Prof . Ziv Cojocaru
Department of Arts, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
My life before BGU:
I am a composer, conductor and arranger of contemporary, classical and popular music. I was born and raised in Beer-Sheva and graduated from Makif Aleph High School. I completed my bachelor's and master's degrees in composition, along with bachelor's and master's degrees in conducting, at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. I then earned my PhD in composition at Bar-Ilan University. Prior to assuming the position of Head of the Music Division in the Department of Arts at Ben-Gurion University, I spent many years as a senior faculty member and as Head of the Department of Composition and Conducting at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. In addition, I served for five years as the resident conductor of the Israeli Sinfonietta Beer-Sheva. Currently, I am composer-in-residence at the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion.
I have conducted on many popular music recordings and collaborated as arranger, producer and pianist with many artists, including: Gidi Gov, Shlomo Artzi, David Broza, Danny Robas, Alon Oleartchik, Shalom Hanoch, Assaf Amdursky, Rona Kenan, Shuli Rand, Amir Benayoun, Yehuda Poliker, Eran Tzur, Rita, Riki Gal, Yoni Rechter, Dudu Tassa, Rami Kleinstein, Shlomo Gronich, Yehudit Ravitz, Yizhar Ashdot, Shlomi Shaban, Ninet Tayeb, Kobi Aflalo, Avraham Tal, David D'Or, Harel Skaat, Maurice El Medioni, Aviv Guedj and others.
My research:
I am a composer and joined Ben-Gurion University in the artist-expert track.
Composition (musical composition processes) is my field of research. I collaborate with orchestras, ensembles and various performing bodies, which perform my works, in Israel and around the world. It is always exciting to witness a work I wrote come to life at the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Schönberg Center in Vienna or the Lincoln Center in New York. But no less exciting, and perhaps more, is when this happens here in Israel.
My writing deals mainly with creating dramatic processes on the musical timeline, at the points of contact between acoustic and electronic, and on the axis between concrete musical content and social and humanistic issues, which often set my creative process in motion.
An insight from my research:
Every successful creative expression on the timeline rests on three main pillars – intent, directionality, and the presence of clear processes. And above all – the keystone of the structure that is indispensable – balance.
Balance between uniformity and diversity, balance between the static and dynamic, balance between symmetry and asymmetry, balance between all processes that exist in parallel...
Something that doesn't appear on my resume:
I really love to cook (and I like to eat even more).
I love the ocean, any ocean, and I love diving. I love the desert. I love hiking and love nature.
I really love sports, both spectating and participating. There is something pure and free from manipulations about sports, unlike anything else, certainly in today's reality culture. In sport, you share a pure and refined moment trying to focus maximum physical, mental, organizational and managerial abilities. And in team sports there is also the element of human connection and camaraderie. It's more exciting than any reality show.
But these are minor...my hobby is my profession and vice versa. All my passions, obsessions and interests are satisfied by music.
A source of inspiration:
I have many sources of inspiration. Every week there’s a new source of inspiration – a film, a book, a personality, a fruitful collaboration with a new colleague. Certainly, there are major historical inspirations from my fields of expertise, but there are too many are to enumerate here.
The thing is that, ultimately, at some point in life, it becomes clear and evident that the real inspirations are the central figures in my life: noteworthy teachers, close friends, and especially my family – my wife, my children, my parents, my brother, and my grandparents. In the end, we return to our roots.
When I grow up...
It was more hoping and wishing than knowing so, but I did hope and imagine that I would do what I am doing now. Maybe a little differently, maybe with different styles and emphases. The long winding road revealed new things that I didn't know existed or that I would love so much...
But at the end of the day, I really am doing what I hoped for as a child.
If I wasn't a musician, composer and conductor, I would...
be a writer or a poet, or a filmmaker, or a playwright, or a painter, or a sculptor or an architect: Anything that has to do with art and especially creativity. I can't see myself leading a life without creation. If I weren’t in the creative arts at all, I would probably be involved in history and archaeology. It really interested me as a child and continues to interest me like a child.
In Brief:
- Master Chef or Kupa Rashit (Checkout)? Kupa Rashit
- Pilates or spinning? Neither. If I’m really forced, then Pilates.
- Morning or night? I wish it were morning, but unfortunately my creative consciousness switches to turbo mode mainly at night.
- Summer or winter? Summer
- Hapoel or Maccabi? Hapoel
- Noa Kirel or Netta Barzilai? Both are excellent
- Steak or tofu? Steak
- Instant coffee or espresso? Espresso
- Trekking or spa? Both
- Car or train? Both
- Classical Europe or India? Both
- Sea or pool? Both
- City or country? Both
- Movie in the cinema or binge on Netflix? Netflix binge
- Text or voice message? Voice message. But generally, neither. Why not talk? It prevents so many misunderstandings...
- Dog or cat? Both
- Instagram or TikTok? Neither. I can barely follow Facebook. It's so time consuming and I don't understand who even has time for it.
- Three things I would take to a desert island: I wouldn't take anything, including myself. Why go to a desert island? I don't like this entire premise…
