Mátti Kovler

Mátti Kovler was born in 1980 in Moscow

Mátti Kovler was born Dmitri Kovler in Moscow on September 14, 1980. He is the grandson of Russian opera singer Leonid Kovler and pianist Rosa Eidus. He moved to Israel with his family in 1990.

He graduated from the Israel Arts and Science Academy in Jerusalem. After his army service he earned a bachelor's degree at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. He went on to study in the United States and earned a doctorate in composition from the New England Conservatory.

His mentor, composer André Hajdu, drew him to bring Jewish sacred texts and melodies into new music. His works were commissioned by the Israel Festival, Tanglewood and Carnegie Hall, and played by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and other orchestras. He taught at the New England Conservatory and Northeastern University, and was composer in residence at the Elie Wiesel Center at Boston University in 2014 and 2015.

In 2011 he founded Floating Tower, a Brooklyn group that has staged productions in the United States, Israel, China and Russia. His works include the children's opera Ami and Tami and the 2016 satirical opera The Drumf and the Rhinegold, a parody of Wagner about Donald Trump. In 2013 he won a Brother Thomas Fellowship from the Boston Foundation.