Ella Milch-Sheriff
b. 1954
Israeli
Summary
Born in Haifa, Israel, Ella Milch-Sheriff studied composition with Professor Tzvi Avni at the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University. She began composing that the young age of 12 and her experience as a singer combined with her linguistic expertise, sensitivity and innate understanding of the human voice led her to specialize in composing opera, chamber music, orchestral works and vocal music. Her music is performed widely across Israel, Europe and the US.
Her new opera "Alma" commissioned and premiered by Volksoper Wien, Austria in October 2024.
Biography
Ella Milch-Sheriff, winner of Lifetime achievment award 2022 by the Israel's composers and authors institue, is one of Israel's most performed composers in recent years. Born in Haifa, Israel, she began her career as a composer at the young age of 12, graduating in composition from the Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University.
Her work "The eternal stranger" commissioned by the Gewandhaus Orchstra in Leipzig for the occassion of 250 to Beethoven was premiered in Leipzig February 2020 and since then in Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Elbphilhamonie in Hamburg, BBC Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic , the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, and later on in Stockholm Radio Symhpony and Vienna Symphony.
Also commissioned by the Gewandhaus Leipzig the orchestration of Bach's last fugue from "The Art of Fugue". This was premiered at the "Bachfest 2019" in Leipzig.
Ella composes operas, chamber, orchestral and vocal music as well as popular music and solo works. Her music is performed widely through Israel, (Israel Philharmonic/ Zubin Mehta and all Israel's major orchestras and musical ensembles) Germany, (Berlin, Hamburg, Duesseldorf, Bochum, Braunschweig etc.), Austria, Great Britain, other European countries and the US.
She was awarded the prestigious “Israeli Prime-Minister Prize” for her compositional works and the same year, her opera, "And the Rat Laughed” received the Tel-Aviv “Rosenblume Prize” for an outstanding achievement.
Her new opera "Alma" commissioned and premiered by Volksoper Wien, Austria in October 2024.
Her 4th opera "The Banality of Love" commissioned and premiered in Staatstheater Regensburg, Germany in 2018.
Her Opera "Baruchs Schweigen" (Baruch's Silence) was commissioned by Staatstheater Braunschweig in Germany and premiered in 2010. The opera, based on the true story of her family. (Israeli premiere (October 2014, Tel-Aviv , June 2015 Furth, Germany) and Vienna premiere 2016.
Her opera "And the Rat Laughed” (2005) based on Israeli author Nava Semel's book was performed in Israel and toured Europe. It had a new production in Toronto, Canada in 2009.
Ella Milch-Sheriff composed original music to the film "Past life" (2016) directed by Avi Nesher. The film is based on her family story. She won Lys d'Or in 2017 in Montreal for her music.
Ella Milch Sheriff's works are published by Edition Peters.
https://www.ellamilchsheriff.com
Performances
Features
- Discover the operas of Ella Milch-Sheriff
- Take a deep dive into three of Ella Milch-Sheriff's operas published by Edition Peters, each featuring female main characters and exploring their struggles with love, family and society.
- Celebrating Women Composers
- Join Wise Music Group in celebrating the works of our female composers with this new brochure for 2024