Yuval Avital

Last updated
Yuval Avital
Foto Yuval Avital 1- Crediti Sebastian Rodriguez Medieta (cropped).jpg
Born1977
Jerusalem, Israel
CitizenshipIsraeli, Italian
Occupation(s)multimedia artist, painter, composer, guitarist
Known forlarge-scale installations, immersive performances, icon-sonic operas
Notable work"Fuga Perpetua", "Alma Mater", "Lessico Animale. Mysterion"
Website www.yuvalavital.com

Yuval Avital (born 1977) is a multimedia artist, composer, and guitarist based in Milan, Italy. [1]

Contents

His large-scale installations and immersive performances have been presented in prominent museums, [2] biennials, [3] opera houses [4] and cultural institutions worldwide. Avital’s multidisciplinary practice spans sound, visual art, performance, video-art and theater, often in collaboration with scientific institute such as NASA, [5] ethnographic archives, [6] master craftsmen, [7] traditional performers and entire entire urban communities. [8] In 2016 his icon-sonic opera Fuga Perpetua received the sponsorship of the UNHCR, [9] underscoring his commitment to socially and culturally significant themes.

Biography

Yuval Avital was born in 1977 in Jerusalem, Israel. Avital develops his works in a variety of spaces, including public venues, industrial archaeological sites, theatres and museums, challenging the traditional crystallized categories that separate the arts.

His wide-ranging career includes the realization of monographic exhibitions,massive sonic works, sound and video installations of vast dimensions, collective performances involving sound masses in the creation of contemporary rituals, icon-sonic operas and artworks, complex multimedia frameworks, technological projects with the participation of scientists and usage of artificial intelligence, and compositions for soloists, choirs, orchestras and ensembles involving, sometimes, traditional masters of ancient cultures, dancers, performers and non-musicians. [10]

Art

Yuval Avital's work spans a vast array of mediums, showcasing his commitment to merging diverse art forms into unified, immersive experiences. Known for his large-scale installations, groundbreaking performances, and innovative musical compositions, Avital's works often explore themes of identity, memory, nature, and cultural dialogue. His artistic vision is marked by an interdisciplinary approach that integrates sound, visual art and performance, creating multifaceted narratives that resonate across cultural and historical contexts.

His artworks, featured in museum and private collections, have been exhibited in 23 solo and 12 group shows at renowned museums, foundations, and art events, including the MANIFESTA Biennial, the Gwangju Biennale in Korea, the Ostrale Biennale in Dresden, the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, LOOP Festival in Barcelona, Palais de Tokyo, MACRO - Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome, the La Fabbrica del Cioccolato Foundation in Switzerland, the Marino Marini Museum in Florence, the National Museum of Science and Technology "Leonardo da Vinci" in Milan, Teatro Regio in Parma, Chiostri di San Pietro in Reggio Emilia, and the Biscozzi | Rimbaud Foundation in Lecce.

HUMAN SIGNS, is a Global participatory online dance and voice artwork, conceived in time of COVID-19, with the participation of over 218 artists from over 50 countries presented digitally in MANIFESTA 13 Marseille as a part of Real Utopias exhibition and as a physical exhibition on the occasion of LOOP Festival in Barcelona.

Monographic exhibitions

Installations and permanent sculptures

Performance

Large-scale projects

Yuval Avital, The Forest of Cernunnos, 2022 Yuval Avital, The Cernunnos wood, 2022.jpg
Yuval Avital, The Forest of Cernunnos, 2022
Yuval Avital, Human Signs, Collage, 2020 Yuval Avital, Human Signs, Collage, 2020.jpg
Yuval Avital, Human Signs, Collage, 2020

