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Jim
Berenholtz |
Jim
Berenholtz is a composer of music for theatre, dance, film and
the concert stage. He is best known for his work bridging the classical
and contemporary musical styles of the Western world with the indigenous
sounds of ancient and native cultures. Among his many compositions are
“Buffalo Nation”, a Native American-themed opera, “Luna”,
an astrological ballet, and “Songs of Forgotten Relatives”,
a musical play about the disappearing diversity of cultures and lifeforms.
Mr. Berenholtz graduated Amherst College in 1979 with a degree in composition
and ethnomusicology. In 1984 he co-founded the musical duo Xochimoki,
which soon became a leading force in the revival of the ancient musical
traditions of the Aztec, Maya, and other pre-Columbian civilizations.
Through Xochimoki he went on to become a performer
with the Los Angeles Music Center On Tour and the Orange County Performing
Arts Center in-the-schools program. He has also performed at peace conferences
and sacred sites throughout the world, including Machu Picchu, Peru, the
Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the University of Peace in Costa Rica, and
the Peace Museums in Hiroshima and Nagaski, Japan.
Mr.
Berenholtz is a member of the American Composers Alliance, and a former
grant recipient of the American Music Center. His original works have
been played by the Great Falls Symphony in Montana, and the Diablo Symphony
and San Jose Chamber Orchestra in California. He has produced eight recordings
on cassette, both solo and collaborative. He has also scored music for
feature films such as “Lords of the Deep”, and collaborated
on the Emmy-nominated soundtrack for TNT’s “Geronimo”.
He recently completed recording
a new double CD at Skywalker Sound, near his home in San Francisco. The
CD is entitled "The Psalms of
RA", and sets ancient Egyptian, Sumerian and Hebrew texts to
his original music, conveying a universal musical language of light.
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