Background
Levanon was born in Korets, Ukraine, the son of a haskalah scholar from Novohrad-Volynskyy (Samuel Bilansky).
Levanon was born in Korets, Ukraine, the son of a haskalah scholar from Novohrad-Volynskyy (Samuel Bilansky).
He was trained at the conservatory in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. After serving in the Red Army he emigrated in 1919 to Palestine, where he established himself as a composer and music teacher. Yaacov Levanon, who taught in Arab schools in Jerusalem, was commissioned by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Amin al-Husayni, to establish a children"s orchestra to entertain, among other things, for the holiday Eid ul-Fitr.
The relationship between them remained cordial until the 1929 Hebron massacre, in which the Mufti played a major role.
He died in Jerusalem, Israel.