Lior Navok
He was born in Tel Aviv. Navok studied composition privately with the Israeli composer Moshe Zorman, and completed a Bachelor's degree at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where he studied composition (with Yinam Leef) and conducting. He later completed he studied for a Master's and Doctorate at the New England Conservatory, where he studied with John Harbison.
Lior Navok
- Name
- Lior Navok
- Born
- 6 September 1971
- Birthplace
- Tel Aviv
- Occupation
- Classical composer Pianist Conductor
- Nationality
- Israel
- Education
- Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance · New England Conservatory
- Honours
- Prime Minister's Award for Composers · ACUM Awards
- Languages
- Hebrew
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
He was born in Tel Aviv. Navok studied composition privately with the Israeli composer Moshe Zorman, and completed a Bachelor's degree at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where he studied composition (with Yinam Leef) and conducting. He later completed he studied for a Master's and Doctorate at the New England Conservatory, where he studied with John Harbison.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Lior Navok (born 1971) is a composer, of Israeli nationality. The composer was born in Tel Aviv. Lior Navok was educated at Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and New England Conservatory.
Languages used include Hebrew. Honours include ACUM Awards and Prime Minister's Award for Composers.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 29 September 2026
VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Lior Navok. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q372577 · wikipedia · Lior Navok
In this article
Biography
Biography
His music has been performed internationally by orchestras and ensembles including the Oper Frankfurt, Nuernberg Opera, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra. Amongst the awards he has received are those from the Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. He has also received awards from the Fromm Music Foundation, Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund Award, and Israel Prime Minister Award. In 2004, he was one of seven composers awarded commissions for new musical works by the Serge Koussevitzky Foundation in the Library of Congress and the Koussevitzky Music Foundation. His stage music includes two operas, The Bet, based on a short story by Anton Chekhov, and An unserem Fluss (By Our River). The latter was commissioned by Oper Frankfurt, and was premiered during the company's 2014/15 season. He has also written three stage works for children: The Little Mermaid (based in the story by Hans Christian Andersen); The Adventures of Pinocchio (based on the children's novel by Carlo Collodi); and Brave Little Timmy (inspired in part by Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf), which served as the starting point for his Hebrew children's book of the same title, published in 2023. His oratorio reflecting on The Holocaust, And The Trains Kept Coming…, was commissioned by Boston's Cantata Singers and premiered in 2008. Navok is the pianist and founding member of the Butterfly Effect Ensemble.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Lior Navok • Native Name — ליאור נבוק • Born — 6 September 1971 • Birthplace — Tel Aviv • Occupation — Classical composer Pianist Conductor
Stage music
Stage music
• An unserem Fluss (By our River) (2013) -- c. 93' -- Chamber opera in two acts; Text by the composer. • The Adventures of Pinocchio (2009) -- c. 62' -- for 3 actors / flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon and piano • Beauty and the Beast (2009) -- c. 30' -- for actress / string quartet, double bass and piano • The Bet (2012) -- c. 90' -- Chamber opera in 14 scenes; after a short story by Anton Chekhov • Brave Little Timmy (2019) -- c. 28' – for narrator and orchestra; Libretto by the composer • Gitz & Spitz (2020) -- c. 50' – for narrator and ensemble; Libretto by the composer • The Little Mermaid (2007) -- c. 36' -- for actor / narrator; 2 pianos; flute, clarinet, percussion and string quintet (or string orchestra)
