Ari Goldwag Explained

Ari Goldwag
Birth Place:West Hempstead, New York
Genre:Contemporary Jewish religious music
Years Active:1988–present

Ari Goldwag (born 1979) is an American Orthodox Jewish singer, songwriter, composer, and producer of contemporary Jewish religious music, as well as an author and teacher living in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel. He was a soloist for the Miami Boys Choir at age 10 and starred on five albums and three videos before his voice changed at age 14. He launched a music career after his marriage and move to Israel. He has released nine solo albums, and composes songs and produces albums for other artists.

Early life, education, and family

Goldwag was born in 1979 in Ellenville, New York. At age 5 he moved with his family to West Hempstead, where he grew up. His father, Murray Goldwag, is a retired math teacher and owner of Murray's Kosher Socks in South Fallsburg.[1] [2] His mother was also a public school teacher.

Goldwag attended the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County for elementary school and the Yeshiva of Far Rockaway for high school. He came to Israel in 2000 and studied at the Mir yeshiva in Jerusalem. He met and married Talia, a native of Seattle, Washington, in 2001. The couple settled first in Jerusalem and later in Ramat Beit Shemesh. They have two sons and five daughters.

Music career

Child singer

Goldwag enjoyed singing during his childhood and was a member of Seymour Silbermintz's choir in his elementary school years.[3] On his ninth birthday, his mother took him to audition for the Miami Boys Choir; she had to convince him to go up on stage when he panicked at the sight of 200 other boys at the tryout. He passed the audition and became a member of the choir from 1988 to 1994. At age 10 he became a soloist,[4] appearing as a lead vocalist on five Miami albums[5] and three music videos.[3] His soloist career ended at age 14 when his voice changed.[4]

Singer, songwriter, composer, producer

Goldwag took voice lessons for five years with Cantor Hersh Einhorn, who also coached Avraham Fried.[4] He produced his first solo album, Lishuascha Kivinu (For Your Salvation We Do Long) in 2003.[6] In addition to composing 10 of the 11 tracks on the album, he mixed, engineered and produced the album himself, together with Jeff Horvitch.[7], he has released eight solo albums. His son, Moshe Dov Goldwag, also performs on his albums[8] and videos. Goldwag appears in music videos to promote his albums, including "Hashem Loves You" and "Am Echad" (One Nation).[6] For the latter video, he played five different denominations of Jews  - Haredi, Hasidic, Breslov, Religious Zionist, and secular.[9] He performed the song "Am Echad" at HASC 27 in 2014.[10] [11]

Goldwag has made guest appearances on albums by Mendy Wald and Shloime Dachs,[12] Shalsheles,[13] David Lowy,[14] and Moshe David Weissman,[15] and performed on the compilation albums A Capella Treasury: Yom Tov,[16] Sameach at the Wheel,[17] and A Kumsitz in the Rain.[18] He also writes songs for other artists, including the hit song "Yesh Tikvah" (There Is Hope) (2012) and "Ivri Anochi" (Proud Jew) (2017), both of which were composed by Goldwag, and lyrics co-written with Miriam Israeli for singer Benny Friedman.[6] Additionally, he produces albums for other artists, including Sheves Achim 1 & 2, and Sheves Chaverim 1 & 2, which feature child vocalists performing Goldwag's compositions and musical arrangements. Goldwag plays piano and guitar.[19]

In 2007 he founded the Ari Goldwag Orchestra, which performs at weddings, bar mitzvahs, organizational fundraisers, and concerts.[5] He occasionally performs in concert in the United States. He is the chazzan for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur at a Seattle-area synagogue.[19]

Musical style

Goldwag characterizes his musical style as "yeshivishe pop", in contrast to "Hasidic pop".[19] He composes songs in both English and Hebrew.[6] While his Hebrew-language melodies are based on Jewish prayers and psalms, his English-language compositions are original.[3] On his fifth solo album, The English Album, all the tracks are in English.[20]

Other activities

Goldwag is a prolific author and lecturer on Torah topics.[21] He has recorded hundreds of talks on the weekly Torah portion and on the topic of Bitachon (Faith in God).[22] Since 2007 he has delivered Torah shiurim on mussar and hashkafah on a podcast.[19] He is also the author of a book on personal growth, titled Perfectly Imperfect: Breaking out of the ordinary and striving for greatness (Mosaica - Distributed by Feldheim).[19]

