Music, for me, is an immeasurably rich and fascinating phenomenon. Its endless gradations of color and meanings; its multiple manifestations in human cultures; its unfailing potential to surprise and move us – all continue to excite my wonder. I hope to maintain a childish joy and curiosity when creating music – and to arouse such curiosity in others.
The primal experience is central to me. I believe that perception and subjectivity are an important aspect of the listening experience. I see in music an inherent ambiguity, which in turn creates a space for poetics and for differing interpretations – those of the performer and listener alike.
Trained also as a pianist and musicologist, I seek to integrate knowledge and experiences I have gathered in these fields into my compositional process. I draw inspiration from the fascinating Musics created by different peoples; from the performing experience and our expectations of the concert situation; from the physics of sound, and the mysterious and complex ways in which our brain processes sounds; and from the many ways in which humans have ascribed meanings to music over history. Alongside that, my music often draws inspiration from non-musical sources – amongst them visual arts, nature and literature.
Omri Abram is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music currently based in Haifa, Israel. Constantly curious, Omri sets out in his compositions to examine perception, ambiguity and the experiences and meanings of music, all the while putting the sonic material front and center.
Past performances of his music include performances on many stages in Israel, Switzerland, Italy, Holland, Germany, Austria, Hungary and the USA by ensembles such as Neue Vokalisolisten Stuttgart, Ensemble Phoenix Basel, the Riot Ensemble, Meitar Ensemble, the East Coast Contemporary Ensemble in New York, Ensemble Proton Bern, the Tel Aviv Wind Quintet, Ensemble Lemniscate, Duo Alto and others. Festivals and concert series in which his works have been and will be performed include HCMF, Impuls, Archipel, Zeitraüme Basel, Bludenzer Tage zeitgemässer Musik, Tzlil Meudcan, Crossroads Salzburg, Jerusalem International Chamber Music, CEME, Composit, Nachtstrom and Attacca.
Omri is currently a PhD candidate at the Basel Music Academy and the Institute for Music Informatics and Musicology at the Karlsruhe University of Music, where his thesis will focus on live-electronics as a means for enhanced listening and audience engagement. Born in 1986 in Jerusalem, Israel, Omri's formal education includes a double Bachelor’s degree at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance in composition (with Tzvi Avni and Ayal Adler) and piano. He holds both a Master’s degree and a Specialized Master's degree in composition, with distinction, from the Music Academy of Basel, Switzerland, under the tuition of Erik Oña, as well as a Master’s degree in musicology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has had the privilege to undertake further studies with a variety of world-renown composers, benefitting from the knowledge and artistry of Amnon Wolman, Chaya Czernowin, Salvatore Sciarrino, Rebecca Saunders, Pierluigi Billone, Clara Iannotta, Peter Eötvös, Beat Furrer, Georges Aphergis and Fabian Panisello, amongst others.
He is a graduate of Meitar Ensemble’s “Tedarim” internship program for outstanding young musicians in contemporary music; has received grants from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation for the years 2010-2016; and was a recipient of the Siday Fellowship for Musical Creativity for the years 2015-2017.
© Omri Abram 2020
Artwork by Maria Frank Abrams