Osvaldo Golijov

Osvaldo Golijov was born in and raised in La Plata, Argentina, to a Jewish family that immigrated to Argentina from Romania and Ukraine.{{Cite web |title=Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra |url=https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/4273/three-songs-for-soprano-and-orchestra |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=Los Angeles Philharmonic |language=en-US}} His mother was a piano teacher, and his father was a physician. He studied piano in La Plata and studied composition with Gerardo Gandini.{{Cite web |title=Osvaldo Golijov |url=https://www.silkroad.org/artists-osvaldo-golijov |access-date=2024-06-12 |website=Silkroad |language=en-US}}

In 1983, Golijov emigrated to Israel, where he studied with Mark Kopytman at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. Three years later, he studied with George Crumb at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree. In 1991, Golijov joined the faculty of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he was named Loyola Professor of Music in 2007.{{cite web|url=http://news.holycross.edu/blog/2007/07/10/osvaldo-golijov-named-loyola-professor-of-music-at-holy-cross/|title = Osvaldo Golijov Named Loyola Professor of Music at Holy Cross |access-date = 2008-05-27}} During the 2012–13 concert season, he occupied the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer's Chair at Carnegie Hall.

As of 2016, Golijov lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.{{Cite news|url=http://brookline.wickedlocal.com/news/20160830/exploration-of-sound-and-sense-brookline-composer-osvaldo-golijov|title=An exploration of sound and sense: Brookline composer Osvaldo Golijov|last=Lovett|first=Laura|work=Brookline TAB|access-date=2017-03-12}}

Golijov is married to author Leah Hager Cohen. He was previously married to architect and designer Neri Oxman.,{{cite web|url=http://www.surfacemag.com/articles/neri-oxman-material-ecology |title=Neri Oxman Is Redesigning the Natural World |publisher=Surface Magazine |date=June 6, 2016 |access-date=August 31, 2016}} and has three children with his first wife, Silvia, who is a Special Education teacher.{{cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2006/10/27/newton_composer_bowls_over_bowie/|title = Newton composer bowls over Bowie|access-date = 2006-12-03 | work=The Boston Globe | date=2006-10-27 | first1=Carol | last1=Beggy | first2=Mark | last2=Shanahan}}

Golijov grew up listening to chamber music, Jewish liturgical and klezmer music, and the nuevo tango of Ástor Piazzolla.{{cite web |url=http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/music/three-songs-for-soprano-and-orchestra-osvaldo-golijov |title=Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra {{!}} LA Phil |website=www.laphil.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920204435/http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/music/three-songs-for-soprano-and-orchestra-osvaldo-golijov |archive-date=2015-09-20}} His Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind was inspired by the writings and teachings of Rabbi Yitzhak Saggi Nehor.{{cite web|url=http://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-8141/|title=Golijov's Yiddishbbuk|work=ClassicsToday.com|access-date=23 September 2013}}

In 1996, his work Oceana was premiered at the Oregon Bach Festival. He composed La Pasión según San Marcos for the Passion 2000 project in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach.{{cite news|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/04/music-review-oswaldo-golijovs-st-mark-passion-finally-reaches-los-angeles.html|title=Osvaldo Golijov's 'St. Mark' Passion finally reaches Los Angeles|date=25 April 2010|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=23 September 2013}} In 2010, he composed Sidereus for a consortium of 35 American orchestras, to commemorate Galileo.{{cite web|url=http://www.kcindependent.com/2011/03/7053/|title=HOMAGE TO HENRY: Orchestras, League commission top composer to honor visionary leader|last=Horsley|first=Paul|publisher=Kansas City Independent|access-date=28 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002001208/http://www.kcindependent.com/2011/03/7053/|archive-date=2 October 2011|url-status=dead}}

Golijov had a long working relationship with soprano Dawn Upshaw, who he called his muse.{{cite journal|date=Spring 2013|title=Joyful Noise|url=http://magazine.holycross.edu/issue_47_2/47_2_osvaldo|journal=College of the Holy Cross Magazine|author=Daniel J Wakin|access-date=26 December 2013}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/17/arts/music/17dawn.html|title=Singers and Composers in a Stylistic Mix and Match|last=Schweitzer|first=Vivien|date=17 April 2007|work=The New York Times|access-date=26 December 2013}} She premiered some of his works, often written specifically for her. These included Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra and his popular opera, Ainadamar, which premiered at Tanglewood in 2003.

