Musicatlas
Music
Matti Kovler is a Russian born Israeli composer. His music has been described as “graceful” (New York Times), “notable for its pacing and bold orchestral colors” (The Boston Globe) and "part mystical, part comical" (Grade A Entrepreneurs). Matti’s works are performed in Israel, Europe and the US. Recent premiers included the monodrama Here Comes Messiah! commissioned by Carnegie Hall, the oratorio The Escape of Jonah commissioned by the Jerusalem Music Centre, and COKBOY (A Jew Among The Indians) performed by Boston Modern Orchestra Project in New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall. Matti’s influences include “third stream” improvisation, a deep fascination with Janáček and Bartók polymodality, Lutosławski’s textural approach and the cult writings of the French theatre philosopher Antonin Artaud. A Tanglewood fellow for 2008, Matti received the Aspen composition fellowship for 2009. Matti is also the recipient of America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship for study in US.
Life
Matti Kovler, 28, was born in the Soviet Union and spent his childhood in Moscow, where he started to play the piano and write small pieces. When he was 10, his family emigrated to Jerusalem and he encountered the Hungarian-born composer Andre Hajdu (who studied at the Paris Conservatoire National de Musique under Darius Milhaud and Olivier Messiaen). By his late teens, Matti was already a successful composer and had an opera already staged, Ami and Tammy, inspired by the story of Hänsel and Gretel. Following his army service in Israel, he received his bachelor’s degree from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance (working with Menachem Wiesenberg and Michael Wolpe). He earned his master’s degree from the New England Conservatory (NEC), and is currently working towards his Ph.D., also at NEC. His teachers and mentors in this country include John Heiss, Anthony Coleman, and Michael Gandolfi, to name a few. He was a Tanglewood Fellow in the composition program in Summer 2008 and is currently a fellow at Aspen Music Festival.