Berlin

Josef Tal (Gruenthal)

Composer, pianist & teacher

Josef Tal (b. Pine, Germany 1910 - Jerusalem 2008, immigrated in 1934), composer, pianist, conductor, and lecturer, has gained an exceptional reception in the last decades. As one of the most published local composers, about 100 of his pieces have been published by the Israel Music Institute. He was the most distinctive among the first generation of composers who principally opposed the use of folklorism and orientalism. This may have reflected his education in Berlin in the late 1920's, where he was immensely influenced by the Second Viennese school.

1910-2008

Jacob Beimel

American cantor, composer and musicologist

Born in Parichi, Belarus. Immigrated to the U.S. in 1915. Worked as cantor and conductor in Europe (Berlin and Copenhagen) and later in the U.S. (New York and Philadelphia). Has written many articles concerning Jewish music. Founded the Journal, Jewish Music, in which he published a few of his own compositions and adaptations (synagogue music, folk songs, and Hassidic melodies).

1875-1944
[Pictures taken from: Beimel, Jacob. Mikitka (Jewish folk song). New York : Jos. P. Katz, 1924]

Edith (Esther) Gerson Kiwi

Musicologist

Edith Gerson-Kiwi was born in Berlin and completed her formative studies in piano and harpsichord performance under teacher Wanda Landowska at the Ecole de Musique Ancienne. 

In 1933, she finished her doctorate under Besseler at the University of Heidelberg with a dissertation on the 16th-century Italian canzonetta. 

1908-1992

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