Merav Cohen-Hadar | Composer

100-Word Bio

After twenty years of composing and teaching classical and contemporary music, Merav’s search for musical freedom led her to embrace the digital revolution. She began composing on a DAW, enabling her to express all facets of her musical upbringing, of her soul, of life. Born and raised in Israel in a Jewish Mizrahi family (originally from Morocco and Iraq), Merav’s sound reflects her ability to reconcile Eastern and Western culture into an engaging musical whole that is entirely her own, creating an expressive style that describes human emotional life in all its breadth and depth.

200-Word Bio

Merav’s search for musical freedom began in the faculty of theory and composition of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, from which she graduated summa cum laude as a composer. Merav’s works in contemporary music have been broadcast on Israeli radio and performed in the framework of the Israeli Women Composers & Performers Forum.

After twenty years of composing and teaching classical and contemporary music, Merav’s dissatisfaction with the restrictions inherent in contemporary music led her to embrace the digital revolution. She began composing on a Digital Audio Workstation, enabling her to express all facets of her musical upbringing, of her soul, of life.

Born and raised in Israel in a Jewish Mizrahi family (originally from Morocco and Iraq), Merav’s sound reflects her uncommon upbringing: straddling Eastern and Western culture, Merav’s unique personality has managed to embrace both cultures, reconcile their differences, and integrate them into a synergetic and engaging musical whole that is entirely her own.

Merav’s music describes human emotional life in all its breadth and depth. Her music is very expressive and provides a moving emotional experience. In addition, Merav’s art has a Zen-like quality, as she strives for music that is very focused, precise, and concise.

400-Word Bio

Despite being born and raised in Jerusalem in a Jewish Mizrahi family (originally from Morocco and Iraq), Merav’s formal musical education was entirely Western and classical, and entirely within the realm of the prestigious educational institutions of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, from which she graduated summa cum laude as a composer. Merav’s works in contemporary music have been performed by the Meitar Ensemble, the Israeli Vocal Ensemble, in the framework of the Israeli Women Composers & Performers Forum, and broadcast on Israeli radio.

However, after twenty years of composing and teaching classical and contemporary music, Merav’s dissatisfaction with the restrictions inherent in contemporary music and her search for complete musical freedom led her to embrace the digital revolution. Thus, she began composing on a Digital Audio Workstation, where the unlimited and surprisingly high-quality options provided musical freedom, at last.

With nothing to hold her back, Merav is able to express all facets of her musical upbringing, her soul, and life itself. Merav’s impressive musical range extends from the noble, elegant composition Oriental Wind, through the angry, violent, Voices of War, to the playfully hypnotic Kaleidoscope. Dozens of her works, expressing different facets of her creative life, are available here.

Above all, Merav’s music describes human emotional life in all its breadth and depth. Her music is therefore very expressive, providing a moving emotional experience to the listener. In addition, Merav’s art has a Zen-like quality, as she strives for music that is very focused, precise, and concise - music that includes only what it is necessary for the expression of the idea, nothing more and nothing less.

Merav’s sound is a reflection of her uncommon upbringing: straddling Eastern and Western culture, Merav’s unique personality has managed to embrace both cultures, reconcile their differences, and integrate them into a synergetic and engaging musical whole that is entirely her own.

Merav’s music is influenced by her favorite classical composers, chief among them J.S. Bach but also Brahms, Debussy, and Stravinsky, as well as the modern composer Steve Reich. Growing up in Israel, Merav’s music is also inspired by Israeli folk music, Mizrahi music, Jewish religious music, Jazz, Pop, and Rock, and in particular her favorite rock band, Queen.

Merav just standing on a balcony in Jerusalem and reflecting

Really Long Bio (900 words)

Merav’s musical journey began as a child with a trumpet, an instrument she was compelled to learn in order to populate the school band. After playing dutifully for two years, this ill-fitting match was mercifully ended, and Merav found her true love: the piano. This beloved instrument remains by her side to this day, the only change being in its color, which went from brown (originally) to white, to blue, to its current, majestic purple, as pictured below and as painted by Merav herself (who loves her arts and crafts).

Merav Cohen-Hadar hails from Jerusalem, Israel. Despite being born and raised in a Jewish Mizrahi family (originally from Morocco and Iraq), her formal musical education was entirely Western and classical, and entirely within the realm of the prestigious educational institutions of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, from which she graduated summa cum laude as a composer. Notably, Merav studied under the exceptional composer, theoretician, and teacher, the late Mark Kopytman, who helped perfect her skills as a composer.

Merav’s works in contemporary music have been performed by the Meitar Ensemble, the Israeli Vocal Ensemble, in the framework of the Israeli Women Composers & Performers Forum, and broadcast on Israeli radio.