Starting in 2000, Golijov composed movie soundtracks for documentaries and other films, including The Man Who Cried, Youth Without Youth, Tetro and Twixt. He also composed and arranged chamber music, including for the Kronos Quartet (Nuevo) and the St. Lawrence String Quartet.

Golijov's song cycle "Falling Out of Time" was inspired by a novel by Israeli author David Grossman.{{Cite news |last=Fonseca-Wollheim |first=Corinna da |date=2020-11-05 |title=After a Decade of Silence, a Composer Reappears |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/05/arts/music/osvaldo-golijov-music.html |access-date=2023-02-06 |issn=0362-4331}}

Golijov composed the soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola's "Megalopolis" which he subsequently developed into a symphonic work premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on November 8, 2024. Coppola was present at the world premier of this work.

{{Undue weight section|date=February 2021|section=yes}}

Golijov came under scrutiny in 2011 for a series of commissions that were either delayed or cancelled. A violin concerto written for the Los Angeles Philharmonic was not completed in time, Golijov missed a second deadline the following year in Berlin,{{cite web | url = http://www.thestrad.com/cpt-latests/osvaldo-golijov-violin-concerto-delayed-again/ | title = Osvaldo Golijov Violin Concerto Delayed Again | work = The Strad | date = 2012-11-30 | access-date = 2014-12-25 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141226011629/http://www.thestrad.com/cpt-latests/osvaldo-golijov-violin-concerto-delayed-again/ | archive-date = 2014-12-26 | url-status = dead }} and a third composition missed its January 2013 premiere at Disney Hall.{{cite news| url = https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-osvaldo-golijov-misses-deadline-violin-concerto-20121129,0,7070695.story | work = Los Angeles Times | first = David | last = Ng | title = Osvaldo Golijov Misses yet Another Deadline for Violin Concerto | date = 29 November 2012}}

This followed a similar cancellation in 2010, when a scheduled song cycle had to be removed from the program when it was not completed in time.{{cite news | url = http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/03/los-angeles-philharmonic-hit-by-wave-of-cancellations-by-artists.html | title = Los Angeles Philharmonic Hit by Wave of Cancellations by Artists | access-date = 2011-03-15 | work = Los Angeles Times | date = 2011-03-14}} The March 2011 premiere of a new string quartet for the St. Lawrence Quartet was also postponed,{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/arts/music/st-lawrence-string-quartet-at-zankel-hall-review.html | title = One Fresh Score in Place of Another | access-date = 2011-03-15 | work = The New York Times | first = Allan | last = Kozinn | author-link = Allan Kozinn | date = 2011-03-09}} though the work, Qohelet, was completed later that year and premiered by the quartet in October 2011.

Around 2006, the Metropolitan Opera commissioned Golijov to compose an opera, to be performed in the 2018–19 season.{{Cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/developing-new-operas-is-an-art-in-itself/2013/10/16/f7849c26-3687-11e3-8a0e-4e2cf80831fc_story.html | title = Developing New Operas Is an Art in Itself | last = Midgette | first = Anne | author-link = Anne Midgette | date = 2013-10-16 | newspaper = The Washington Post | access-date = 2020-01-10 | issn = 0190-8286}} In 2016, the Met cancelled the commission because of the composer's lack of progress.{{Cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2016/11/30/et-tu-golijov-the-mets-bumpy-road-with-new-opera/ | title = Et tu, Golijov? The Met's Bumpy Road with New Opera. | last = Midgette | first = Anne | date = 2016-11-30 | newspaper = The Washington Post | access-date = 2017-03-12 | issn = 0190-8286}}

Tom Manoff, a composer and critic, and Brian McWhorter, a trumpeter, alleged that Golijov's Sidereus was largely copied from Michael Ward-Bergeman's composition Barbeich. Alex Ross of The New Yorker reviewed both scores and wrote, "To put it bluntly, 'Sidereus' is 'Barbeich' with additional material attached." Ross added that Ward-Bergeman knew of and did not object to Golijov's borrowings, having written, "Osvaldo and I came to an agreement regarding the use of 'Barbeich' for 'Sidereus.' The terms were clearly understood, and we were both happy to agree. Osvaldo and I have been friends and collaborators for years. I don’t have anything else to say about the matter."{{cite magazine | author = Alex Ross | author-link = Alex Ross (music critic) | url = https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-golijov-issue-borrowed-music-or-stolen | title = The Golijov Issue: Borrowed Music, or Stolen? | magazine = The New Yorker | date = 2020-01-10 | access-date = 2014-12-25}} A consortium of 35 orchestras had paid Golijov $75,000, supplemented by a $50,000 grant from the League of American Orchestras, to write a 20-minute work.{{cite web | first = Daniel J. | last = Wakin | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/arts/music/osvaldo-golijov-fracas-over-sidereus-overture.html | title = Musical Borrowing Under Scrutiny | work = The New York Times | date = 2012-03-07 | access-date = 2014-12-25}} The work that Golijov produced was only 9 minutes. Golijov had used that same musical material in his 2009 composition Radio.{{cite web | url = http://davidmacdonaldmusic.com/the-golijov-problem/ | title = The Golijov Problem | first = David | last = MacDonald | author-link = | date = 24 February 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160909233122/http://davidmacdonaldmusic.com/the-golijov-problem/ | archive-date = 9 September 2016 | url-status=dead | access-date = 10 January 2020}}

