BIO
Aviya Kopelman is one of the leading composers today in Israel, with a unique voice and musical statement in the current music scene.
Her diverse and colorful music is the product of a deep emotional process, very wide musical world and taste, and extremely demanding attention to each note.
Aviya's life as a musician began at age five, when she studied classical piano at School for Aesthetic Education in Moscow. The rigorous training prepared her for the exacting standards to which she would uphold her future compositions. After some years of pause in training and a family move to Israel she resumed training as a classical pianist at 12 and has continued ever since.
Within a few years of training Aviya was accepted to the highly prestigious and competitive Israel Art and Science Academy (IASA). There she was exposed to experimental composition, improvisation and orchestration, as well as extensive theoretical studies by leading Israeli musicians. After graduating IASA she entered the academic world at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance (JAMD) as a triple major in piano performance, composition and conducting. She graduated as a Composition major.
Following her graduation, Aviya has become one of the most active and busy composers in Israel, having both local and international career. She was one of the youngest ever laureates of the Israeli Prime Minister Prize for Composition (2007) and a winner of the "Kronos: Under 30" project by the award winning Kronos Quartet where she competed against 300 composers from around the world. As well, she is kept busy writing for various ensembles - orchestral, chamber, vocal, electro-acoustic etc. Her piece for the Kronos Quartet premiered in Carnegie Hall, New York and was subsequently released as an album. Later it was chosen as one of the very few works to be taught by the Kronos Quartet in the Professional Training Workshop in Carnegie Hall, which was later performed by the Ragazze Quartet. In 2011 Aviya was commissioned to write a new piece to be performed in Carnegie Hall - and this time she participated as a pianist as well.
Aviya's path as a musician continues to develop and change. Currently working as a Composer-in-Residence of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, she is currently writing for and working with world-music artists such as Yair Dalal and Sameer Makhoul (oud); rock musicians such as Ruth Dolores Weiss (voice) and Yonatan Albalak (el. guitar); and first class jazz musicians with whom she is working nowadays on a new exciting cross-genre project "Turquoise". This alongside continuous work with leading classical ensembles, including the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition, Conjunto Iberico Cello Octet, Gabriel Lipkind, "Solistes des Waterloo", Israeli Chamber Orchestra, Israeli Camerata, Tel Aviv Soloists, Jerusalem Trio, Israel Festival, Jerusalem Music Centre, Voice of Music Festival, Keshet Eilon Matercourse, The Israel Sinfonietta Beer Sheva, Tel Aviv Chamber Choir, and many more.
Besides her career as a composer, Aviya is a very dedicated and experienced educator. She is currently a full time senior lecturer at Rimon School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, the leading and largest music college in Israel. Previously she taught at Hed College of Music, Tel Aviv. She is a frequent guest lecturer at universities, colleges, high schools and many art institutions, as well as a private instructor in composition, piano, arrangement and musicianship of any kind.
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