It doesn’t seem plausible that an Israel-born world-class composer wouldn’t be known to Israeli audiences, but until this year, Nimrod Borenstein, a 49-year-old British-French-and-Israeli composer whose pieces are widely performed worldwide, hadn’t had his music performed in his homeland, Trend reports referring to The Times of Israel.
“It was starting to be weird not to be here,” said Borenstein, currently in Israel for a performance of his work, the second time in two months “It felt nice to be anonymous, but then it also felt a little bit strange.”
Borenstein works solely as a composer, traveling widely with his music, and with known musicians such as Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Philharmonia Orchestra championing his music. He wrote the score for a juggling ballet that is regularly performed at London’s Covent Garden and is currently working on an opera commission.
Borenstein’s latest album, “Ashkenazy/Borenstein Chandos,” got a five star review from the BBC Music Magazine and a maximum star rating from the Classica music label.
Yet Israel, his birthplace, knew little of Borenstein’s music, until November, when the Israel Camerata gave six concerts of one of his major works, “The Big Bang and Creation of the Universe.”
That initial exposure brought Borenstein’s music to the attention of Ben Goodman, a young pianist who was raised in London, moved to Israel with his family, spent time in New York studying and then returned to Israel.
Goodman changed the repertoire of his upcoming recital at the Israel Music Conservatory to include the Israeli premiere of Borenstein’s “Souvenirs opus 49” for violin and piano.
Borenstein is now in Israel again, this time for Goodman’s recital.
“It feels like family here,” he said. “There’s something about working with the younger players, it’s working with the future, you feel like you’re giving back something.”
Born in Tel Aviv, Borenstein was raised in Paris where his mother and father, artist Alec Borenstein, moved when he was 2 years old. His musical education began when he was 3, and he was composing by age 6.
Borenstein later moved to London for his studies, and has been there for the last 30 years, composing for orchestras worldwide.
While he has visited Israel, spending much of each summer here, he never had his works performed here. There were Israeli musicians abroad who would sometimes come across his music, or friends of his parents who would travel, and ask where in Europe his works were being performed that season.
“Israelis get around, they study abroad, they travel, they come back, I like that,” he said.
It’s how he leads his life as well, composing many works each year and traveling to the cities where they’re performed.
He’s a musician who relishes the challenges presented by each commission, whether it’s a choreographer who heard his music and asked him to create something for a ballet, or a piece he’s now writing for the cello, one of “the hardest instruments to write for,” he said.
“It takes a long time to write a piece,” said Borenstein, “and I try to tread carefully, working well in advance.”
Still, even with upcoming tasks like music for an opera, a piece for the cello and a soprano for Shakespeare, Borenstein said he’s up to the challenge.
It’s good to vary, he said.
“Life is pretty short and the challenge is to have done a lot of things,” said Borenstein. “Change is good in life.”