Osvaldo Noé Golijov is an Argentine composer of classical music and music professor, known for his vocal and orchestral work.
Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family that immigrated to Argentina from Romania. His mother was a piano teacher, and his father was a physician. He studied piano in La Plata and studied composition with Gerardo Gandini.
In 1983, Golijov moved to Israel, where he studied with Mark Kopytman at the Jerusalem Rubin Academy. Three years later, he studied with George Crumb at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree. In 1991, Golijov joined the faculty of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he was named Loyola Professor of Music in 2007. During the 2012–13 concert season, he occupied the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer's Chair at Carnegie Hall.
Golijov grew up listening to chamber music, Jewish liturgical and klezmer music, and the nuevo tango of Ástor Piazzolla. His Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind was inspired by the writings and teachings of Rabbi Yitzhak Saggi Nehor.
In 1996, his work Oceana was premiered at the Oregon Bach Festival. He composed La Pasión según San Marcos for the Passion 2000 project in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach. In 2010, he composed Sidereus for a consortium of 35 American orchestras, to commemorate Galileo.
Golijov had a long working relationship with soprano Dawn Upshaw, who he called his muse. She premiered some of his works, often written specifically for her. These included Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra and his popular opera, Ainadamar, which premiered at Tanglewood in 2003.
Starting in 2000, Golijov composed movie soundtracks for documentaries and other films, including The Man Who Cried, Youth Without Youth, Tetro and Twixt. He also composed and arranged chamber music, including for the Kronos Quartet (Nuevo) and the St. Lawrence String Quartet.
