Ari Goldwag
Ari Goldwag (born 1979) is an American-born 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 seven solo albums, and composes songs and produces albums for other artists.
Ari Goldwag | |
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Born | 1979 (age 40–41) West Hempstead, New York |
Genres | Contemporary Jewish religious music |
Years active | 1988–present |
Website | arigoldwag |
Early life, education, and family
Goldwag was born in 1979[1] in Ellenville, New York.[2] At age 5 he moved with his family to West Hempstead, where he grew up.[2] His father, Murray Goldwag, is a retired math teacher and owner of Murray's Kosher Socks in South Fallsburg.[3][4] His mother was also a public school teacher.[2]
Goldwag attended the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County for elementary school and the Yeshiva of Far Rockaway for high school.[1] He came to Israel in 2000[2] and studied at the Mir yeshiva in Jerusalem.[5] He met and married Talia, a native of Seattle, Washington, in 2001.[5] The couple settled first in Jerusalem and later in Ramat Beit Shemesh.[5] They have one son and five daughters.[2]
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][2] 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.[8] In addition to composing 10 of the 11 tracks on the album, he mixed, engineered and produced the album himself.[9] As of 2020, he has released seven solo albums. His son, Moshe Dov Goldwag, also performs on his albums[10][11] and videos.[12]
Goldwag appears in music videos to promote his singles, including "Hashem Loves You" and "Am Echad" (One Nation).[8] For the latter video, he played five different denominations of Jews in Israel – Haredi, Hasidic, Breslov, Religious Zionist, and secular.[12] He performed the song "Am Echad" at HASC 27 in 2014.[13][14]
Goldwag has made guest appearances on albums by Mendy Wald and Shloime Dachs,[15] Shalsheles,[16] David Lowy,[17] and Moshe David Weissman,[18] and performed on the compilation albums A Capella Treasury: Yom Tov,[19] Sameach at the Wheel,[20] and A Kumsitz in the Rain.[21] 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.[8] 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.[22] Goldwag plays piano and guitar.[2]
In 2007 he founded the Ari Goldwag Orchestra, which performs at weddings, bar mitzvahs, organizational fundraisers, and concerts.[7] He occasionally performs in concert in the United States. He is the chazzan for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur at a Seattle-area synagogue.[2]
Musical style
Goldberg characterizes his musical style as "yeshivishe pop", in contrast to "Hasidic pop".[2] He composes songs in both English and Hebrew.[8] 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.[10]
Other activities
Goldwag is a prolific author and lecturer on Torah topics.[23] He has recorded hundreds of talks on the weekly Torah portion.[24] Since 2007 he has delivered Torah shiurim on mussar and hashkafah on a podcast.[2] He is also the author of a book on personal growth, titled Perfectly Imperfect: Breaking out of the ordinary and striving for greatness (Feldheim).[2]
Discography
Solo albums
- Lishuascha Kivinu (For Your Salvation We Do Long) (2003)
- Simcha B'libi (The Joy in My Heart) (2004)
- Pure Soul: Flippin' In (2006)
- Am Echad (One Nation) (2013)
- The English Album (2014)
- Lo Nafsik Lirkod - Never Stop Dancing (2018)
- Yesh Li Hakol (I Have Everything) (2020)
A Cappella albums
References
- 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.
- Frankfurther, Rabbi Yitzchok (11 March 2019). "Unbeatable Hits With Profound Messages". Ami: 78–89.
- 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.
- Whitman, Victor (8 July 2008). "Kosher Sox Open for Season". Times Herald-Record. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- Meet the Members (PDF), Ahavas Shalom Bulletin, Spring 2011, p. 4, archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015, retrieved 22 March 2015
- "Ari Goldwag's Biography". arigoldwag.com. Archived from the original on 20 May 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "Annual Melaveh Malka" (PDF). Ahavas Shalom. 14 February 2015. p. 19. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- Hirsch, Ari (26 November 2013). "Ari Goldwag's "Am Echad" is Lighting Up the Charts". The Vues Online. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- "Lishuascha Kivinu (Ari Goldwag)". Jewish Music Reviews. 24 August 2004. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "Review: Ari Goldwag – The English Album". Jewish Music Report. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "A Cappela Album Feat. Sheves Achim, Chaveirim, Ari and Moshe Dov Goldwag Coming Soon". Jewish Music Report. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- Bresky, Ben (11 March 2014). "Beit Shemesh Singer Ari Goldwag Calls for Unity in New Video". Israel National News. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "HASC – 27 CD". Mostly Music. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "HASC 27: 40 Pictures by Stan Weiss to Celebrate 40 Years of Camp HASC". Jewish Insights. January 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "Vezocher CD With Shloime Dachs, Mendy Wald & Ari Goldwag". Eichler’s. 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "Shalsheles Releases New Album". thecooljew.com. 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "Dovid Lowy CD Ata Imadi". Eichlers. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "Avodas Shebalev 2 CD". Eichler's. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "A Capella Treasury: Yom Tov". Eichler's. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "Sameach at the Wheel – Vol 1 CD". Eichler's. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "A Kumsitz in the Rain CD". Eichler's. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "Ari Goldwag Sheves Chaverim". Jewish Music Review. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "Rabbi Ari Goldwag". Aish.com. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "Rabbi Ari Goldwag". Torah Anytime. 2014. Archived from the original on 16 April 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "Having a Tough Day?". collive.com. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "Ari Goldwag – A Capella Soul 2". Mostly Music. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
External links
- "Interview with Ari Goldwag on his album Sheves Chaverim" (video)
- "Audio: In-Studio Performance & Interview with Jewish Singer Ari Goldwag" Israel National News, March 5, 2014
- Ari Goldwag – Miami Boys Choir soloist (video)
- "Am Echad" – One Nation – Official music video
- "I'm Imperfect" – A Cappella – Official music video