Ari Goldwag

Ari Goldwag
Background information
Born 1979 (age 36–37)
West Hempstead, New York
Genres Contemporary Jewish religious music
Years active 1988–present
Website arigoldwag.com

Ari Goldwag (born 1979)[1] is an American-born Orthodox Jewish singer, songwriter, composer, and producer of contemporary Jewish religious music. He achieved fame as 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 successful music career after his marriage and move to Israel. He has released five solo albums, and composes songs and produces albums for other artists.

Biography

Goldwag was born and raised in West Hempstead, New York.[1] His father, Murray Goldwag, is a retired math teacher and owner of Murray's Kosher Socks in South Fallsburg.[2][3]

Goldwag attended the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County for elementary school and the Yeshiva of Far Rockaway for high school.[1] He later studied at the Mir yeshiva in Jerusalem.[4] He met and married Talia, a native of Seattle, Washington, in 2001.[4] The couple settled first in Jerusalem and later in Ramat Beit Shemesh.[4] They have five children.[5]

Music career

Child singer

Goldwag enjoyed singing during his childhood and was a member of Seymour Silbermintz's choir in his elementary school years.[6] 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.[1] He passed the audition and became a member of the choir from 1988 to 1994.[1] At age 10 he became a soloist,[1] appearing as a lead vocalist on five Miami albums[7] and three music videos.[6] His soloist career ended at age 14 when his voice changed.[1]

Singer, songwriter, composer, producer

Goldwag took voice lessons for five years with Cantor Hersh Einhorn, who also coached Avraham Fried.[1] He produced his first solo album, Lishuascha Kivinu (For Your Salvation We Do Long) in 2003.[5] In addition to composing 10 of the 11 tracks on the album, he mixed, engineered and produced the album himself.[8] As of 2015, he has released five solo albums. His son, Moshe Dov Goldwag, also performs on his albums[9][10] and videos.[11]

Goldwag appears in music videos to promote his singles, including "Hashem Loves You" and "Am Echad" (One Nation).[5] For the latter video, he played five different denominations of Jews in Israel – Haredi, Hasidic, Breslov, Religious Zionist, and secular, shaving off his beard for the latter two roles.[11] He performed the song "Am Echad" at HASC 27 in 2014.[12][13]

Goldwag has made guest appearances on albums by Mendy Wald and Shloime Dachs,[14] Shalsheles,[15] David Lowy,[16] and Moshe David Weissman,[17] and performed on the compilation albums A Capella Treasury: Yom Tov,[18] Sameach at the Wheel,[19] and A Kumsitz in the Rain.[20] He also writes songs for other artists, including the hit single "Yesh Tikvah" (There Is Hope) (2012), co-written with Miriam Israeli for singer Benny Friedman.[5] Additionally, he produces albums for other artists, including Sheves Achim 1 & 2, and Sheves Chaverim, which feature child vocalists performing Goldwag's compositions and musical arrangements.[21]

In 2007 he founded the Ari Goldwag Orchestra, which performs at weddings, bar mitzvahs, organizational fundraisers, and concerts.[7]

Musical style

Goldwag composes songs in both English and Hebrew.[5] While his Hebrew-language melodies are based on Jewish prayers and psalms, his English-language compositions are original.[6] On his fifth solo album, The English Album, all the tracks are in English.[9]

Other activities

Goldwag is a prolific writer and lecturer on Torah topics.[22] He has recorded hundreds of talks on the weekly Torah portion.[23]

Discography

Solo albums

Compilation albums

Productions

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ginsberg, Rachel. "Catch a Falling Star: How do former child stars navigate life after the glitz and glitter is gone?" Mishpacha, April 9, 2014, pp. 156-160.
  2. ↑ Jacobs, Andrew (19 August 2005). "We All Scream for Kosher Socks?; At Catskill Colonies, the Buzz Begins When the Peddler's Truck Pulls In". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Whitman, Victor (8 July 2008). "Kosher Sox Open for Season". Times Herald-Record. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 Meet the Members (PDF), Ahavas Shalom Bulletin, Spring 2011, p. 4, retrieved 22 March 2015
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Hirsch, Ari (26 November 2013). "Ari Goldwag's "Am Echad" is Lighting Up the Charts". The Vues Online. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "Ari Goldwag's Biography". arigoldwag.com. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Annual Melaveh Malka" (PDF). Ahavas Shalom. 14 February 2015. p. 19. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Lishuascha Kivinu (Ari Goldwag)". Jewish Music Reviews. 24 August 2004. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Review: Ari Goldwag – The English Album". Jewish Music Report. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "A Cappela Album Feat. Sheves Achim, Chaveirim, Ari and Moshe Dov Goldwag Coming Soon". Jewish Music Report. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  11. 1 2 Bresky, Ben (11 March 2014). "Beit Shemesh Singer Ari Goldwag Calls for Unity in New Video". Israel National News. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "HASC – 27 CD". Mostly Music. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "HASC 27: 40 Pictures by Stan Weiss to Celebrate 40 Years of Camp HASC". Jewish Insights. January 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  14. ↑ "Vezocher CD With Shloime Dachs, Mendy Wald & Ari Goldwag". Eichler’s. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  15. ↑ "Shalsheles Releases New Album". thecooljew.com. 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  16. ↑ "Dovid Lowy CD Ata Imadi". Eichlers. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "Avodas Shebalev 2 CD". Eichler's. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  18. ↑ "A Capella Treasury: Yom Tov". Eichler's. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  19. ↑ "Sameach at the Wheel – Vol 1 CD". Eichler's. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  20. ↑ "A Kumsitz in the Rain CD". Eichler's. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  21. 1 2 "Ari Goldwag Sheves Chaverim". Jewish Music Review. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  22. ↑ "Rabbi Ari Goldwag". Aish.com. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  23. ↑ "Rabbi Ari Goldwag". Torah Anytime. 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  24. ↑ "Having a Tough Day?". collive.com. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  25. ↑ "Ari Goldwag – A Capella Soul 2". Mostly Music. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.

External links

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