Ella Milch-Sheriff, winner of Lifetime achievment award 2022 by the Israel's composers and authors institue,  is one of Israel's most performed composers in recent years. Born in Haifa, Israel, she began her career as a composer at the young age of 12, graduating in composition from the Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University.

 

Her work "The eternal stranger" commissioned by the Gewandhaus Orchstra in Leipzig for the occassion of 250 to Beethoven was  premiered in Leipzig February 2020 and since then in Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Elbphilhamonie in Hamburg, BBC Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic , the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, and later on in Stockholm Radio Symhpony and Vienna Symphony.

 Also commissioned by the Gewandhaus Leipzig the orchestration of Bach's last fugue from "The Art of Fugue". This was premiered at the "Bachfest 2019" in Leipzig. 

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Ella  composes operas, chamber, orchestral and vocal music as well as popular music and solo works. Her music is performed widely through Israel, (Israel Philharmonic/ Zubin Mehta and all Israel's major orchestras and musical ensembles) Germany, (Berlin, Hamburg, Duesseldorf, Bochum, Braunschweig etc.), Austria, Great Britain, other European countries and the US.

 

She was awarded the prestigious “Israeli Prime-Minister Prize” for her compositional works and the same year, her opera, "And the Rat Laughed”  received the Tel-Aviv “Rosenblume Prize” for an outstanding achievement.

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Her 4th opera "The Banality of Love" commissioned and premiered in Staatstheater Regensburg, Germany in 2018.

 

Her Opera "Baruchs Schweigen" (Baruch's Silence) was commissioned by Staatstheater  Braunschweig in Germany and premiered in 2010. The opera, based on the true story of her family.  (Israeli premiere (October 2014, Tel-Aviv , June 2015  Furth, Germany) and Vienna premiere 2016.

 

Her opera "And the Rat Laughed” (2005) based on Israeli author Nava Semel's book was performed in Israel and toured Europe. It had a new production in Toronto, Canada in 2009.

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Ella Milch-Sheriff composed original music to the film "Past life" (2016) directed by Avi Nesher. The film is based on her family story. She won Lys d'Or in 2017 in Montreal for her music.

 

 Among her other works:

 

• "Night's End Anthem" (2009) for 2 sopranos, children choir and symphony orchestra which premiered by Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

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• Clarinet Quartet (2020) premiered at "Intonations" festival in Berlin.

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• "Abschied" (farewell) (2021) for soprano and orchestra based by poems of Else Lasker-Schueler, premiered by Steven Sloane and Bochumer Symphoniker.

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• "Noam", a fantasy for flute and orchestra (2019) premiered by Sharon Bezaly and Israel Chamber Orchestra under Christian Lindberg.

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• "shacharit" (Dawn) for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra (2018) premiered by Israel Camerata under Oliver Weder.

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• "Halftones" for singer and orchestra based on Yiddish poet Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman (2016) premiered by Ra'anana Symphonette under Omer Meir Wellber.

 

• “Waves” (2010) for mezzo-soprano and orchestra, premiered by The Israel Camerata Jerusalem conducted by Avner Biron.

 

• "Can Heaven be Void" (2003) cantata for Mezzo soprano, narrator and Orchestra, based on her father's diary written in hiding during 2nd World War premiered in Israel and then all over the world

 

• "Songs from the Edge" (2006) for mezzo-soprano and string quartet premiered by Audubon Quartet USA

 

• "Dark am I..." (2007) for 4 singers and instrumental ensemble. premiered at the Israel festival, piano concerto, in 2010 performed by Noam Sheriff and Haifa Symphony Orchestra

 

• "Reflections on Love" (2014) for piano solo commissioned by the Rubinstein piano competition                                                                                                                                                                                                                

• "Conversation with a Stone" (2014) for mezzo-soprano, soprano, women's choir, oboe, violoncello & piano based on Wislawa Szymborska's poem. Commissioned by the museum for the history of Polish Jews                                                                                                                  

• "Green, green is the land of my Ode" (2015) for choir a-capella based  Mahmoud Darwish and Avot Yeshurun.