Ensemble Musica Nova
is an Israel-based collective of musicians, composers and artists, collaboratively exploring the vast terrain of experimental music and contemporary sound. The members of the ensemble are working together to expand the borders of the medium and enrich the dialogue between music and the fields of arts, technology and science. In addition to our commitment to the performance of contemporary Israeli music, the ensemble presents to its audience selected repertoire of contemporary and historical music from the avant-garde and experimental tradition.
Since its inception in 1986, the ensemble premiered over 200 pieces by Israeli composers and collaborated with international composers, artists and ensembles such as the Mivos String Quartet, Ensemble HandWerk, composers Jennifer Walshe, Michael Pisaro, David Grubbs, Morton Subotnick, Joan La-Barbara, Annea Lockwood, Steven Takasugi, Ulrich Krieger , Frantz Loriot and many others. The ensemble regularly performs in the most distinguished new music festivals in Israel, including Tzlil Meudcan, Techtonics, Musrara Mix, HaTeiva Festival, Cont-Comp and Israel Music Festival.
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In addition to its musical activity, the ensemble is actively advancing educational project via workshops, lectures and publications of scores and articles in collaborations with artistic and academic institutes in Israel and abroad.
The ensemble is co- artistic directed by:
We would like to thank crucial members that have left the Ensemble recently and contributed greatly to the shape of the Ensemble as it is today:
Shira Legman
Other musicians and artists involved in the ensemble include: Shaul Kohn, Haggai Ferstman, Lars Sergal, Chanan Ben-Simon, Dan Weinstein, Yiftah Kadan, Daniel Davidovsky, Uri Noam,
Dani Williamson, Nitai Levi and Aviahi Mizrahi (design)
Administration: Aya Zamir
Board of Trustees: Prof. Amnon Wolman, Avigail Arenhaim, Yossi Schifman, Dina Zohar, Avi Kedem.
Musica Nova is supported by The Israeli Ministry of Culture and the City of Tel-Aviv
The Ensemble Members
Maayan Tsadka
Composer, sound artist, improviser, sound explorer and teacher.
At the root of all my works is an attempt to grasp some understanding about the nature of sound, its behavior, acoustic ways of organization, and its environmental and social roles. I am interested in uncovering and amplifying layers and musical patterns—hidden, inherent structures— which occur acoustically, as well as in an exploration of the ways in which the sonic phenomena meets the physiology of the ear and the psychology of listening. Often, my work incorporates a dimension of imaginary and speculative sonic worlds, on the line between crypto-zoology, crypto-botany and futuristic folklore.
Current fields of research and creative work include: prehistoric harmony, sonic taxonomy, sound as a museal exhibit, tuning systems, sonic botany, underwater sounds, field recordings and echo/resonance in musical, natural, political, and social contexts.
I completed a DMA in music composition from UC Santa Cruz, with a dissertation titled Persistence, Resistance, Resonance : a research and musical works exploring different connections between music and politics, from the rhythms of protest chants, to a series of site-specific pieces which call for active participation, challenging common musical hierarchies, and blurring the boundaries between composer, performer, and audience.
Currently resides in Jaffa and teaches at the School of the Arts in Haifa University and in Sapir College.
Research fellow at the Morris-Kahn Marine research station, Charney School of Marine Sciences, Haifa University.
Founder and member of noise A-cappella choir n o e y e s
Co-founder of audio/visual duo KinoEar.
Adi Snir
Adi Snir (Israel, 1987) is a composer, performer, improviser and installation artist. He has spent the majority of his musical life as a saxophonist of improvised musics, where he has focused on the intersection, and potential simultaneity of, notated and un-notated idioms. His work posits the act of interpretation as the moment of interaction towards which music composition strives, and challenges the performer to engage deeply with both the score and the space in which the music is taking place.
Snir’s work has been performed at various festivals and events across the globe by many renowned ensembles including ELISION, Rage Thormbones, Distractfold, JACK, Diotima, Xasax, Meitar, Ictus, Musica Nova among others. He has performed and recorded with such improvisers as Damon Smith, Birgit Ulher, Ofer Bymel, Roni Brenner, Michael Maierhof, Sophie Agnel, Michael Pisaro, Teodora Stepancic, Joni Silver, Ariel Shibolet, Wolfgang Fuchs and many more. Snir is currently completing a PhD in composition at Harvard University with Chaya Czernowin and Hans Tutschku. His past composition teachers also include George E. Lewis, Michael Pisaro, Reuben Seroussi and Yuval Shaked.
Orr Sinay
Orr Sinay is a performer, composer and double bassist, who uses her work to integrate experimental and avant-garde genres with free improvisation. As a bassist, she also performs in different styles, ranging from contemporary and new music, to free jazz.
Orr seeks and explores the art of real time; the risk of unpredictable components. She has performed and collaborated with many artists and ensembles in both modern and experimental fields as well as in Free Jazz. Another major part of her work is in collaboration with dance and performance artists. Currently a member of Nova Collective, View Cuts ensemble and Mobile Budka trio (which she also co-founded).
As an Educator Orr teaches independent courses in Improvisation, traditional music and theory, collaboration workshops with dance and theater, arranging classes and critical thinking about improvisation and experimental performance.
B.Mus. from The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance (2014)
MFA from CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) (2017)
Teaching Diploma from Tel Aviv University (2018)
Yifeat Ziv
Yifeat Ziv is a vocalist, a composer, a free improviser and a sound artist.
She combines voice, electronics, field recordings and text to create interdisciplinary sound works that derive from her research of the human voice, technology, acoustic ecology and listening practices. In her performances and installations, she aspires to create situations where an active listening experience can emerge; an invitation to critically engage with sound. Ziv holds an MA in Sound Arts from the University of the Arts London (London College of Communication) and a BMus in Cross-disciplinary Composition from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. Her work has been recognised by the Oram Awards 2020 for innovation in sound and music, AER Art for the Environment Award 2019 and the Siday Fellowship for Musical Creativity 2018-19.
Her recent works appeared in BBC Late Junction (UK), Tea House Gallery at Hansen House (IL), Room25 Sound Gallery (IL), Cafe OTO (UK), Museo Reina Sofía (ES), Israel Festival (IL), PQ: Prague Quadrennial (CZ), Design Museum Holon (IL) and the Israeli Centre for Digital Art (IL). Her recent collaborations include David Toop (UK), Suhail Yusuf Khan (US/IN), William Parker (US), Stefan Thut (CH), Roee Rosen (IL), Chanan Ben-Simon (US/IL), London Experimental Ensemble (UK) and the Igor Krutogolov Toy Orchestra (IL). Ziv is also the co-founder of vocal ensembles The Hazelnuts and ABRA Ensemble with whom she has released four critically acclaimed albums and performed worldwide in international festivals including Marseille Jazz des Cinqs Continents (FR), Tri-C Jazz (US), Safaricom Jazz (KE), Filter4Voices (CH) and the Red Sea Jazz (IL). Her recent talks include the Eavesdropping Symposium (London, UK), University of the Arts (London, UK), Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge, UK), UCA University for the Creative Arts (Farnham, UK), Haifa University (Haifa, IL) and Musrara Naggar School of Art and Society (Jerusalem, IL).