Biographical Notes

 

          Ofer Ben-Amots gave his first piano recital at the age of nine and, at sixteen, won first prize in the Chet Piano Competition. Following composition studies with Joseph Dorfman at Tel Aviv University, he studied at the Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva, Switzerland, with Pierre Wismer and privately with Alberto Ginastera. Ben-Amots is an alumnus of the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, Germany, where he studied with Martin C. Redel and Dietrich Manicke, earning degrees in composition, music theory, and piano. In 1987, he moved to the United States to pursue doctoral studies with George Crumb at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving his Ph.D. in composition. He is currently a member of the Music Department faculty at Colorado College, teaching composition, music theory, and a variety of liberal arts subjects.

 

          Ben-Amots’ works are performed regularly in concert halls and festivals worldwide. His music has been played by orchestras including the Zürich Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, the Austrian Radio Orchestra, Bruckner Orchestra, Moscow Camerata, Heidelberg, Erfurt, Brandenburg, the Filarmonici di Sicilia, Milano Chamber Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, North/South Consonance in New York, Portland Chamber Orchestra, and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. His compositions have been professionally recorded by the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony, Odessa Philharmonic, BBC Singers, the Czech choirs Permonik and Jitro, and Duo Quatro Mani. Ben-Amots has received commissions and grants from the MacArthur Foundation, Fulbright Foundation, Amado Foundation, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Fuji International Music Festival in Japan, Delta Ensemble in Amsterdam, Assisi Musiche Festival, Geneva Camerata, Montage Music Society, and others.

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          He is the winner of the 1994 Vienna International Competition for Composers. His chamber opera Fool’s Paradise premiered in Vienna during the 1994 festival Wien Modern and subsequently became part of the 1994/95 season of Opernhaus Zürich. He received the 1988 Kavannagh Prize for Fanfare for Orchestra and the Gold Award at the 1993 Roodepoort International Competition for Choral Composition in South Africa. His Avis Urbanus for amplified flute won First Prize at the 1991 Kobe International Competition for Flute Composition in Japan. In 1999, he was awarded both the Aaron Copland Award and the Music Composition Artist Fellowship by the Colorado Council on the Arts. In 2004, he won Festiladino, the international contest for Judeo-Spanish songs, part of the Israel Festival in Jerusalem. In 2015, Ben-Amots won First Prize at the 4th Smareglia International Composers Competition in Udine, Italy. His multimedia opera The Dybbuk has been produced in over ten productions in the U.S., Germany, and Israel, and has been described as “a uniquely beautiful and powerful new work” and “a service to music and to what is best in our humanity” (Listen for Life Reviews, Donna Stoering, Sep. 30, 2016.)

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          Ben-Amots’ works are widely recognized for their emotional depth and personal expression. The interweaving of folk elements with contemporary textures, combined with his imaginative orchestration, creates the haunting dynamic tension that defines his musical language. His published scores are available through the CCC Music Company, the Israel Music Institute, and The Composer’s own Press. Recordings are available on Naxos, Vantage, Plæne, Stylton, and the Milken Archive of Jewish Music. His collected archive of manuscripts, publications, recordings, reviews, and other personal and professional materials are preserved in the National Archive of the State of Israel in Jerusalem.