Workshops (English)

“Inhale-Exhale”,  Workshop/Master-class with woodwinds master musician-virtuoso Amir Gwirtzman

Exposure to the family of woodwind  instruments from around the world, incorporating unusual techniques & development of  a multi-cultural  “musical conversation” on stage.

* PBS video clip here   https://youtu.be/NR-S1yfBsgk

Contents of the workshop:

  • Exposure to various woodwind instruments (more than 20 !), including many that originate from indigenous cultures around our world.
  • Creating  Multi/cross-cultural musical”conversations” live on stage, between the various instruments & the cultures/musical-styles they represent.
  • Exposure to various musical styles: Jazz, Blues, Reggea, Rock, Classical, World music from around the globe- Irish,Jewish, Roma/Gypsy, American, Balkan, Armenian,  Korean,Native-American, Arabic/Middle eastern, Chinese, Vietnamese, pan-African, Latin American & more.
  • Arrangement & orchestration involving unusual techniqeus: Switching different instruments fluently,Circular breathing, playing several instruments simultaneously, switching musical styles and generes fluently & combining them together.

For contact & bookings:

Amir Gwirtzman

Gsm: +972-507-250490

e-mail: gwirtzman82@gmail.com

Recommendations/Credentials of music directors & coordinators:

 

Will Harvey- Head of Music department atThe “American High School” in Even Yehuda, Israel. (Now working at Bellevue High School/Bellevue, Washington, U.S.A) :

“Amir Gwirtzman’s presentation at our school was a blast for our kids! Amir was kind, funny, a consummate musician, and a deep thinker about the connections of the music in his considerable repertoire.”

Danny Donner- Head of Music Department  at Arison Campus of Arts in Tel Aviv, Israel :

“Amir is a unique cultural phenomena, a musician, Ideologist, an artist of the highest stature or level… the encounter with him and the entirety of his creativeness,is a fantastic experience that each and everyone of us would like to acquire and adopt. A true must for our students!“

Adi Ron- Music director at Gevanim school, in Menashe county, Israel :

“It has been one of the most amazing workshops/Master classes we had… The students can’t stop talking about what they’ve experienced in an hour & a half of music played and performed by one of the greatest talents…in this workshop. The students heard various musical styles while being exposed to Gwirtzman’s special world & unique philosophy.”

U. Shafran- Headmaster of the Arts center at Jezrael Valley, Israel :

“Amir performed here in front of our music students & played magically.The wide assortment of instruments on which he performed perfectly along with the contact he made with the young audience & his precise and interesting lecturing, left us- the audience which included students, teachers & staff members alike, thrilled, enchanted & excited.”

Yehuda Greenboim, Head of the Conservatory of Herzliya, Israel :

“An incredible experience for all the students. The participance & the interest the students were showing, proved how much this meeting with the artist encouraged them to progress and motivated them to strive extracting the most out of themselves.”

Press Highlights :

“I heard Gwirtzman, who stands as a charming anomaly in Jazz: A one-man-band who brought onto the stage a trove of instruments”.

“By recording solo passages live, looping that music into sound samples and then improvising and recording new themes on top of that, Gwirtzman created the sonic effect of multiple musicians working in tandem”.

“Creative artist and interesting raconteur/philosopher… His innate musicality is more than enough to engage an audience”.

Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune

“Music tradition meets 21st-century technology as this gifted Israeli jazz artist performs on 20 instruments, instantly recording one part atop another until the music crescendos into an orchestra of sound, a blend of rhythms, melody and harmony.”

Jerusalem Post

„…from the music of incomprehensible languages, Gwirtzman breathes the universally understood melody of humanity…“

PBS Alabama„Before leaving this earth it is imperative to experience the music and certainly a live performance of Amir Gwirtzman…“

Jewish Star

„Gwirtzman is not just a virtuoso who performs here with complete control over more than 20 instruments, as one might expect from a showmanship’s genius musician, but he also provides all along the album a true authentic, excitingly moving, a smartening & a magical experience…“

Rating weekly magazine

„A true Israeli pride!…Truly a celebration to the ears, of an album. Gwirtzman’s abilities are of a virtuoso, mainly on the high pitched instruments…“

 Amos Oren (a major Israeli music critic, The Stage website)

“A one man multi-cultural Big-Band…one of the finest albums I’ve heard.”

Yossi Hersonski

“A master”

Times Free Press

„It’s the first time I heard Amir, an incredibly versatile, polished, skilled and refined, musician like no other… His natural and effortless flow from one style to another presented the skills of a musical master, and left me with sort of a feeling that all the woodwinds musicians I have met so far, are left a bit behind (accept my apologies).“

Yuval Erel, music critic, Yuval Erel’s blog/Megaphone

 About the artist…

Amir Gwirtzman is a Jazz/World music artist, hailing from Tel Aviv, Israel. Known for his mastery of reed and woodwind instruments from around the globe. He was a member of the Israeli band Esta for more than 20 years, touring internationally and performing on notable stages including New York City’s Blue Note, Los Angeles’ House of Blues, Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center, and WOMAD (World Music Festival) in Italy. Esta performed at the White House for President Bill Clinton in honor of Israel’s 50th Anniversary.