Music

His compositions and stage works includes 6 chamber Operas (coined by the artist as Icon-SonicOperas), large scale works involving tens and sometimes hundreds of performers (coin by the artists as Massive Sonic Works) quartets, orchestral works and chamber music, often with a strong multimedia components. These works have been presented at opera houses, venues, and festivals, including the Parma Opera House Teatro Regio, Teatro Due Parma, Modena Freni-Pavarotti Opera House, Teatro Valli Reggio Emilia, Teatro Comunale di Como, Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen, Centre Pompidou Paris, National Conservatory of China, Tel Aviv Museum, Palazzo Reale Milan, Warsaw Autumn Festival, London Design Festival, Brighton Festival, MiTo SettembreMusica Festival, RomaEuropa Festival, and Matera European Capital of Culture, performed by leading ensembles and soloists such as PMCE Parco della Musica Contemporanea Ensemble, Tempo Reale Ensemble, Meitar Ensemble, Auditivvokal Dresden,  Quartetto Lyskamm, Nicholas Isherwood, Monica Benvenuti, Silvia Pepe, Paolo De Gaspari, Maria Grazia Bellocchio, Maurizio Ben Omar, Dirk Hirthe, Eros Sabbatani, Seiko Tanaka, Michele Selva, Maurizio Barbetti, Gianpaolo Antongirolami, Sergio Scappini, and Giovanni Cospito, conducted by Tonino Battista, José Luis Gomez–Rios, Sandro Gori and  Olaf Katzer to name some. [18]

Different works of Avital are dedicated to humanitarian issues such as his Opera Fuga Perpetua (2016) whose protagonists are refugees, which is endorsed by United Nations UNHCR; and his Opera Giobbe [Job, 2018 ] (איוב), commissioned by the Italian Government and the Italian the chairmanship of the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) in occasion of the 80th anniversary of the promulgation of the racial laws, In which he connected the holocaust to the genocides which followed afterwards till today.

In his compositions Avital often includes important carriers of non-western traditions (such as Samaritans, gong and bamboo ensembles of South-East Asia, nomads of Kazakhstan and many others), as well as vocal communities of non-musicians (coined by the artists as ‘Crowd Music’), collaborations with scientists from institutes such as NASA, ESA, INGV and with ethnographic and ethnomusicological archives.

Since 2019 Yuval Avital his musical and artistic practices often unite.

Massive Sonic Works

Urla, 2019 Urla, 2019.jpg
Urla, 2019

Icon-Sonic Works

Icon-Sonic Operas

  • JOB: icon-sonic Opera N.6, for String quintet (2 violins, viola, 2 cellos), 5 soloist voices (2 soprano, tenor, 2 basses), 2 percussions, 3 cantors of the 3 monotheistic religions, live electronics 2 narrators and visuals; Performing: PMCE Parco della Musica Contemporanea Ensemble. Conductor: Tonino Battista and Auditivvokal Dresden. conductor: Olaf Katzer Libretto by: Haim Baharier and Magda Poli. Duration: 85 minutes. Terme di Diocleziano, Rome, Italy, 2018 [25]
  • FUGA PERPETUA: [26] icon-sonic Opera for an ensemble, visuals, mobile sound theater and a vocal crowd. [27] Performing: Meitar Ensemble, with the sponsorship of UNHCR and of the International Theatre Institute, UNESCO. Duration: 82 minutes. [28] Premiere: Teatro Comunale “L. Pavarotti” Modena, Italy 12 March 2016. UK Premieres: Brighton Festival, Brighton, May 2016 and NEAT Festival, Nottingham, May 2016. [29]
  • NOISE FOR SYD: [30] icon/sonic opera N.4 for 7 musicians, light designer, visual artist, 2 dancers, video & electronics. Premiere: Festival Aperto, Cavalerizza reale, Reggio Emilia, Italy, 2013. [31] Duration: 30 minutes.
  • LEILIT: [32] nocturno icon/sonic opera N.3 for a recorders consort: contrabass in F, bass in C, bass in F, tenor, soprano & 2 sopranino; accordion consort (7 elements); piano; bowed piano; guitar soloist; 2 Keis cantors & Video (2011). Duration: 40 minutes.
  • SAMARITANS: [33] icon/sonic opera N.2, for a soloists ensemble, Samaritans choir, video & electronics. Conductor: Massimo Mazza. Premiere: MiTo SettembreMusica Festival, Teatro Nuovo, Milan, Italy, September 2010.
  • KOLOT: [34] icon/sonic opera N.1, for 12 traditional singers, soloists ensemble, video & electronics. Premiere: Opening event of REC festival, Cavalerizza reale, Reggio Emilia, Italy; Teatro dal Verme, Milan, Italy; opening event of the XXVI edition of the European Theatre Festival, Teatro Due, Parma, Spazio Grande Teatro 2 Parma, Italy 2008. Conductors: Yuval Avital, Nori Jacoby. Duration: 70 minutes.

