Yitzhak Yedid (; born 29 September 1971) is an Israeli-Australian composer of contemporary classical music, pianist and an educator.
The recipient of numerous awards, Yedid is an Azrieli Prize Laureate in Jewish Music, a Laureate of the , and a Sidney Myer Creative Fellow. His compositional style has been characterised as "eclectic, multicultural, and deeply personal" combining elements of Jewish cantorial music, European classical traditions, jazz and avant-garde techniques. He has been hailed as one of the most original composers on the international music scene today.
Interfaith dialogue and cross-cultural integration are central themes in his work. His compositions reflect a deep interest in Middle Eastern culture, Jewish traditions and ancient rituals, the aesthetics of classical and liturgical Arabic music, and non-Western music performance practices.
Yedid has performed concert programs featuring Judaeo-Sephardic and Middle Eastern sacred music in his solo piano recitals.
Early life and education Yitzhak Yedid was born in Jerusalem to a Jewish family of Syrian and Iraqi descent. His father was of Syrian-Jewish background and his mother of Iraqi-Jewish background. His initial formative musical experiences included attending liturgical services at his local synagogue where he imbibed the sounds and rhythms of the Syrian-Jewish Baqashot tradition.
He was also immersed in music rooted in the broader Jewish-Arabic tradition, including the performance of traditional maqamat-based repertoire. At the same time, his mother encouraged his engagement with Western classical music and Western instrumental study. He began piano lessons with a private teacher at the age of seven. During his teenage years, he developed an interest in jazz piano, and by the age of twenty he was performing his original compositions with a contemporary music ensemble he had established.
Yitzhak Yedid's musical aesthetics find their roots in the music he immersed himself in during his formative years, particularly in the Aleppo's tradition of chanting Piyyutim and Baqashot. His musical journey is also inspired by piano music and improvisation. In his compositions, Yedid seamlessly integrates various elements, including energies and dynamics, while introducing a distinctive aesthetic that departs from the conventional norms of classical stage traditions. This innovative approach adds a nuanced, and at times even provocative, dimension to his musical creations.
Yedid studied at the Rubin Academy of Music with Vyacheslav Ganelin and the New England Conservatory in Boston with Ran Blake and Paul Bley in 1997 and 1998. He moved to Australia in 2007. In 2012 he completed a PhD at Monash University, where his dissertation examined Methods of Integrating Elements of Arabic Music and Arabic-Influenced Jewish Music into Contemporary Western Classical Music.
Career
Yitzhak Yedid released his debut album, Full Moon Fantasy, on the Musa label in 1999 Following its release, he performed throughout Scandinavia, including a joint recital in Sweden with Roland Pontinen. His second album, Inner Outcry, was released on Musa in 2001, Yedid was commissioned to compose the suite Tachanun for a festival in Vienna, Austria, in 2002. Tachanun has been performed many times in Israel including at the Kfar Blum Chamber Music Festival.
Myth of the Cave was commissioned by German record label Between the Lines. It was released in 2002. The five-movement piece has been performed at festivals in Germany and Austria, at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival and at the Tel Aviv Jazz Festival. It is based on Plato's allegory of the cave, about cave dwellers imprisoned in near-darkness since birth whose sense of reality is distorted. One of them escapes to the outside world, reports on what he has seen and is put to death for his revelations.
In 2002, he joined Israeli jazz saxophonist Abatte Barihun to form the duo Ras Deshen. They recorded their maiden album in September 2002, which featured a blend of Ethiopian music and Free improvisation jazz.
In 2003 Yedid composed Passions and Prayers – Sextet in homage to Jerusalem for Between the Lines. It is a technically complex and conceptually melancholy composition that premiered at the 2004 Israel Festival. The CD was released in August 2005.
Reflections upon Six Images was commissioned by a festival in Vienna Austria in 2004. The music depicts the union and division of images, colours, textures, styles and cultures inspired by the world of the imagination. The composition was performed at the Vienna festival in September 2004 and at the Etnakhta concert series in 2004 in Israel. The album was released at the end of 2005.
In 2005, Yedid composed the Oud Bass Piano Trio, performed at the Sibiu Festival in Romania, as well as in Australia, Canada, and the US in May and September 2005.
In 2006, Yedid composed Since My Soul Loved, a four movement composition for improvising players for violin, viola, cello, double bass and piano.
In 2009, Yedid composed Arabic Violin Bass Piano Trio. The work was premiered at the Jerusalem Theatre's Henry Crown Symphony Hall in March 2010. The composition is a continuation of his endeavour in Oud Bass Piano Trio (2005) integrating classical Arabic music, Arabic-influenced Jewish music and contemporary Western classical music. This trio has been composed for improvising performers.
After immigrating to Australia in 2007, Yedid expanded his output of large-scale orchestral and chamber works. His large-scale works include: Visions, Fantasies & Dances, music for string quartet, commissioned by Israel's Sapphire String Quartet; Piano Concerto (2016), commissioned by Michael Kieran Harvey and the Tel Aviv Soloists; Kiddushim & Killulim (2017) commissioned by Christian Lindberg & NK Orchestra; Delusions of War (2014) for 22 string soloists or string orchestra, commissioned by Divertimenti Ensemble and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra; Mandolin Concerto (2016), for mandolin and a large orchestra.