In November 2008, Amir began his solo project Inhale-Exhale, performing alone on a stage surrounded by more than twenty reed and woodwind instruments. These included the saxophone family, clarinets, Scottish Highland bagpipes, Egyptian argul, Middle Eastern ney, Armenian duduk, pan-Asian zorna, and flutes spanning the globe from Native American to Irish to Vietnamese cultures. Orchestrating these instruments together to make a multi-cultural musical tapestry, Amir creates a metaphor for our globalized world – bringing different cultures together to make an exciting, multi-layered whole.

„Inhale-Exhale“ has been described as a „musical ID card“ reflecting Israel’s diverse multi-cultural mosaic which is comprised of many opposites, such as: East-West, ancient-modern, religious-secular, Jewish-Christian-Muslim and others.

He has presented Inhale-Exhale in his home city of Tel Aviv, in Manila as a part of the Philippines International Jazz & Arts Festival in 2009, and across the American South as a Visiting Artist of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation in 2010. During the prestigious Visiting Artist program, Amir performed Inhale-Exhale at Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette, Louisiana, at the B.B. King Museum in Indianola, Mississippi (B.B. King’s hometown), and at the Jazz Hall of Fame in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as well as concerts, master classes, workshops, and lecture/demonstrations at many universities, K-12 schools, community centers, churches, and temples.In June 2010, Amir performed three concerts at the Universities of Lima & Trujillo in Peru. In November 2010, he released his debut solo album Inhale-Exhale to a packed house at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art Following the release, Amir traveled to Chengdu,China for three solo concerts. In 2011, Amir was invited by the Schusterman Family Foundation to tour the American South again due to the success of the 2010 tour and the high demand for his return. His 2011 tour culminated with a show in New York City and a distribution contract with Virtual Records in the United States.

Since then, Amir has performed Inhale-Exhale in  Germany, Armenia, Albania, Denmark, Switzerland, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Peru, China, Thailand, Taiwan, Cambodia, Brazil, Philippines, at the Bansko International Jazz Festival in Bulgaria, at Joe’s Pub in New York City, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington,D.C.& thirtheen states in the American South.

Multi-Cultural Virtuoso

Amir’s unique sound is inspired by a wide spectrum of influences and combines original compositions with traditional ones, it is given the Artist’s own reflections and interpretations.

The Artist has been influenced by a career that has taken him from Israel to the United States, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. He draws inspiration from the rich rhythms of Cuban jazz, earthy R&B melodies of Ray Charles, soaring jazz riffs of Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter, energetic melodies of Jewish Klezmer, and cheerful yet melancholy harmonies of Irish Celtic music. He also is inspired by sounds of the Middle East, Gypsy communities,Armenia, Native American cultures, and New Orleans.

Amir constructs an ensemble sound for most of his songs, instantly recording one instrumental part atop another until the music crescendos into a propulsive blend of rhythm, melody and harmony. Take his original song Kalimba Gigi, for example –  a playful conversation between the African kalimba, Irish low whistle and penny whistle, Korean piri, Middle Eastern ney, Chinese flute, Vietnamese Sapa flute, Armenian duduk, and African vuvuzelas that embodies the complexity of Amir’s musical technique and ability. This song and all others on Inhale-Exhale showcase the remarkable talent, creativity, and stamina of world-renowned musician Amir Gwirtzman.

List of Instruments played by Amir:

Saxophones:

·         Soprano

·         Alto

·         Tenor

·         Baritone

Clarinets:

·         B-b

·         Bass clarinet

Flutes:

·         Classical flute

·         Recorder

·         Quena

·         Irish whistles

·         Nay

·         Kaval

·         Chinese Dunhuang

·         Native American flute

Indigenous woodwinds:

·         Armenian duduk

·         Korean piri

·         Arghoul

·         Zurna

·         Highland Bagpipes

·         Persian pipes

·         Shofar

Others:

* Vuvuzelas

* African Kalimba

*Vietnamese Dan moi

 

“Inhale-Exhale” video links 

· For a Duduk solo,live at Shablul, Tel-Aviv, please press here:  https://youtu.be/tPEVG8NvjHY

· For 2 minutes of promo video about “Inhale-Exhale”, please press here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0vyofSGCtI

·    For a link to a klezmer song, performed live in a world music festival in Jaffa, please press here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeW9H4-USLM&sns=em

· For a live video of “Vuvulero”  from a festival in Serbia, please press here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhGk1V9J28k

·  For a video of my tribute to Ray Charles’s “Mary Ann”, live from Shablul, Tel-Aviv, please press here: https://youtu.be/Msa9TMx-uF4

·  For “La fiesta Romano”, my tribute to Gypsy style balkan brass bands combined with New Orleans brass bands, mixed with Chick Corea’s song, live in Budapest, please press here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D8eJYG6FmY&sns=em

· For a TV special about “Inhale-Exhale” which was released by PBS (“Alabama stories”) National TV in the USA, please press here: http://youtu.be/NR-S1yfBsgk

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