Avner Finberg

Avner Finberg

Avner Finberg is an Israeli American composer and violinist. His music has been described by Steven Stucky as “reined, mature work of impeccable technique, original voice, and considerable ambition”, and hailed as “very funny…hits the spot beautifully” by Carole Di Tosti (Blogcritics). His musical inspirations stem from his Israeli roots and his many years of playing classical violin. His unique musical language combines without discrimination multiple musical traditions including traditional Ashkenazy and Sephardic melodies, Arabic maqam, traditional harmony, and a novel use of electronics.
Avner studied composition with Ari Ben-Shabtai at The Jerusalem Academy of Music, with Robert Cuckson at The Mannes College, and with Susan Botti at Manhattan School of Music, where he earned a doctorate in composition in 2015. Other teachers and mentors include Samuel Adler, Steven Stucky, and Martin Bresnik.
Avner’s compositions have been performed by Meitar Ensemble, ensemble mise-en, The Boston New Music Initiative, Ensemble Platypus Wien, The Ithaca New Music Collective, and Cisum Percussion, among others. His choral setting of the “Hashkivenu” prayer from the Friday night service won the 2014 Kol Emet competition for Jewish music. He was a fellow at Composers and the Voice in 2013-14, and was a resident composer at Yaddo in 2016. Scenes from his opera A Taste of Damnation were performed at the 2017 Fort Worth Opera Festival and scenes from his second opera, The Exagoge, were recently premiered at The National Opera Center in NYC.
Avner studied violin in Israel with Hagai Shaham and Roi Shiloach. He has performed with the Israel Philharmonic, at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Binghamton Philharmonic and the Annapolis Symphony. He has premiered new works at ORF Radio Tirol in Austria, Spectrum NYC, Cornell University, and Manhattan School of Music. Avner recently recorded his newest composition, The Four Seasons of Isolation, a pandemic-era reimagining of a classical violin concerto, scored for solo violin and live electronics with Ravello Records.