Yedid's chamber and solo works include: Chad Gadya (2017), quartet for clarinet, violin, cello & piano, commissioned by Stradbroke Chamber Music Festival; Sensations (2010) for piano, violin and cello, commissioned by Atar Trio; Angels' Revolt (2017) chaconne for solo piano, commissioned by Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition; Out to Infinity (2009) for Harp solo, commissioned by the 2009 International Harp Contest for their 50th Anniversary; The Crying Souls, Lament for Syrian Victims (2013), a cappella choir, commissioned by the Australian Voices (TAV)
Yedid has put out over ten albums as a solo act (Challenge Records International, Sony, Naxos, -btl-, Muse, MCI, and Kaleidos) and has collaborated Ethiopian-born saxophonist and vocalist Abate Berihun as the Ras-Deshen ensemble.
Yedid's works for strings include Visions, Fantasies and Dances for string quartet (2006–09), and Delusions of War for string orchestra (2014), and his compositions Oud Bass Piano Trio (2006) and 'Arabic Violin Bass Piano Trio' (2008) combine a classical Arabic instrument with Western instruments.
Some of Yedid's works have been described as Third Stream, which combines contemporary classical music with jazz improvisation. Much of Yedid's output includes slots where soloists can improvise. Yedid has often said he is delighted when performers surprise him with their inventiveness.
In his work Kadosh Kadosh and Cursed, Yedid addresses the religious dimensions of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The composition was inspired by the atmosphere of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, a site sacred to both Jews and Muslims, where the Western Wall and the Al-Aqsa Mosque stand in close proximity and large numbers of worshippers gather daily for prayer. Rather than presenting a political position, the work explores the spiritual and emotional tensions associated with the site. Structured as a sequence of interconnected musical tableaux, it combines elements of Arabic classical music and Mizrahi Jewish liturgical traditions with contemporary Western compositional techniques and free improvisation. Through this juxtaposition of musical traditions, the piece reflects themes of devotion, conflict and reflection associated with the location.
Musical style and influences Yedid's creative output spans three principal areas: works for the classical concert stage, compositions that incorporate or facilitate improvisation, and pizmonim and liturgical music for synagogue use. While rooted in contemporary classical practice, his music draws upon Jewish liturgical traditions, Middle Eastern musical aesthetics, and improvisational approaches, creating connections between sacred and secular, written and spontaneous forms of musical expression. Characteristic features of his music include the use of maqam-derived melodic materials, microtonality, cantorial idioms, jazz improvisation, and contemporary classical techniques, reflecting his interest in synthesising diverse musical traditions.
Yedid has cited Arabic music as an important influence on his compositional language:
Yedid's music contains a mix of elements. He says:
Yedid writes
Yedid's style of composition has been described as
Barry Davis wrote in The Jerusalem Post,
Yedid writes
This correlates with what the critics write about his music: John Shand from the Sydney Morning Herald wrote in 2014 about Yedid's Myth of the Cave "a vividly expansive composition"; Noam Ben-Zeav (Haaretz) wrote in 2013 that "Yedid music is an authentic expression of new music which incorporates a wide spectrum of contemporary and ancient styles"; and Ake Holmquist (NorraSkåne, Sweden) wrote in 2004 that
Yedid have shown a new direction in his later works and courage to make a commentary on international current political/religious problems that continue to find no resolution. He writes:
Awards and prizes Yedid is the recipient of the Azrieli Foundation Prize for Jewish Music. His winning composition, Kiddushim Ve’ Killulim (Blessings and Curses), was unanimously declared the best new major work of Jewish music by the judges of the Canadian prize. Yedid received a total prize package valued at over , which included a world premiere performance of his work by Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, and a recording released on the Analekta label.
In 2018 Yedid was awarded the Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship, valued over a two-year period.
Yedid has received the Prime Minister's Prize for Composers in 2007 and the in 2009. Additionally, in 2008, he received the first composition prize for Out to Infinity, a solo work for harp, at the 17th International Harp contest which led to numerous performances and recordings of the piece worldwide. Yedid has been awarded a composer-in- residence position at the Judith Wright Arts Centre (Brisbane, 2010), at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (2008) and at the Gallop House in WA (2021, National Trust of Australia).
Commissions
In 2026, Yedid was commissioned to compose a large‑scale oratorio, The Valley of the Dry Bones, with financial support from the Sidney Myer Foundation, which provided $200,000 AUD for its commissioning and development. The work, scheduled for premiere in 2027 and lasting approximately 60 minutes, is scored for symphony orchestra, chorus, and narrator. The Valley of Dry Bones Oratorio is a large-scale Jewish sacred work by composer Yitzhak Yedid, continuing and extending the tradition of Jewish sacred concert music associated with composers such as Ernest Bloch, Arnold Schoenberg and Leonard Bernstein, while bringing a contemporary musical voice to the Jewish orchestral and choral repertoire.
Awards 2025 Sidney Myer Fellows Commission Award 2021 Azrieli Prize for Jewish Music 2021 Gallop House composer in residence 2019 Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship 2016 ACUM Prize 2014 Creative Australia commissioning grant 2012 Creative Australia commissioning grant