20 ISRAELI COMPOSERS

[Robert Fleisher <U40RJF1...>]

Dear Jewish music list subscribers:

I recently learned about this network from George Robinson,
with whom I had the pleasure of an extended telephone
interview a week ago concerning my book TWENTY ISRAELI
COMPOSERS: VOICES OF A CULTURE.  I believe the piece he is
writing will appear in Jewish Week the first week of
February.

For those who may interested,  TWENTY ISRAELI COMPOSERS is
the first published collection of interviews with Israeli
composers, and one of only a handful, at most, of current
titles directly concerning contemporary Israeli music.  The
foreword was contributed by the composer Shulamit Ran. 
Three generations are represented, including immigrants from
Central and Eastern Europe, North and South America, and
native sabras, all discussing their experiencees in and
ideas about music and the creative process.  The interviews
are in the form of first-person narratives, and are grouped
by generation.  Composers profiled are Hanoch Jacoby, Josef
Tal, Haim Alexander, Mordecai Seter, Abel Ehrlich, Ben-Zion
Orgad, Tzvi Avni, Ami Maayani, Aharon Harlap, Arik Shapira,
Daniel Galay, Tsippi Fleischer, Gabriel Iranyi, Stephen
Horenstein, Noa Guy, Haim Permont, Yinam Leef, Betty
Olivero, Ari Ben-Shabetai, and Oded Zehavi.  My introduction
briefly summarizes the development of art music and its
institutions in Israel, and includes a discussion of
"Definitions, Perceptions, and Attitudes" concerning Jewish
and Israeli music.

>From the back cover--

"The first-person narratives collected here and the broad
spectrum provided by Robert Fleisher, on musical life and
creativity in Israel, permit an insight into the general
cultural atmosphere and the role of music in a steadily
developing country." -- Peter Gradenwitz, University of
Freiburg/Breisgau

"The boiling cauldron of Israeli music, music by immigrants
and by Israelis born of diverse ethnic and cultural
backgrounds, comes to life in the monologues representative
of three generations of composers, born between 1909 and
1961. . . . The book is a fascinating, collective,
historical and contemporary biography of a highly committed
group of musicians in a highly musical country." -- Jehoash
Hirshberg, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

"There is no more compelling work on the aesthetics of
modern Israeli musical life. . . . One of the most exciting
works on composers and contemporary music at the end of the
twentieth century." -- Philip V. Bohlman, University of
Chicago

TWENTY ISRAELI COMPOSERS was published in June of this year
by the Wayne State University Press (Detroit); copies can be
ordered by telephone: 1-800-WSU-READ (1-800-978-7323), fax
(313-577-6131), or mail: WSU Press, 4809 Woodward Avenue,
Detroit, MI 48201-1309.  The price is $39.95 (cloth);
shipping and handling in the US: $3.00 for the first copy,
$1.00 for each additional book; for foreign orders, $4.00
for the first and $2.00 for additional copies.  In Europe,
WSU Press publications are also distributed by Eurospan
University Press Group, 3 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden,
London WC2E 8LU, U.K.

Should you need any additional information, or wish to
contact me directly, my (easiest) e-mail address is:
<rfleisher (at) niu(dot)edu>.

Many thanks.

Robert Fleisher
School of Music
NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
DeKalb, IL 60115-2889
Tel: 815-753-0642
Fax (to my attention): 815-753-1759