Kobi Hagoel
Kobi Hagoel
Kobi Hagoel was born in Israel in 1962. A darbuka player from childhood, he studied acting In Nisan Nativ acting school 1984-1987 (15 years of acting).
He gained a BA. Mus & BA .Mus.ED + MA Inter-disciplines improvisation from The Jerusalem Academy Of Music and Dance. His musical development was influenced by musicians from throughout the middle east, among them the late Yaakov Morad, and Yosef Yaakov Shem-Tov. His formal studies included work on the Persian zarb with Yaakov Lev-Sameah.
In addition to music, Kobi developed an early love for drama and seriously pursued theater acting for 13 years. Since the mid-1990s, his major creative energies have been focused on music, especially middle-eastern percussion.
Kobi is a co-founder, composer, percussion, and vocalist for the band Kav Hatefer/Seam Line. He also performs with the East-West Ensemble and the Bondar Ensemble and with the dance show, Jasmine’s Magic Nights.
Over the years, he has performed with many internationally-known musicians, including Yair Dalal (Israel), Sheva (Israel), Raanana Symphony, Yehudit Tamir, Menashe Sasson , Morris al Madyuni (Algeria/France), Omar Faruk Tekbilek (Turkey/U.S.A.), Djivan Gasparyan (Armenia), Hisham Abu Mayeteq(Jordan), Alim Qasimov (Azerbaijan) ,Ross Daly (Greece ), Basilis Kasouras (Greece) ,Ahmet Misrili (Turkey), Ofer Calaf, Michael Volpe, Moti Shmidt, Adiel Shmidt, Boaz Ben Moshe, Eitan Shtienberg “The price of 5 faces”, Eti Ben Zaken, Michael Meltzer, Symphonet Raanana, Symphonet Beer Sheva, The Andalusic Orchestra Ashdod, Jason Marsalis, Martin Masaquski, Met Lemler, The Israeli Plectrum Orchestra. Between 1989 and 2003 he performed 5 times in annual Israel Festival with different projects
Performances outside of Israel:
2001 – Teater Le Garon, Toliuz, France
2002 – Villa Picolominy Dyonisia Center, Rome, Italy
2003 – Festival d’art Desacre, Paris, France
2004-16 – USA & Canada: JCC Manhattan twice, JCC San Fransisco, JCC Berkeley At Berkeley University, Los Angeles-Beverly Hills Jewish Center, New Jersey Art Center, Toronto University. Workshops at Clarion music center in S.F. and at Rhythm Fusion Santa Cruz.
2011 – France with the East and West Ensemble.
2016 – The Symphonic Orchestra Reutlingen Germany conducted by Noam Tzur.
Koni was also featured in the Israeli TV documentary: The Way of the Darbuka a journey of Kobi in Israel meeting musician (from all religions) who plays Darbuka.
In addition to being a highly accomplished performer, Kobi Hagoel was a dedicated teacher at The school of middle eastern music in Jerusalem, Beer Toovia High school work with ADD ADHA teens and Sulamot for Disadvantaged areas and with special populations in Various institutions. Since October 2018, he’s teaching in The Jerusalem Academy of Dance and music and as a researcher, he wrote the book “The Art Of Middle Eastern Rhythms”
Kobi developed a new model of casted Darbuka, Clay Dohola, and two deep shell frame drums.
