Jonathan Bar Giora

Jonathan Bar Giora was born in 1962 in Jerusalem

Jonathan Bar Giora was born in Jerusalem in 1962. At 16 he left high school and began playing in local piano bars. Through the 1980s he played jazz and wrote about music for the local press.

In 1990 he staged a one-man show that he wrote, composed and performed. One of its characters, the elevator musician Michel Clayderlast, led to a show at the Israel Festival with 20-second versions of popular songs played inside an elevator. In 1991 he staged the rock show Erua Mochi, which used live electronic loops.

In 1993 he wrote with Etgar Keret and composed Entebbe - The Musical, which won a prize at the Acco Festival. Through the 1990s he worked in theater and served as musical director of TV shows. In 1999 he began working with Yossi Banai on the album Pgisha Leiyn Kets, based on poems by Nathan Alterman.

In 1999 he scored Joseph Cedar's film Time of Favor, and from 2000 he focused on music for film and television. He was nominated 5 times for the Academy Award for his film music. From 2011 to 2015 he headed the film music track at Sapir Academic College, and he also teaches at Beit Berl.

In 2018 the cinematheques of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa held a tribute to his work, and the album Themes was released. In 2020 the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra dedicated a concert to his music.