Golijov responded to these questions by explaining that he composed the original musical material jointly with Ward-Bergeman for a film score which in the end did not include the material, and that he used it by agreement with Ward-Bergeman, who did not comment publicly on the matter. Golijov cited Monteverdi, Schubert and Mahler as other composers who used existing musical material to create new music.{{cite news|last1=Weininger|first1=David|date=2012-03-16|title=Longwood Gets Its Turn with Sidereus|work=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2012/03/16/longwood-symphony-gets-its-turn-with-controversial-sidereus/F1ubcx8CfsMK6G2NmnBnYO/story.html|access-date=2012-11-09}}

Some of Golijov's notable works include the following:{{Cite web

| title = Golijov's published list of his own compositions

| author = Osvaldo Golijov

| work = osvaldogolijov.com

| access-date = 2015-10-16

| url = http://www.osvaldogolijov.com/works.htm

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130628235105/http://www.osvaldogolijov.com/works.htm

| archive-date = 2013-06-28

| url-status = dead

}}

• Yiddishbbuk (1992), for string quartet.{{cite web|title=Golijov's Yiddishbbuk|url=http://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-8141/| work=ClassicsToday.com|access-date=23 September 2013}}
• The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind (1994), for klezmer clarinet and string quartet (and later for clarinet and string orchestra)
• Oceana (1996), cantata for soloist, boys choir, chorus, electric guitars, and reduced orchestra (strings, flutes, and percussion).{{cite web|url=http://worldmusiccentral.org/2007/08/10/musical-shadings-and-unusual-textures/|title=Musical Shadings and Unusual Textures – World Music Central.org|website=worldmusiccentral.org|access-date=15 February 2018}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Osvaldo-Golijov-Oceana/55618|title=Osvaldo Golijov – Oceana|website=www.boosey.com|access-date=2017-03-16}}
• La Pasión según San Marcos (St. Mark's Passion) (2000){{cite news|title=Osvaldo Golijov's 'St. Mark' Passion finally reaches Los Angeles|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/04/music-review-oswaldo-golijovs-st-mark-passion-finally-reaches-los-angeles.html|access-date=23 September 2013 | work=Los Angeles Times|date=25 April 2010}}{{cite news|last=Kozinn|first=Allan|title=La Pasión según San Marcos; A Work Unbounded By Musical Categories|work=The New York Times|page=1|date=20 August 2007|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/20/arts/music/20marc.html|access-date=23 September 2013}}
• Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra (2001). Lúa Descolorida from this set was later repurposed as the 'Peter's Tears' Aria in La Pasión según San Marcos.[http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/music/three-songs-for-soprano-and-orchestra-osvaldo-golijov LA Philharmonic] notes
• Tenebrae (2002), for soprano, clarinet and string quartet.Golijov, Osvaldo N. [http://osvaldogolijov.com/wd33.htm "Tenebrae (2002)"], osvaldogolijov.com Retrieved on 16 February 2018.
• Ainadamar (2003): Golijov's first opera, libretto by David Henry Hwang.{{cite web | author=Laura Barnett | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/apr/02/classicalmusicandopera.arts1 | title=I love it when music brings people to blows | work=The Guardian | date=2008-04-02 | access-date=2014-12-25}}
• Ayre (2004): a song cycle for soprano and ensemble, premiered by Upshaw and The Andalucian Dogs.{{cite news|last=Kozinn|first=Allan|title=CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEW; Skipping Across the Globe and Through Time|work=The New York Times|page=4|date=6 February 2006|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/06/arts/music/06goli.html|access-date=23 September 2013}}
• Azul (2006), for cello and orchestra, premiered by Yo-Yo Ma at Tanglewood.{{cite news|last=Smith|first=Steve|title=Concerto Retinkered (for Youthful Soloist)|work=The New York Times|page=3|date=31 July 2007|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/arts/music/31alis.html}}{{cite news|title=Philharmonic Steals a Page From the Art World With a New-Music Biennial|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/24/arts/music/philharmonic-announces-ny-phil-biennial-for-2014.html|access-date=5 March 2013 | work=The New York Times|first=Daniel J.|last=Wakin|date=23 January 2013}}
• She Was Here (2008), an orchestration of four songs by Schubert, premiered by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.{{cite news|title=Anthony Minghella, 54, Director, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/movies/19minghella.html|access-date=26 December 2013 | work=The New York Times|first=David|last=Carr|date=19 March 2008}}
• Sidereus (2010), for orchestra, commissioned by a consortium of 36 orchestras.

