Gilad Hochman is widely considered as one of Israel's most prominent composers and as an original and innovative voice in the international music scene. He was described as “a rising star in the classical music world” by France 24 and as "an already a well-known classical composer” by the BBC. The New York Times  stated that “most impressive is Mr. Hochman’s gift for assembling musical gestures that come across as psychologically revealing” in an elaborated review, while the Israeli Prime Minister's Prize committee described him as “a fascinating, original and colorful creator”. Ma'ariv concluded – “Hochman writes with a true artist's hand”.

​

Among his many achievements, at age 24 Hochman became the youngest to win Israel's prestigious Prime Minister's Prize. He is also the winner of various international competitions, including the 2017 S&R Foundation's Washington Award, and his works are regularly performed by leading musicians, ensembles, choirs and orchestras worldwide, and praised by music professionals, the audience and the critique alike.

​

Notable performances of his compositions include several chamber-music retrospective concerts in Germany and a Berlin Philharmonie orchestral debut in 2013. In 2015, his orchestral piece “Suspended Reality” was commissioned for a concert tour by the Israel Sinfonietta Beer Sheva and the Philharmonie der Nationen, under conductor Justus Frantz, and was premiered at the German Parliament. It was then played in concerts at the Alte Oper Frankfurt, Wuppertal's Stadthalle, Tel Aviv's Opera House and at six other venues. Other works by Hochman were performed at Carnegie Hall (New York), Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, St James's Piccadilly (London) and Henry Crown Symphony Hall (Jerusalem), to name a few.

​​

Born in Herzli'ya, Israel, in 1982 to an Odessa-native father and a Paris-native mother, Hochman resides in Berlin since 2007. He started studying the piano at the age of 6 and composing at the age of 9. At age 14 he began learning composition under Dr. Ilya Heifets, an esteemed composer dedicated to the creation of contemporary works relating to traditional Jewish music. In 2007, Hochman graduated with honors from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University, where he studied composition under Gil Shohat, as well as musicology and theoretical subjects under some of Israel’s leading senior musicians. Since then, Hochman's music has developed its own language – constantly searching yet at the same time presenting a clear aesthetic approach. It is uniquely merging classical music traditions with those connected to Jewish music and culture and to his Israeli origin while striving for a balance between rational and emotional expressions. Stylistically, his music ranges freely between modal, tonal and various contemporary idioms and techniques.

 

As an internationally engaged composer, in 2013 Hochman was invited to lecture and present his works at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. That same year his pieces were released by German label ClassicClips on 2 CDs and his music was portrayed on Deutschlandradio Kultur. In 2014 Hochman won 1st prize at the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs composition competition, and his work "Nedudim" ("Wanderings") was premiered by London’s Orchestra of the City under conductor Chris Hopkins, together with mandolinist Alon Sariel. That same year, 'Youth Choir Kamēr…' had commissioned, performed and recorded Hochman's choral work "Beyond Nine Lakes" as part of “Riga – European Capital of Culture 2014”.

 

Following its London-premiere, Hochman’s “Nedudim” for mandolin and string orchestra was also played in 2015 by the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra under maestro Frédéric Chaslin and by the Tel Aviv Soloists Ensemble under conductor Guy Feder. In June 2016 this work has received its German premiere by the Deutsche Kammerorchester Berlin under conductor Gil Raveh and recorded by the international label Berlin Classics (Neue Mesiter / Edel). In 2017, his work "A Voice in the Wilderness" had opened the concert season of the Israel's Opera House orchestra (The Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion) and the performance of his trio "Slightly Disturbed" in NYC awarded The Israeli Chamber Project the Oedoen Partos Prize for their "sweeping, moving, profound and faithful interpretation".

 

In 2018 Hochman was invited as Guest Composer to The Intimacy of Creativity music festival in Hong Kong. That same year, two of his recent works were premiered and recorded: "Sim Shalom" ("Grant Peace") for Cantor and SATB Choir, commissioned by the Park Avenue Synagogue for Cantor Azi Schwartz and RIAS Kammerchor, and "Prayer Without Words", commissioned by Kunstmuseum Bochum and composed for the Saxophone-Harp ensemble, Jerusalem Duo.

 

Hochman's oeuvre includes a wide range of orchestral, choral, chamber and solo compositions that are regularly commissioned and performed by groups such as RIAS Kammerchor, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Rishon LeZion Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, Tel Aviv Soloists Ensemble, Oriol Ensemble, Israeli Chamber Project, Meitar Ensemble, Musica Nova Ensemble, Sirenot Ensemble, Studium Chorale, Copenhagen Festival Ensemble and the Israel Chamber Orchestra. His works were also presented at the Heidelberg Biennale for New Music, The World Saxophone Congress, Aachen International Chorbiennale, Israel Music Fest, Festival de Chaillol, the Israeli Schubertiade, Musica Sacra Festival (Maastricht), Magister Ludi Festival (Moscow), Molyvos International Music Festival (Greece), Summerwinds Festival Münster, and in numerous other festivals and concert series worldwide.

​​​

His music is supported by different foundations, art supporters, philanthropists and private funds, including the Goethe-Institut, Austrian Cultural Forum, America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Goethe-Institut, Yehoshua Rabinovich Arts Foundation, the Adele and John Gray Endowment Fund, Ursula Lachnit-Fixson Stiftung, Anni Eisler-Lehmann-Stiftung, Zfunot Tarbut Foundation and Ronen Arts Fund.

​