Ben-Zion Orgad

Ben-Zion Orgad was born in 1926 in Gelsenkirchen

Ben-Zion Orgad was born Ben-Zion Büschel in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, in 1926. His family moved to Mandate Palestine in 1933. He attended the Herzliya Gymnasium in Tel Aviv and began violin lessons in 1936.

From 1942 to 1946 he studied violin and composition in Tel Aviv, with teachers including Rudolf Bergmann and Paul Ben-Haim. In 1947 he studied with Josef Tal in Jerusalem. He later attended courses at Tanglewood with Aaron Copland and studied composition at Brandeis University from 1960 to 1962.

He served in the Haganah and the Palmach. During the War of Independence he was a combat sergeant in the Givati Brigade and worked as a scout and mapper.

Orgad wrote about 90 works, mostly choral music and songs, as well as orchestral and chamber pieces. Many drew on biblical themes and on poems by writers such as Natan Zach and Solomon ibn Gabirol. From 1975 to 1988 he oversaw music education for the Ministry of Education.

From 1980 he also wrote poetry. In 1998 his birthplace made him an honorary citizen. He died in Tel Aviv in 2006 and was buried in Kfar Tavor.