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Osvaldo Golijov
December 5, 1960 -
born in La Plata, Argentina, composed during the Contemporary period
Biography
Osvaldo Golijov has become major figure in contemporary music by developing a polystylistic method, variously based on Western music of many centuries, on traditional Judeo-Christian liturgies, on folk traditions of several countries, and on Latin-American influences, paying particular attention to the tango as developed by Astor Piazzolla. Golijov transforms these diverse materials into entirely new forms and sounds without obvious references to their sources.

Born into an Eastern European Jewish family in La Plata, Argentina, Golijov first studied music with Gerardo Gandini, a pupil of Alberto Ginastera, whose music combined a nationalistic idiom with advanced European procedures, such as the twelve-tone system. In 1983, Golijov moved to Israel, where he took up studies with Ukraine-born musicologist and composer Mark Kopytman, whose pieces include graphic notation and chance elements. Golijov came to the United States in 1986, and earned his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied with George Crumb, then later continued his studies at Tanglewood with Lukas Foss and Oliver Knussen.

In 1990 Golijov was named a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. That year, he became acquainted with the Kronos Quartet, for whom he wrote K'vakarat for string quartet and cantor, and in 1997 composed Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind for string quartet and clarinet.
Selected Discography