ACUM Awards Marc Lavry

We are honored to accept, on behalf of Marc Lavry, a special award by the Board of ACUM (Composers’ Association of Authors and Publishers of Music in Israel) for composer Marc Lavry’s contribution to Israeli music. The award will be presented at a ceremony on Wednesday, January 30, 2013.

From ACUM’s announcement:

ACUM winners in the concert music and literature (Jan 7, 2013)

A special Award to the late composer Marc Lavry —

Marc Lavry was an accomplished and productive composer and is one of the founders of the artistic Israeli music. His melodies were inspired by landscapes and culture of the State of Israel in its early days. His writing was straightforward and clear, and connected diverse audiences. In 1948 [Prime Minister] David Ben-Gurion asked Marc Lavry to establish the national radio station “Kol Zion Lagola” in Jerusalem, which broadcast to Jewish communities in the Diaspora.
Marc Lavry wrote of himself, “I didn’t try, upon arriving in Israel, to impose upon myself a specific conception. Yet, as soon as I became encompassed with the influence of the country, when I found myself to be an integral part of Israel, when I mastered the Hebrew language &mdash in the most natural way &mdash I began composing in that style which I write till today.

I write for the public and I want to be understood by it. I want my music to create the same feelings, ideas and impressions that inspired me to write the composition.”

Lavry wrote more than 400 works including operas, songs, symphonies, and more. Among his [memorable] melodies are “Kumi Tsee Achoti Kala (Come Out, My Sister, My Bride)” to the words of the Haim Nacchman Bialik, “Shir Roim (Shepherds’ Song)” to lyrics by Rafael Eliaz, “Layla Bagilboa (Night on Mt. Gilboa)” to lyrics by Avraham Shlonsky and performed by Yaffa Yarkoni, and more.

The award will be delivered to his daughter Ms. Efrat Lavry, founder and director of the Society in his name.