Weidberg Ron

Ron Weidberg

Born in Tel-Aviv, 1953. Studied piano and composition at the Tel Aviv Academy of Music, thereafter he taught theory and composition (1995-2002). Received his Master degree in piano at Northwestern University, USA and his PhD at Tel Aviv University, Department of Musicology (2000). His PhD Thesis is: "The evolution of Sonic Design in Jean Sibelius's Orchestral Music". He currently publishes articles and lectures at international conferences in the field of Jean Sibelius's music in aspects of theory and culture. He was one of the founders of the music field at the Open University, where he wrote many of its music textbooks, including a comprehensive course about Beethoven. In 2004-2011 he was the head of the Department of Literature, Language and Arts Department at the Open University, while in 2011-2013 he was the Head of the School of Music Education at the Levinsky College of Education in Tel Aviv. Recently he writes music textbooks for the Ministry of Education is Israel.

From 1991 to 1984 he was the music critic for the newspapers Ha'ir, Haaretz, Yedioth and Ma'ariv. From 1989 to 1993, he initiated and directed the "Music Now" project, which brought many Israeli premieres to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. From 1997-2001 he was musical director of the Musica Nova group. He also served as Chairman of the Israel Composers League (1995-6, 1998-2001).

Many of his works are vocal, including five operas which have been performed in Israel and the in the USA, choral works and more than a hundred settings of various poets'  texts. His instrumental works include symphonies, concertos for piano and violin, chamber music and many piano compositions.  Weidberg was awarded with many composition prizes including Israel’s Prime Minister's Prize in 1991 and 2010, Engel Prize 2005 as well as many ACUM awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.  Additional details including a list of works and the performance of the premiere can be found On the OUI website: http://www.openu.ac.il/Personal_sites/ron-weidberg.html#1