Icon-Sonic Quartet

  • ABOUT BIRDS: icon-sonic string quartet N.2, for a String quartet with live electronics, live performance, live video projection (back screen), software programming. Premiere: L'Altro suono Festival - Modena UNESCO City of Media Arts, Teatro Comunale “L. Pavarotti” Modena, Italy, 2023. Performing: Meitar Ensemble. [35]
  • SILENT QUARTET: icon-sonic opera for a string quartet and video art. Performing: Quartetto Lyskamm. Duration: 60 minutes. Premiere: Anteo spazioCinema, 31 May 2016, Milan, Italy. [36]

Icon-Sonic Orchestras

  • OTOT: [37] icon-sonic symphony for extended chamber orchestra, 5 percussions, 3 accordions, visuals & live electronics. World premiere: opening of the symphonic season of Teatro Sociale di Como, Italy, January 2013. Duration: 55–65 minutes.

Icon-Sonic Chambers

  • Utopie N.1 for percussions, video & Tape. Premiere: Conservatorio G. Verdi, Milan, Italy. 04/09/2013. Performing: Lorenzo Colombo. Duration: 27 minutes.
  • Unfolding Space: Concerto for electric & classic guitar, live electronics, video and sonic translations of the cosmic space. In collaboration with NASA & ESA scientists. Duration 60 minutes. Premiere BergamoScienza, Italy, October 2012. Duration 60 minutes.
  • KANAF for Bass clarinet, tape & live electronics (2011–13). Premiere: Spain 2015. Performing: Paolo de Gaspari. Duration: 21 minutes.

Chamber music

Compositions for indigenous ensembles

Works for indigenous ensembles involve contemporary music and ancient traditions, they are a big part of Avital’s creations and researches. These projects seek a dialogue between cultures that seem distant in the common perception and the enhancement of unknown traditions. They enrich the contemporary musical language by presenting exciting sonorities, diverse esthetics, new instruments and vocal styles. Hence, contemporary works with ancient traditions or indigenous ensembles bring with them a meaningful value from a social, ethical, cultural and musical point of view.

Electro-acoustic composition

Music for Dance/Theater

Guitar

Graduated in the Jerusalem music Academy and later a part of Angelo Gilardino soloists class, under the tutorship of M° Angelo Gilardino & M° Luigi Biscaldi, Avital performed around the world for several years. After that he has focused on creating his own original compositions and on collaborations with masters and soloists of both creative and traditional music. Avital uses elements from the tradition of stringed instruments in the Middle East, Central Asia and Far East, combined with extended techniques for classical guitar.

Music collaborations

Yuval Avital’s work is focused on the research of intercultural relations, based on dialogue as a way to show hidden symmetries and complementarity inherent in the culture. Avital’s operas try to unite, through an ideal “bridge”, non-western musical cultures, traditional artists and custodians of ancient cultures around the world. His research of new forms of musical expressions through dialogue gave birth, in 2006, to Trialogo Festival, [39] where masters of ancient traditions, dance, jazz, classical and electric music and many other discipline meet to create a new opera or a common project.

In 2012, the Yuval & Wisam Duo, featuring Yuval Avital on guitar and live electronics and Wisam Gibran on oud and violin, created a profound intercultural dialogue. Combining Avital’s avant-garde techniques with Gibran’s mastery of Middle Eastern traditions, their partnership bridged cultures into a unified sonic tapestry.

