Biographies

Researcher; founder and former head of the Jewish Music Research Centre 1925-2009 Read more

Léon Algazi is born in Epuresti (Romania) in 1890. He learns music in Vienna and in Paris. From his studies with the musicologist Abraham Zvi Idelsohn, he becomes deeply interested in the Jewih (…) Read more

Charles-Valentin Alkan ( November 3Oth 1813 – March 29th 1888), is a composer and precocious musician like Mozart, with a solid technique just like Liszt, and friend of Chopin (who “gave” him his (…) Read more

Samuel Alman is born in Sobolevka (Russia), in 1877. Sixth child of a family of 14 children, his father is a talmudist and musician, and his mother is an amateur poet. At the age of 5 he sings in (…) Read more

Zohar Argov, whose real name is Zohar Orkabi is an Israeli singer, born in the city of Rishon LeZion in Israel, on July 16, 1955. Read more

Simha Arom is a musician and a world-known ethnomusicologist, specialized in traditional music, especially from Central Africa. He also collected music from Ethiopian Jews when they arrived in (…) Read more

Artist with two cultures, endowed of a unique vocal expression, style and technique, her Judeo-Berber roots brought her naturally to be a lover of the Mediterranean vocal heritage, in particular (…) Read more

Daughter of a solo cellist at the Paris opera, who was removed from his position during the nazi occupation, like all the Jewish musicians of the orchestra, Elsa Barraine received the first Grand (…) Read more

Myrna and Clara were born in the Bronx, New York, to Ashkenazi Jewish parents, Herman and Ester, from Russia and Austria, respectively, and two younger sisters, Celia and Julia. When Minnie and (…) Read more

The Bécache dynasty : from rabbi to musician Jean Bécache’s grand-father, Shalom Bécache, is born in Bombay in 1848. He was native from Bagdad and spoke Arabic from Iraq. During a pilgrimage to (…) Read more