Ari Goldwag | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1979 (age 45–46) West Hempstead, New York |
| Genres | Contemporary Jewish religious music |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Website | arigoldwag |
Ari Goldwag (born 1979) is an AmericanOrthodox Jewish singer, songwriter, composer, and producer ofcontemporary Jewish religious music, as well as an author and teacher living inRamat Beit Shemesh, Israel. He was a soloist for theMiami 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 nine solo albums, and composes songs and produces albums for other artists.
Goldwag was born in 1979[1] inEllenville, New York.[2] At age 5 he moved with his family toWest Hempstead, where he grew up.[2] His father, Murray Goldwag, is a retired math teacher and owner of Murray's Kosher Socks inSouth Fallsburg.[3][4] His mother was also a public school teacher.[2]
Goldwag attended theHebrew Academy of Nassau County for elementary school and theYeshiva of Far Rockaway for high school.[1] He came to Israel in 2000[2] and studied at theMir yeshiva inJerusalem.[5] He met and married Talia, a native ofSeattle, Washington, in 2001.[5] The couple settled first in Jerusalem and later inRamat Beit Shemesh.[5] They have two sons and five daughters.[2]
Goldwag enjoyed singing during his childhood and was a member of Seymour Silbermintz's choir in his elementary school years.[6] After his ninth birthday, his mother took him to audition for theMiami 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]
Goldwag took voice lessons for five years with Cantor Hersh Einhorn, who also coachedAvraham 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, together with Jeff Horvitch.[9] As of 2022[update], he has released eight solo albums. His son, Moshe Dov Goldwag, also performs on his albums[10][11] and videos.[12]
Goldwag appears inmusic videos to promote his albums, including "Hashem Loves You" and "Am Echad" (One Nation).[8] For the latter video, he played five different denominations of Jews –Haredi,Hasidic,Breslov,Religious Zionist, andsecular.[12] He performed the song "Am Echad" atHASC 27 in 2014.[13][14]
Goldwag has made guest appearances on albums by Mendy Wald andShloime Dachs,[15] Shalsheles,[16] David Lowy,[17] and Moshe David Weissman,[18] and performed on thecompilation albumsA Capella Treasury: Yom Tov,[19]Sameach at the Wheel,[20] andA Kumsitz in the Rain.[21] He also writes songs for other artists, including the hit song "Yesh Tikvah" (There Is Hope) (2012) and "Ivri Anochi" (Proud Jew) (2017), both of which were composed by Goldwag, and lyrics co-written withMiriam Israeli for singerBenny Friedman.[8] Additionally, he produces albums for other artists, includingSheves Achim 1 & 2, andSheves 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 atweddings,bar mitzvahs, organizational fundraisers, and concerts.[7] He occasionally performs in concert in the United States. He is thechazzan forRosh Hashana andYom Kippur at aSeattle-area synagogue.[2]
Goldwag 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 onJewish prayers andpsalms, his English-language compositions are original.[6] On his fifth solo album,The English Album, all the tracks are in English.[10]
Goldwag is a prolific author and lecturer onTorah topics.[23] He has recorded hundreds of talks on theweekly Torah portion and on the topic of Bitachon (Faith in God).[24] Since 2007 he has delivered Torahshiurim onmussar andhashkafah on a podcast.[2] He is also the author of a book on personal growth, titledPerfectly Imperfect: Breaking out of the ordinary and striving for greatness (Mosaica - Distributed byFeldheim).[2]
