Julia Feldman

Lore & Background

Julia Feldman was born in Samara into a family with a large musical background. Her grandfather, Solomon Feldman, was an accomplished conductor and leader of the city philharmonic orchestra, and her father, Ilya Feldman, is a jewellery designer who also plays jazz piano. She began classical piano training at age 5, continuing until her family immigrated to Israel in 1990. In Jerusalem, she studied classical piano with Anatoly Tartakovsky and jazz improvisation with composer and saxophonist Stephen Horenstein at the High School of Arts in Jerusalem. In her last year of high school, she became interested in jazz singing, and from 1997 studied voice technique and jazz improvisation with Israeli jazz vocalist Iris Portugaly and intensive jazz studies with saxophonist Arnie Lawrence at the International Music Center of Jerusalem. There, she studied and performed with American jazz musicians including Evelyn Blakey, Larry Goldings, Armen Donelian, Bob Meyer, Sheila Jordan, Judi Silvano, and composer Allen Gershwin. She was invited to perform Allen Gershwin's composition 'Walk in the wilderness' at a tribute concert dedicated to his father, George Gershwin. Between 1998 and 1999, she continued vocal jazz studies with Iris Portugaly at the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and in 2003 graduated from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, studying voice technique with opera singer Robin Weisel-Capsouto, jazz improvisation with Ataliya Pniel, and composition with Vyacheslav Ganelin.

Reader's Guide

Julia Feldman's significance lies in her role as a versatile jazz vocalist and composer who bridges multiple genres, including free improvisation and modern classical music. As a bandleader, she formed the Julia Feldman Ensemble and the Julia Feldman Jazz Quartet, the latter with guitarist Steve Peskoff. The Ensemble's debut album, 'Words Are Worlds (A Tribute to Billie Holiday)', released in 2006 on Hed Arzi, features arrangements of jazz standards associated with Holiday alongside original compositions, all connected by a leitmotif from Holiday's 'God Bless the Child'. The Quartet, active for several years, performed Feldman's compositions and arrangements influenced by contemporary jazz, rock, funk, Brazilian music, and free improvisation, gaining recognition on Israeli stages and festivals. In February 2008, Feldman and Peskoff traveled to New York to record the Quartet's first album, featuring drummer Ferenc Nemeth, bassist Massimo Biolcati, vocalist Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, and saxophonist Loren Stillman. Her collaborative projects include lead singer in the progressive rock band Musica Ficta, vocalist in Radical Shlomo (Steve Peskoff's project arranging Shlomo Carlebach's songs), co-composer and co-lyricist in Ayulyul with Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, a voice-double bass duo with Eli Magen, and collaboration with the ethno-core Jerusalem band Shoom. She has performed at venues including Shuni Jazz Festival, Tel Aviv International Jazz Festival, and the Israel Festival.

Did You Know?

• Julia Feldman was born in Samara, Soviet Union, on June 22, 1979.
• Her grandfather, Solomon Feldman, was an accomplished conductor and leader of the Samara city philharmonic orchestra.
• She studied jazz improvisation with saxophonist Arnie Lawrence at the International Music Center of Jerusalem.
• Her debut album 'Words Are Worlds (A Tribute to Billie Holiday)' was released in 2006 on the Israeli label Hed Arzi.