Related Research Articles

Azio Corghi was an Italian composer, academic teacher and musicologist. He composed mostly operas and chamber music. His operas are often based on literature, especially in collaboration with José Saramago as librettist. His first opera, Gargantua, was premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin in 1984, his second opera, Blimunda, was first performed at La Scala in Milan in the 1989/90 season, and his third opera, Divara – aqua e sangue, was premiered in 1993 at the Theater Münster, Germany. He taught composition at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, among other academies. In 2005, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

<i>Prometeo</i> Opera by Luigi Nono

Prometeo (Prometheus) is an "opera" by Luigi Nono, written between 1981 and 1984 and revised in 1985. Here the word "opera" carries the generic Italian meaning of "works", as in work of art, and not its usual meaning in English. Indeed, Nono scornfully labels Prometeo a "tragedia dell'ascolto", a tragedy of listening. Objectively it can be considered a sequence of nine cantatas, the longest lasting 23 minutes. The Italian libretto, by Massimo Cacciari, selects from texts by such varied authors as Aeschylus, Walter Benjamin and Rainer Maria Rilke and presents the different versions of the myth of Prometheus without telling any version literally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Emilia-Romagna</span>

The Music of Emilia-Romagna has the reputation of being one of the richest in Europe; there are six music conservatories alone in the region, and the sheer number of other musical venues and activities is astounding. The region, as the name implies, combines the traditions of two different, contiguous areas—Emilia and Romagna—and it is perhaps this blend that contributes to the wealth of musical culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorenzo Ferrero</span> Italian composer (born 1951)

Lorenzo Ferrero is an Italian composer, librettist, author, and book editor. He started composing at an early age and has written over a hundred compositions thus far, including twelve operas, three ballets, and numerous orchestral, chamber music, solo instrumental, and vocal works. His musical idiom is characterized by eclecticism, stylistic versatility, and a neo-tonal language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberto Abbado</span> Italian conductor

Roberto Abbado is an Italian opera and symphonic music conductor. Currently he is an Artistic Partner of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In 2015 he has been appointed music director of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain. From 2018 he's Music Director of the Festival Verdi in Parma. Previously he held the position of Chief Conductor of Münchner Rundfunkorchester.

Andrea Molino is an Italian composer and conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberto Paci Dalò</span> Italian musician

Roberto Paci Dalò is an Italian author, composer and musician, film maker and theatre director, sound and visual artist, radio-maker. He is the co-founder and director of the performing arts ensemble Giardini Pensili and he has been the artistic director of Wikimania 2016 Esino Lario. He won the Premio Napoli per la lingua e la cultura italiana in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clorinda Corradi</span> Italian opera singer 1804-77

Clorinda Corradi was an Italian opera singer and one of the most famous contraltos in history.

Elisa Orlandi (1811–1834) was an Italian opera singer who was active at major opera houses in Italy from 1829 until her sudden death in 1834. Possessing a wide vocal range with a significant amount of coloratura facility, she tackled roles from both the mezzo-soprano and soprano repertoires. She is best remembered today for portraying the role of Giovanna Seymour in the world premiere of Gaetano Donizetti's Anna Bolena in 1830.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Cagnoni</span> Italian composer

Antonio Cagnoni was an Italian composer. Primarily known for his twenty operas, his work is characterized by his use of leitmotifs and moderately dissonant harmonies. In addition to writing music for the stage, he composed a modest amount of sacred music, most notably a Requiem in 1888. He also contributed the third movement, Quid sum miser, to the Messa per Rossini, a collaborative work created by thirteen composers to honor Gioacchino Rossini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adriano Guarnieri (composer)</span> Italian composer (born 1947)

Adriano Guarnieri is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music.

Luca Canonici is an Italian opera singer who has had an active career singing leading tenor roles both in Europe and his native Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luca Francesconi</span> Italian composer

Luca Francesconi is an Italian composer. He studied at the Milan Conservatory, later with Karlheinz Stockhausen and then Luciano Berio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlo Negrini</span> Italian opera singer (1826–1865)

Carlo Negrini was an Italian spinto tenor and creator of Gabriele Adorno in Verdi’s opera Simon Boccanegra.

Stephen Medcalf is a British stage director, particularly known for his opera productions, both in the UK and abroad. He received the Italian music critics' prize, Premio Abbiati, for "Best Director" in 2005. Medcalf is married to the British soprano Susan Gritton.

Stefano La Colla is an Italian tenor who has given recitals and performed in opera internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dario Palermo</span>

Dario Palermo is an Italian composer.

