WorldView Episode 62: Ronn Yedidia
Welcome back to another episode of WorldView, featuring composers from Great Britain, Israel, Finland, and the United States. This post will discuss featured artist Ronn Yedidia, the first Israeli-born composer to be heard on this show. Enjoy!
Dr. Ronn Yedidia, a child piano prodigy, was born in Israel in 1960. He won his first nation-wide competition at the age of eight; as a child, he studied with world-renowned pianist Pnina Salzman. In his teens, Yedidia decided to shift his focus from performance to composition. In 1984, he enrolled in the Julliard School, from which he holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in composition. Yedidia is a recipient of several major compositional awards, including the Lincoln Center Scholarship, the Irving Berlin Scholarship, and the Henry Mancini Prize.
In the past several decades, Yedidia has played major roles in the founding of several ensembles. One, DanzaNova, is a world-music ensemble dedicated to recording traditional pieces from “the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.” Yedidia performs parts on the accordion for many of the group’s albums, a skilled he learned from his father, Moshe. The composer is also a founding faculty member at the New York Piano Academy, an organization designed to bring piano instruction to musicians across genres. In the 2020s, Yedidia continues to compose, adding to his catalog of over 150 works.
Episode sixty-two of WorldView features Yedidia’s 2007 work “Concertino”. It is performed by clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein, accompanied by a string trio composed of Arnaud Sussmann, Melissa Reardon, and Nicholas Canellakis.
WorldView Episode Sixty-Two Playlist:
Barbara HARBACH, “Gateway Festival Symphony”, {London Philharmonic Orchestra, David Angus} - MSR Classics
Kai NIEMINEN, “Vicoli in ombra (Alleys in Twilight)”, {Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä, Patrick Gallois} - Naxos
Ronn YEDIDIA, “Concertino”, {Arnaud Sussmann (vn), Alexander Fiterstein (clar), Melissa Reardon (vla), Nicholas Canellakis (cl)} - Naxos
Gerald FINZI, “Introit for Solo Violin and Small Orchestra in F Major, Op. 6”, {Northern Sinfonia, Howard Griffiths, Robert Plane (clar), Lesley Hatfield (vn)} - Nimbus Records
WorldView is a classical music radio show featuring composers from everywhere in the world - except Western Europe. Tune in to hear works by lesser-known artists such as Jennifer Higdon and Sergio Assad, and widen your knowledge of classical music. Hinke Younger hosts each week’s episode of WorldView on Mondays at 4AM, 9AM and 6PM (with rebroadcasts Saturdays at 2PM and 7PM) on Charlottesvilleclassical.org.