Symphonic
Symphonic
• And the Trains Kept Coming... -- (2007) c. 44' -- oratorio for tenor, bass-baritone, boy-soprano, chorus and orchestra • Aurora Borealis -- (2007) c. 12' -- for accordion, harp, percussion and strings • Between Two Coasts -- (2009) c. 14' -- for string orchestra • Blue, Yellow, Smoke -- (2022) c. 10' -- for chamber orchestra • Clarinet Concerto -- (1996) c. 22' -- for Clarinet Solo; 2 flutes (2nd doubles piccolo); 2 oboes; 2 bassoons; 2 horns; 2 trumpets; 2 Percussion; Strings • First-Fruits - a Symphonic Prelude -- (1997) c. 12' -- for Symphony Orchestra •...of weaving the shadowed waves -- (2003) c. 7.5' -- for two marimbas and chamber orchestra • Symphonic Bagatelles -- (2000) c. 18' -- for symphony orchestra • The Spanish Songs -- (1998) c. 11'-- for soprano, bassoon and chamber orchestra
Wind ensemble
Wind ensemble
• Gleams from the Bosom of Darkness -- (2002) c. 21' -- for choir and symphonic band • Loose Caboose -- (2020) c. 9' -- for symphonic band • Tetris -- (2009) c. 18' -- for double wind quintet, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 horns and 2 bassoons
Choral music
Choral music
• It Is Winter That We Dream Of Spring -- (1997) c. 4' -- for mixed chamber chorus • Meditations Over Shore -- (1997) c. 4' -- for soli quartet, double chamber chorus, double large chorus, harmonica, percussion (2) and piano • Nocturne -- (1999) c. 9' -- for 12 singers (SATB), soprano saxophone, clarinet, harp guitar and percussion • Three songs—for mixed chamber chorus -- (1994) c. 20' mixed chamber chorus
Vocal music
Vocal music
• A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass -- (2002) c. 10' -- for tenor and piano • A'l Mishcavi Baleylot (Upon my bed by night) -- (1992) c. 5' -- for soprano and harp • Bestiarius -- (1995) c. 11' -- for alto/mezzo-soprano solo, flute/piccolo, clarinet, bassoon; violin, percussion (2) and harpsichord • Copenhagen Songs -- (2010) c. 7' -- for alto and piano • End-of-the-Day Songs -- (2018) c. 12' -- for baritone and piano • Found in a Train Station -- (2007) c. 12' -- for soprano, mandolin, violin, cello and piano • The Sea of Sunset -- (1997) c. 7' -- for soprano, trombone, double bass and piano • The Spanish Songs -- (1998/2023) c. 11'-- for soprano, bassoon and piano (piano version) • Spring Calls -- (2006) c. 10' -- for soprano, flute, viola, cello and harp • Three songs -- (1995) c. 10' -- for soprano and piano
Chamber music
Chamber music
• After a tango -- (1995) c. 16' -- for recorders (3), clarinet, trumpet, trombone, guitar, Percussion, violin, double bass • At the Edge of a Spiral -- (2004) c. 10' -- for one piano, four hands • Arabesque -- (2005) c. 10' -- for alto recorder, baroque cello and harpsichord • Blurred Formations -- (2002) c. 5' -- for guitar and accordion • Capriccio -- (2002) c. 10' -- for flute and violin • Dripping Minutes - Frozen Years -- (2017) c. 11' -- for bassoon and piano • Elegy to the Future -- (2001) c. 13' -- for piccolo/alto flute; clarinet; violin; cello; percussion; piano • Ex Silentium (From the Silence) -- (2018) c. 9' -- for viola and piano • Flashes of decay (1996) -- (1996) c. 12' -- for flute/piccolo; English horn; clarinet/bass clarinet; horn; tuba; percussion (2); harp; piano • Fluctuations -- (2017) c. 10' -- for viola and piano • Fuzzy -- (2018) c. 10' -- for oboe and piano • Gitz & Spitz Suite -- (2020) c. 19' -- for trumpets (2); horn; trombone and tuba • Hidden Reflections -- (1996) c. 15' -- for alto saxophone and piano or clarinet and piano • Hope Cycles (String Quartet no.2) -- (2004) c. 24' -- for string quartet • Humoresque -- (1995) c. 5' -- for clarinet and piano • Like a Whirling Sand Clock -- (2006) c. 10' -- for clarinet, cello and piano • Little Suite -- (2006) c. 12' -- for clarinet, violin, viola and cello • Mysterious Pond -- (2004) c. 10' -- for flute, oboe and piano • Piano Quintet -- (2000) c. 18' -- for violins (2), viola, cello and piano • Piano Trio -- (1999) c. 22' -- for violin, cello and piano • Quartet for flute, clarinet bassoon and harp -- (1994) c. 27' • Samsara -- (2023) c. 