"Megalopolis" premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on November 8, 2024.

Awards

• Guggenheim Fellowship (1995)
• MacArthur Fellowship (2003)
• Musical America Composer of the Year (2006)
• Grammy Awards x2 (2007): Ainadamar, Best Opera Recording and Best Classical Contemporary Composition
• Vilcek Prize in Music (2008){{Cite web|url=http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/New-Music-News-Wire-2008-2-15/#Vilcek|title=New Music News Wire|website=NewMusicBox|date=15 February 2008|access-date=2015-11-11}}

Appointments

• Merkin Hall (New York), composer-in-residence (1998)
• Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Alive Series, composer-in-residence (2001)
• Ravinia Festival, composer-in-residence (2002)
• Spoleto Festival USA, composer-in-residence (2002, 2011)
• Ojai Music Festival, composer-in-residence (2006)
• Mostly Mozart Festival, composer-in-residence (2007)
• Chicago Symphony Orchestra, composer-in-residence (2007–2010)
• Holland Festival, composer-in-residence (2008)
• Carnegie Hall, Debs Composer Chair (2012–13)

Film soundtracks

• The Man Who Cried soundtrack (Sony Classical/SME SK 61870){{cite news|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-26724701_ITM|title=Osvaldo Golijov: A busy composer finds it all a little 'scary.'|last=Crebo|first=Anna|date=2002-11-01|publisher=American Record Guide|access-date=2009-02-10}}
• Youth Without Youth soundtrack (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics, 2007)
• Tetro soundtrack (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics, 2009)
• Twixt soundtrack
• Megalopolis soundtrack

Voice, chamber music and orchestral

• Yiddishbbuk (EMI Classics 7243 5 57356 2 1) – nominated for a 2003 Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance
• Oceana (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics, 2007)
• Ayre (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics 477 5414)—nominated for a 2006 Grammy for Best Classical Contemporary Composition
• Ainadamar (Dawn Upshaw, Robert Spano, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra) (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics)—won two 2007 Grammy Awards for recording and for composition
• La Pasión según San Marcos The Passion according to St. Mark (live & studio) (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics 479 0346)
• The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind performed by the Kronos Quartet (Nonesuch/Elektra 79444)
• Voices of Light, Lúa Descolorida sung by soprano Dawn Upshaw (Nonesuch/Elektra 79812)
• Night Prayers, K'vakarat on recording of the Kronos Quartet (Nonesuch/Elektra 79346)
• Caravan arrangements for the Kronos Quartet (Nonesuch/Elektra 79490)

• {{Official website}}
• [http://streams.wgbh.org/online/play.php?xml=clas/081806golijov.xml&template=clas/ Osvaldo Golijov discusses Aidanamar] on WGBH radio
• [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121772989&ps=bb2 NPR's Tom Huizenga on La Pasión Según San Marcos]
• [http://www.bluefat.com/1006/Osvaldo_Golijov.htm The Passion of Osvaldo Golijov]
• {{IMDb name|326497|Osvaldo Golijov}}

{{Authority control}}

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Category:1960 births

Category:Living people

Category:American classical composers

Category:Jewish classical composers

Category:EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists

Category:Deutsche Grammophon artists

Category:Argentine male classical composers

Category:Grammy Award winners

Category:MacArthur Fellows

Category:Argentine emigrants to the United States

Category:Argentine Jews

Category:Argentine people of Romanian-Jewish descent

Category:People from La Plata

Category:20th-century Argentine artists

Category:21st-century American composers

Category:20th-century Argentine classical composers

Category:21st-century Argentine classical composers

Category:20th-century American composers

Category:20th-century American male musicians

Category:21st-century American male musicians

Category:Nonesuch Records artists

Category:Argentine film score composers

Category:American film score composers

Category:American male film score composers

Category:Argentine people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent