Anat Aharoni
I was born on 19.10.1965 in Haifa, the youngest daughter of a rooted Israeli family. Today I live in Kibbutz Harduf with my husband and four children.
My father, Michael Aharoni, was a choir conductor, as well as an amateur composer and musical arranger. After my parents left the Kibbutz he made his living as a bus driver and devoted his spare time to working with vocal ensembles. His first musical ensemble, whose sounds I was immersed in during my younger years, was a six-man group that held its rehearsals in our house. As a child, I fell asleep to the sound of their singing. At the time it sounded to me both magical and miraculous.
From an early age I studied piano and also harmony and composition.
After myarmy service I studied for a bachelor’s degree in mathematics at the Hebrew University, as well as orchestra conducting and choir conducting at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. I had the privilege and fortune to study rudiments of Composition with Mark Kopitman, ear training with Lev Boguslavsky, orchestral conducting with Mendi Rodan and choral conducting Avner Itai.
Ten years later I continued to study for a master’s degree in choir conducting at the Jerusalem Academy, with Stanley Sperber.
My choirs and my search for vocal training techniques:
The choir is for me a place where I can search for the truth, for my inner voice and that of the group, and the music and beauty created by working together.
In 1986, after completing my undergraduate studies, I started working with choirs, and this is still my main occupation.
In 2004 I founded “Kolot-Hasadeh” Choir in Kibbutz Harduf, now called Udiana (link to the choir’s website here).
Since 2007 I have also been conducting “Shirat HaEmek” (“the singing of the valley”) choir in Givat Ella (a communal settlement in Yezreel valley). This highly regarded choir, comprising of some 50 odd singers, sings varied types of music and performs throughout the country.
For many years I worked at the Waldorf Harduf High School. I taught choir singing as part of the school program for all the students, especially in the 12th grade, and wrote original music for the high school performances. For ten years I also worked at Hiram – a rehabilitation center for mentally challenged people in Harduf. I conducted a choir of staff and members of the rehabilitation program.
In addition to composing, arranging and conducting, I have always been attracted to the mysteries of the human voice, in order to reveal the secrets of my personal voice and also to help the singers in my choirs with their vocal production. Over the years I have studied with many singing teachers, and I am still in this endless process of investigation. I find that inner work and bodywork are an inseparable part of this search. During the last two years I have been giving personal singing lessons.
The arrangements in the site:
The arrangements in this site were written for my choirs, and are therefore as diverse as the choirs themselves – from “Kululams” for an open audience, through arrangements aimed at not necessarily musically oriented students, and up to arrangements meant for highly skilled choirs.
Next to each arrangement you can find who it was written for, so that you can match your needs to the song you choose.
I hope you will enjoy the content of this site!
Anat