Ari Goldwag

Ari Goldwag (born 1979) is an American-born Orthodox Jewish singer, songwriter, composer, and producer of contemporary Jewish religious music, as well as an author and teacher living in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel. He was a soloist for the Miami 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 seven solo albums, and composes songs and produces albums for other artists.

Ari Goldwag
Born1979 (age 41–42)
West Hempstead, New York
GenresContemporary Jewish religious music
Years active1988–present
Websitearigoldwag.com

Early life, education, and family

Goldwag was born in 1979[1] in Ellenville, New York.[2] At age 5 he moved with his family to West Hempstead, where he grew up.[2] His father, Murray Goldwag, is a retired math teacher and owner of Murray's Kosher Socks in South Fallsburg.[3][4] His mother was also a public school teacher.[2]

Goldwag attended the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County for elementary school and the Yeshiva of Far Rockaway for high school.[1] He came to Israel in 2000[2] and studied at the Mir yeshiva in Jerusalem.[5] He met and married Talia, a native of Seattle, Washington, in 2001.[5] The couple settled first in Jerusalem and later in Ramat Beit Shemesh.[5] They have one son and five daughters.[2]

Music career

Child singer

Goldwag enjoyed singing during his childhood and was a member of Seymour Silbermintz's choir in his elementary school years.[6] On his ninth birthday, his mother took him to audition for the Miami 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]

Singer, songwriter, composer, producer

Goldwag took voice lessons for five years with Cantor Hersh Einhorn, who also coached Avraham 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.[9] As of 2020, he has released seven solo albums. His son, Moshe Dov Goldwag, also performs on his albums[10][11] and videos.[12]

Goldwag appears in music videos to promote his singles, including "Hashem Loves You" and "Am Echad" (One Nation).[8] For the latter video, he played five different denominations of Jews in Israel – Haredi, Hasidic, Breslov, Religious Zionist, and secular.[12] He performed the song "Am Echad" at HASC 27 in 2014.[13][14]

Goldwag has made guest appearances on albums by Mendy Wald and Shloime Dachs,[15] Shalsheles,[16] David Lowy,[17] and Moshe David Weissman,[18] and performed on the compilation albums A Capella Treasury: Yom Tov,[19] Sameach at the Wheel,[20] and A 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 with Miriam Israeli for singer Benny Friedman.[8] Additionally, he produces albums for other artists, including Sheves Achim 1 & 2, and Sheves 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 at weddings, bar mitzvahs, organizational fundraisers, and concerts.[7] He occasionally performs in concert in the United States. He is the chazzan for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur at a Seattle-area synagogue.[2]

Musical style

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 on Jewish prayers and psalms, his English-language compositions are original.[6] On his fifth solo album, The English Album, all the tracks are in English.[10]

Other activities

Goldwag is a prolific author and lecturer on Torah topics.[23] He has recorded hundreds of talks on the weekly Torah portion.[24] Since 2007 he has delivered Torah shiurim on mussar and hashkafah on a podcast.[2] He is also the author of a book on personal growth, titled Perfectly Imperfect: Breaking out of the ordinary and striving for greatness (Mosaica - Distributed by Feldheim).[2]

Discography

Solo albums
  • Lishuascha Kivinu (For Your Salvation We Do Long) (2003)
  • Simcha B'libi (The Joy in My Heart) (2004)
  • Pure Soul: Flippin' In (2006)
  • Am Echad (One Nation) (2013)
  • The English Album (2014)
  • Lo Nafsik Lirkod - Never Stop Dancing (2018)
  • Yesh Li Hakol (I Have Everything) (2020)

A Cappella albums
  • A Cappella Soul (2012)[25]
  • A Cappella Soul 2 (2014)[26]
  • A Cappella Soul 3 (2016)
  • A Cappella Soul 4 (2017)
  • A Cappella Soul 5 (2018)
  • A Cappella Soul 6 (2019)
  • Darkness to Redemption (2019)
  • A Cappella Soul 7 (2020)

Productions
  • Shabbos: Get Ready (2007) (with Avi Newmark)[8]
  • Sheves Achim (2008)[8]
  • Sheves Achim 2 (2011)[8]
  • Sheves Chaverim (2009)[8][22]
  • Sheves Chaverim 2 (2015)[8]
  • Ki Taavor Bamayim (2015) with Moshe Dov Goldwag and Yosef Karduner

References
  1. Ginsberg, Rachel. "Catch a Falling Star: How do former child stars navigate life after the glitz and glitter is gone?" Mishpacha, 9 April 2014, pp. 156-160.
  2. Frankfurther, Rabbi Yitzchok (11 March 2019). "Unbeatable Hits With Profound Messages". Ami: 78–89.
  3. Jacobs, Andrew (19 August 2005). "We All Scream for Kosher Socks?; At Catskill Colonies, the Buzz Begins When the Peddler's Truck Pulls In". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  4. Whitman, Victor (8 July 2008). "Kosher Sox Open for Season". Times Herald-Record. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  5. Meet the Members (PDF), Ahavas Shalom Bulletin, Spring 2011, p. 4, archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015, retrieved 22 March 2015
  6. "Ari Goldwag's Biography". arigoldwag.com. Archived from the original on 20 May 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  7. "Annual Melaveh Malka" (PDF). Ahavas Shalom. 14 February 2015. p. 19. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  8. Hirsch, Ari (26 November 2013). "Ari Goldwag's "Am Echad" is Lighting Up the Charts". The Vues Online. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  9. "Lishuascha Kivinu (Ari Goldwag)". Jewish Music Reviews. 24 August 2004. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  10. "Review: Ari Goldwag – The English Album". Jewish Music Report. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  11. "A Cappela Album Feat. Sheves Achim, Chaveirim, Ari and Moshe Dov Goldwag Coming Soon". Jewish Music Report. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  12. Bresky, Ben (11 March 2014). "Beit Shemesh Singer Ari Goldwag Calls for Unity in New Video". Israel National News. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  13. "HASC – 27 CD". Mostly Music. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  14. "HASC 27: 40 Pictures by Stan Weiss to Celebrate 40 Years of Camp HASC". Jewish Insights. January 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  15. "Vezocher CD With Shloime Dachs, Mendy Wald & Ari Goldwag". Eichler’s. 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  16. "Shalsheles Releases New Album". thecooljew.com. 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  17. "Dovid Lowy CD Ata Imadi". Eichlers. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  18. "Avodas Shebalev 2 CD". Eichler's. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  19. "A Capella Treasury: Yom Tov". Eichler's. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  20. "Sameach at the Wheel – Vol 1 CD". Eichler's. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  21. "A Kumsitz in the Rain CD". Eichler's. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  22. "Ari Goldwag Sheves Chaverim". Jewish Music Review. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  23. "Rabbi Ari Goldwag". Aish.com. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  24. "Rabbi Ari Goldwag". Torah Anytime. 2014. Archived from the original on 16 April 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  25. "Having a Tough Day?". collive.com. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  26. "Ari Goldwag – A Capella Soul 2". Mostly Music. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
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