipline artist who creates the images and text to most of his stage and video works. His video-opera MOSHEH was dubbed "music that is drawn to what's next, rather then what has been" by the NY Times’ Allan Kozinn (Dec., 8, 2003). The term "Indie Opera" was used by the New York Times, on another occassion, to describe the production of Gal’s comic opera THE DWARF (Vertical Player Rep., Brooklyn, 2003). In the article “Never Say Die in Indie Opera” Anne Midgette writes: “The composer is moonlighting as a costume designer. The opera is about a woman who goes around with her lover, a dwarf named Lingus, under her gown, and designing a bustle large enough to conceal the tenor who plays Lingus, seemed as much a source of pride to Mr. Gal as writing the piece itself” Also sometimes referred to as ‘Living Room Opera,” Gal’s Growing list of works in this genre include VENUS IN FURS, commissioned by Golden Fleece LTD and premiered on March 2004 in New York. His opera MAO ZEDONG - JEALOUS SON, which premiered at La MaMa ETC (New York, 1999), was compared to "Einstein On The Beach" and "The Death of Klinghoffer" by the New York Press. A netcast of the work on the Franklin Furnace inaugural season at Pseudo Program is documented on the CD-ROM 'The History of the Future.' BERESHIT, for three female voices and three dancers, a Golden Fleece LTD commission, premiered in March 2001 in New York.
Gal's on-going collaboration with new-media artist Yael Kanarek has led to the creation of MUSIC FOR WORLD OF AWE, which was included in the 71st Whitney Biennial in New York. The polyphonic work for digitally manipulated voice, YOURS FOREVER, which was created for this project, is currently on the “Writing with Computers” class syllabus at MIT. WOA also extended to the creation of “World of Awe: Portal,” a flash animation work for the Internet, commissioned by Turbulence.org, and recently included in the Seoul Net & Film Festival, Videozone, in Tel Aviv, Israel and several other festivals.
Gal is a recipient of grants from the American Music Center, Harvestworks, Franklin Furnace, and BCAT/Brooklyn -Rotunda Gallery. He holds a BA in composition from the Manhattan School of Music and an MA from Queens College, a student of David Noon, Nils Vigeland and Thea Musgrave. He also studied visual art in Thelma Yelin School for the Arts, in Israel. Gal’s fledgling cable show videOpera is aired on Brooklyn Community Access TV.