Alessandro Solbiati is an Italian composer of classical music, who has composed instrumental music for chamber ensembles and orchestra, art songs and operas. He received international commissions and awards, and many of his works are recorded. He is also an academic, teaching in Italy and France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franco Venturini (musician)</span> Italian composer and pianist

Franco Venturini is an Italian musician based in Paris. From the earliest age he demonstrated an uncommon attitude towards classical music, which led him to pursue a musical career. He started as a pianist, later devoting himself to composition mainly in the fields of contemporary classical music and electronic music.

Cristiano Leone is an Italian philologist, known for his roles as curator, artistic director and playwright.

References

  1. "Yuval Avital - interview - Art Theorema #3". Fondazione Imago Mundi. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  2. "Lessico Animale, Mysterion: la mostra nei sotterranei delle Terme di Caracalla". Ministero per i Beni e le Attività culturali e per il Turismo (in Italian). 2023-02-23. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  3. 1 2 Internazionale, Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione. "Italian Pavillion – 14th Gwangju Biennale 2023". iicseoul.esteri.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  4. "Mostrario. Parte I di Yuval Avital". Teatro Regio di Parma (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  5. Redazione (2012-09-13). "Yuval Avital a Bergamo Scienza 2012". ArtsLife (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  6. "Samaritans". Leav - AudioVisual Ethnography Lab. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  7. "Nephilìm. Una moltitudine di maschere sonore, di Yuval Avital". Museo Marino Marini. 2019-10-01. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  8. "Presentato "Bosco di Lecce" di Yuval Avital, progetto di arte relazionale che mette in dialogo l'artista e la città". www.comune.lecce.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  9. "Pacefuturo about Fuga Perpetua and UNHCR".
  10. C., Cupchik, Gerald (2016-07-28). The aesthetics of emotion : up the down staircase of the mind-body. Cambridge, United Kingdom. ISBN   9781107024458. OCLC   953582218.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. "Il Canto dello Zooforo". www.lacasadellamusica.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  12. "Open Fence - Interni Magazine". Interni Magazine (in Italian). 2017-06-19. Retrieved 2017-09-04.
  13. Italia, Rolling Stone. "'Open Fence', dodici tonnellate di suono". Rolling Stone Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 2017-09-04.
  14. Espoarte Magazine - "Il Respiro della Grande Madre"
  15. INEXHIBIT - ALMA MATER
  16. "Real Utopias – Human Signs – Manifesta 13 Marseille" . Retrieved 2024-11-27.
  17. "Yuval Avital "Mostrario" at Reggio Parma Festival — Mousse Magazine and Publishing". www.moussemagazine.it. 2022-11-23. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
  18. "Yuval Avital, biografia e mostre". Itinerarinellarte.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-27.
  19. Paolo. "Edizione 2019". Open Sound Festival (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  20. ViviMilano. "Requiem Monumentale | ViviMilano". ViviMilano (in Italian). Retrieved 2017-09-04.
  21. France Musique about REKA
  22. Amadeus about Reka
  23. "Fondazione Amadeus".
  24. The Yuval Avital’s 45 tubas - Abitare
  25. "Yuval Avital - Giobbe | Artribune" (in Italian). 2018-05-30. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  26. THE METROPOLIST - FUGA PERPETUA
  27. "L'Arte che restituisce dignità" - Repubblica
  28. "Fuga Perpetua at Brighton Festival".
  29. Brighton & Hove Independent - Fuga Perpetua
  30. La Repubblica XL
  31. Il Corriere Musicale - Noise for Syd
  32. "Cycles | Ombre, Sogni E Paesaggi | Horror Vacui | Leilit | 2011 | Romaeuropa" (in Italian). 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
  33. "Samaritans". Leav - AudioVisual Ethnography Lab. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
  34. "Kolot, in scena un'opera "icono sonora" affacciata sul mondo". ilGiornale.it (in Italian). 2008-10-16. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
  35. "About Birds - Teatro Comunale Modena Pavarotti-Freni" (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  36. Corriere della Sera
  37. IL SOLE 24 ORE about OTOT
  38. Una Notte in Tunisia - Il Fatto Quotidiano
  39. Trialogo Festival on Behance

Bibliography