Ariel Lazarus

Dr. Ariel Lazarus is a unique voice among Israeli musicians today. Brought up in a family with sephardi musical roots from Gibraltar, he began composing and playing the guitar in his teens, and has been committed to developing his own compositional language ever since, always maintaining an open dialogue with his traditions. ​Lazarus is the winner of the 2021 Yitzhak Navon prize given by the president of Israel for outstanding work in the field of music traditions. Lazarus is the musical director and co-founder of the Israeli Ladino Orchestra, Renanot. The orchestra has represented Israel at the UN global cultural forum conference in Fez. Lazarus's symphonic works where premiered by the Israeli Andalucian Orchestra, Ashdod and the Ra'anana Symphony Orchestra, and his chamber works by various performers world wide. Ariel has been invited to perform in Morocoo, Portugal, Spain, Germany, the USA, France, Luxembourg, Hungary, Gibraltar, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Israel. Lazarus's recordings where released by the European botique label "Smoothfactor" and has gained critical acclaim by various News Papers, TV and Radio shows (Haaretz, IBA, KAN Tarbut, 88 FM, Neue Westfalishe etc).Lazarus's work is published by Or-Tav and IMI, Tel Aviv. Lazarus has earned his Ph.D. at the Bar Ilan University, studying composition with Prof. Betty Olivero and Prof. Gideon Lewensohn and conducted research under the supervision of Prof. Edwin Seroussi from the Hebrew University. His PhD thesis touched upon the rare repertouir of the spanish & portuguese dirges (Kinot).Lazarus has received BMus and MMus diplomas in classical guitar performance and composition from the Oklahoma City University where he studied with American composer Dr. Edward Knight. ​ Lazarus has received awards from the ACUM composers league and Israel's Pais art council. Lazarus currently holds positions as music lecturer and ensemble director at the Ono music academy,"Givat Washington" academic college and the "Rimon" School of Music.​Ariel is married to Yamit and father to Uri, Emily and Agam.