http://www.tsippi-fleischer.com/book/
Tsippi Fleischer was born in Haifa, Israel, in 1946. Her parents, Polish-born Jewish pioneers - Yaacov Fleischer from the city of Krakow and Shoshana, nee Mehl, from the Jewish shtetl Rimanov - met in Palestine. Before Tsippi was born her father's entire family had already perished during the Holocaust. Many letters of Jakob Fleischer have survived They were written in Hebrew .
As a three-year-old she was already improvising at the piano.
In time she studied piano and theory formally at the Rubin Conservatory of Music, Haifa, and matriculated from Haifa's Reali School in the oriental stream. Her academic degrees include: BMus in theory, composition and conducting - the Rubin Academy of Music, Jerusalem; BA in Hebrew Language, Arabic Language, Literature and History of the Middle East - Tel Aviv University; Music Teacher's Diploma - the Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv; MA in Music Education - New York University; MA in Semitic Linguistics - Tel Aviv University; PhD in Musicology - Bar Ilan University, Israel. Her doctoral thesis focused on historical research into the origins of Cherubini's Médée and on an in-depth analysis, using a combination of Heinrich Schenker's and Jan LaRue's analytical methods.
Fleischer’s style has diversified greatly during her creative life; her many achievements are characterized by the dynamics of change. The first beginnings in the 70s are typified by a search for a compositional style in which to incorporate her oriental studies. The 80s brought the formation and crystallization of this style, marked by a finely honed tonality and images of the Israeli landscape. At the end of the 80s her work reached new heights with settings to music of literary Arabic texts. The outstanding work of this period is the cantata Like Two Branches with a text by the 6th century Bedouin poetess Al-Khansa. A spurt of creativity in the 90s found expression in daring musical textures inspired by ancient, far-distant Semitic sources.
During the early 70s, when she was in her 20s, Tsippi Fleischer was well known in Tel Aviv as a talented musician on the jazz and light music scene. She was composing and arranging music in these genres and improvising on the piano for performing groups such as: the trio – “Daughters of Eve” which she formed and directed, “Little Lola’s Singing Club” with the actress Gila Almagor and “Bira umatsav ru’akh” with Yaacov Agmon. At the same time she was involved in music education and was privileged to teach some of the most talented young people (of her own age!) who, in time, reached the heights in Israeli music-making, some in the field of pop music and theatre (David Krivoshei, Shlomo Gronich, Dori Parnes) and others in classical music (David Shalon, Ilan Rechtman, Amnon Wolman). Her home became the focal point for many of these young musicians. Many musical prodigies came knocking on her door. Chava Alberstein, then at the beginning of her career, recorded “After my death” , music by Tsippi Fleischer to words by Haim Nahman Bialik – a moving song which continues to be heard until today (it appears on the LP “Kmo tsemakh bar” – “Like a Wildflower”).
The listener is impressed by the tonal landscapes and ancient Semitic languages – by the human, feminine imagination and drama, together forming a moving panorama. It is this local view of the Semitic Mediterranean East in the language of the avant-garde and the personal, original and feminine stamp characterizing Fleischer’s works that have gained her international acclaim. According to her, the involvement in symphonic and operatic creativity which began to evolve in the 90s, continues to gain an additional impetus during the 2000s.
In the operatic genre, the Chamber Opera Medea (world premiere, Israel, 1997) was followed by the Grand Chamber Opera Cain and Abel (world premiere, Israel, 2002). Both these works were given their European premieres during 2004 and 2005. The operatic scenes The Judgment of Solomon and Victoria and the Men (a section of the full opera) made a considerable impact wherever they were presented in Israel. The opera Oasis, entering into the world of Hebrew children and their Bedouin counterparts in the Sinai desert in the days of the Exodus from Egypt - their first encounter and subsequent emotional parting, marks one of the pinnacles of the composer's ideological and musical statement. The premiere is to take place in Karlsruhe, Germany, in November 2010.
At the same time Fleischer began to work in the field of grand opera.
In October 2004 a CD of five symphonies was released: Tsippi Fleischer - Symphonies I-V was produced by Vienna Modern Masters.
The research into Hebrew Song as a reflection of the demography and history of her people is a significant field of interest, and at present she is deeply involved in the summary of her research and its preparation for publication in the context of a number of textbooks and monographs. Research into Hebrew Songs as a reflection of the demography and history of her people has ever been an abiding love; at the moment she is occupied in summing up her research and preparing for it publication in the form of a number of basic books and monographs on music. Her involvment in Hebrew Song began while she was still an adolescent, studying in Haifa's Reali School; her school-leaving project- "Hebrew Folksong: Its Historical Development" - is actually a substantial book.
In 2005, while summarizing an impressive decades-long period of instruction in her unique method for treating the song's melodies, she published a two-volume book "The Harmonization of Songs" in which she describes in detail her method, used by many Israeli musicians in their day-to-day works; it has become a required textbook in the educational system.
Amongst her outstanding programs correlating education with composition: the project Composers in Search of their Roots (1982-1985), Hebrew Song Forums (1992-1996), the interdisciplinary kit for educators, combining the fields of Bible studies, art and music, following on her operatic scene The Judgement of Solomon, and the CD Girl Butterfly Girl – A World Journey containing a huge book – a combined undertaking with the Israel Music Institute, the publisher of Girl Butterfly Girl. This initiative is particularly interesting as it sheds light on the beginning of her compositional life.
The impressive disc containing some of her later chamber works, Lieder (a Vienna Modern Masters double album, Cat. No. 1060) was launched in December 2009 in Tel Aviv with the composer describing the processes of composition and her work with the Tölz Boys’ Choir. This is the 20th disc of Fleischer’s works.
During November 2008 the most extensive collection of the composer’s works was inaugurated, consisting of many original manuscripts and testimonials clarifying her approach to composition, in addition to scores and recordings. The catalog number in the music division of the Israel National Library on the Hebrew University’s Giv’at Ram campus, Jerusalem.
Tsippi Fleischer's music has been recorded and issued on CD. A comprehensive discography, including streaming and downloading of complete CDs in MP3 format, can be found on http://www.tsippi-fleischer.com/disco.html. CDs include:
Around the World with Tsippi Fleischer
Music from Six Continents, 1997 Series
Music from Six Continents, 1991 Series
Music from Six Continents, 1992 Series
Music from Six Continents, 2000 Series
Music from Six Continents, 2001 Series
Tsippi Fleischer Symphonies I-V
Cain and Abel
Israel at 50
Ethnic Silhouettes
ACUM Prize (Israel Composers and Publishers) for her life"s work
Prime Minister"s Prize on Israel"s 50th anniversary
Unesco-Paris (Rostrum) Prize for Composition
Israel"s Public Council for Culture and Art Prize for her Oratorio;
Foremost Career-Woman of Israel for 1993 in the Field of Music awarded by Globes
ACUM Prize for Like Two Branches
Award from the government of Finland
Award from the government of the United States
Brahms Gesellschaft award (Germany)
Canadian Electro-Acoustic Community award.
