Oded Zehavi (02/02/1961), an Israelian composer, from Jerusalem. He is a prolific composer for the symphonic and concert hall, Zehavi is equally at home with composition for pop/rock, theater, film and dance.Oded Zehavi belongs among the leading young Israeli composers. Zehavi was born in Jerusalem in 1961. He considers Andre Hajdu (Israel) and George Crumb (USA) as most important among his teachers. He holds a Masters Degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Doctorate which he received at the NY State University, Stonybrook.
Zehavi’s works have been performed by all the orchestras in Israel under the batons of conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, Shlomo Mintz, David Robertson, Zeev Dorman and Stanley Sperber. From 1993-96 he held the post of resident composer with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra. His works have also been performed at important venues in the U.S., France, Belgium, and Germany. In addition to his symphonic works, Zehavi wrote music for ballets, theatres and films both in Israel and abroad. He won numerous prizes, among them the Prime Minister's Prize for Composition, 1995, the Engel Prize of the Tel Aviv Municipality for the same year and the ACUM prize for the writing of his concerto for viola and orchestra, 1996.
Oded Zehavi is the head of the music department at the Haifa University.