Discography

Solo albums

A Cappella albums

Productions

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: We All Scream for Kosher Socks?; At Catskill Colonies, the Buzz Begins When the Peddler's Truck Pulls In. Andrew. Jacobs. 19 August 2005. 22 March 2015. The New York Times.
  2. Web site: Kosher Sox Open for Season. Victor. Whitman. 8 July 2008. 22 March 2015. Times Herald-Record.
  3. Web site: Ari Goldwag's Biography . arigoldwag.com . 22 March 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090520055951/http://arigoldwag.com/bio.html . 20 May 2009 .
  4. Ginsberg, Rachel. "Catch a Falling Star: How do former child stars navigate life after the glitz and glitter is gone?" Mishpacha, 9 April 2014, pp. 156-160.
  5. Web site: Annual Melaveh Malka. 14 February 2015. 22 March 2015. Ahavas Shalom. 19.
  6. Web site: Ari Goldwag's "Am Echad" is Lighting Up the Charts . dead . Ari . Hirsch . 26 November 2013 . The Vues Online . 25 October 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141025203019/http://thevuesonline.com/article-ari-goldwags---am-echad---is-lighting-up-the-charts . 27 August 2016 . dmy .
  7. Web site: Lishuascha Kivinu (Ari Goldwag). 24 August 2004. 22 March 2015. Jewish Music Reviews.
  8. Web site: A Cappela Album Feat. Sheves Achim, Chaveirim, Ari and Moshe Dov Goldwag Coming Soon. 2 April 2012. 22 March 2015. Jewish Music Report. 2 April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402113530/http://jewishmusicreport.com/2012/04/02/a-cappela-album-feat-sheves-achim-chaveirim-ari-and-moshe-dov-goldwag-coming-soon/. dead.
  9. Web site: Beit Shemesh Singer Ari Goldwag Calls for Unity in New Video. Ben. Bresky. 11 March 2014. 22 March 2015. Israel National News.
  10. Web site: HASC – 27 CD. 2015. Mostly Music. 22 March 2015.
  11. Web site: HASC 27: 40 Pictures by Stan Weiss to Celebrate 40 Years of Camp HASC. January 2014. 22 March 2015. Jewish Insights.
  12. Web site: Vezocher CD With Shloime Dachs, Mendy Wald & Ari Goldwag. Eichler’s. 2015. 22 March 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402141729/http://www.eichlers.com/vezocher-cd-with-shloime-dachs-mendy-wald-ari-goldwag.html. 2 April 2015. dead.
  13. Web site: Shalsheles Releases New Album. 2013. 22 March 2015. thecooljew.com. 27 March 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150327022625/http://www.thecooljew.com/2013/11/shalsheles-to-release-new-album/. dead.
  14. Web site: Dovid Lowy CD Ata Imadi. Eichlers. 2015. 22 March 2015. 27 March 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150327135354/http://www.eichlers.com/dovid-lowy-cd-ata-imadi.html. dead.
  15. Web site: Avodas Shebalev 2 CD. Eichler's. 2015. 22 March 2015. 2 April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402110157/http://www.eichlers.com/avodas-shebalev-2-cd.html. dead.
  16. Web site: A Capella Treasury: Yom Tov. Eichler's. 2015. 22 March 2015. 3 April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150403132615/http://www.eichlers.com/a-cappella-treasury-yom-tov-various-artists-cd.html. dead.
  17. Web site: Sameach at the Wheel – Vol 1 CD. Eichler's. 2015. 22 March 2015. 2 April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402094538/http://www.eichlers.com/sameach-at-the-wheel-volume-1-cd.html. dead.
  18. Web site: A Kumsitz in the Rain CD. Eichler's. 2015. 22 March 2015. 12 July 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140712211753/http://www.eichlers.com/a-kumzitz-in-the-rain-cd.html. dead.
  19. Unbeatable Hits With Profound Messages. Rabbi Yitzchok. Frankfurther. Ami. 11 March 2019. 78–89.
  20. Web site: Review: Ari Goldwag  - The English Album. 11 December 2014. 22 March 2015. Jewish Music Report. 30 December 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141230071243/http://jewishmusicreport.com/2014/12/11/review-ari-goldwag-the-english-album/. dead.
  21. Web site: Rabbi Ari Goldwag. Aish.com. 2015. 22 March 2015.
  22. Web site: Rabbi Ari Goldwag. Torah Anytime. 22 March 2015. 2014. https://archive.today/20150416165028/http://www.torahanytime.com/speakers-list/rabbi-ari-goldwag/. 16 April 2015. dead.
  23. Web site: Having a Tough Day?. 26 April 2012. 22 March 2015. collive.com.
  24. Web site: Ari Goldwag – A Capella Soul 2. Mostly Music. 2015. 22 March 2015.
  25. Web site: Ari Goldwag Sheves Chaverim. Jewish Music Review. 22 March 2015.

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