11' -- for trombone and piano • Sarigim -- (2020) c. 6' -- for guitar duo • Saxophone Quartet -- (1999) c. 10' -- for soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones • Sextet -- (1998) c. 22' -- for flute/ piccolo/ bass flute; clarinet/ bass clarinet; violin; cello; Percussion.; Piano • Six short stories for Woodwind Quintet -- (1996) 12' -- for flute/piccolo; oboe; clarinet; horn; bassoon • Signals -- (2017) 11' -- for percussion quartet and piano/celeste • Soliloquy (String Quartet no.4) -- (2017) c. 16' -- for string quartet • Three Episodes for Chamber Ensemble -- (1997) c. 12' -- for flute; oboe; clarinet; bassoon; horn; percussion (1); piano; violin; viola; cello and double bass • Three Winged Movements -- (2003) 12' -- for flute and piano • Trio for Clarinet, Bassoon and Horn -- (2001) c. 5' -- for clarinet, bassoon and horn • V5 - Quintet for Vibraphone and String Quartet -- (1995) c. 16' -- for vibraphone; violins (2); viola; cello • Veiled Echoes -- (2000) c. 15' -- for flute, viola and harp • Violin Sonata -- (2004) c. 18' -- for violin and piano duo • Voices from India (String Quartet no.1) -- (1997) c. 17' -- for violins (2); viola; cello • Whispered Questions (String Quartet no.3) -- (2010) c. 17' -- for string quartet
Electroacoustic music
Electroacoustic music
• Through the Alleys of Time -- (2007) c. 22' -- for guitar and tape
Keyboard music
Keyboard music
• Periscopes -- (2009) c. 30' -- for solo piano • Silent Streets -- (2020) c. 8' -- for solo piano • Shimmer -- (2017) c. 12' -- for solo piano • Ten Bagatelles -- (2000) c. 18' -- for solo piano • The Old Photo Box -- (2006) c. 58' -- for solo piano • Visions -- (2018) c. 15' -- for solo piano • The Waiting Hours -- (2023) c. 14' -- for solo piano
Solo music
Solo music
• Big Mouse -- (2020) c. 4' -- for solo Double Bass • Dunes -- (2005) c. 5' -- for solo flute • East of the Cane Fields -- (2001) c. 8' -- for solo harp • Fantasy -- (1998) c. 5' -- for solo cello • Klotz -- (2019) c. 5' -- for solo cello • In Memoriam -- (2023) c. 4' -- for solo violin or viola • Remembrances of Jerusalem -- (1995) c. 11' -- for solo guitar • Rosewood Staircase -- (2000) c. 6' -- for solo marimba • Six for a Dance -- (2000) c. 3' -- for solo guitar • Six pieces for horn solo -- (1995) c. 15' -- for solo French horn
Style and Aesthetics
Lior Navok’s musical language employs modality and expanded tonality, avoiding serial techniques and mathematically-predetermined pitch sets. The composer has stated that he aims to address non-specialist listeners. His music is often inspired by events and phenomena he encounters in life, and seeks out sounds that would evoke these phenomena and the feelings and sensations they create within him. To achieve these aims, he does avail himself to innovative, even avant-garde, sonorities, techniques and effects, though these rarely govern an entire work. His music has been described “developing[ing] into an emotional experience rather than an intellectual one”. Within these broad parameters, his music covers a wide range, in terms of scoring, influences and expression alike. Michael McDonagh’s referred to “echoes [of] Debussy and especially Ravel” in Navok’s music, especially in his relatively early works, such V5 and the Quartet for flute, clarinet, bassoon and harp. An emphasis on instrumental colour and special timbral effects can be sensed in meditative, nature-inspired works like Mysterious Pond, Veiled Echoes; in the composer's first full orchestral work, First Fruits and in first movement of the raga-inspired first quartet, Voices from India. Another notable early influence is jazz music: Navok started his musical career as a jazz musician, and this influence can be sensed, for instance, in his 1996 Clarinet Concerto, a work which also reveals the composer’s rhythmic impulses. Other examples include the third movement of string quartet Voices from India, Six Short Stories for Woodwind Quintet, the Saxophone Quartet and others. Several of the composer’s later works draw inspiration from socio-political issues, such as the Israeli-Arab conflict or religious struggles. A recent example is Blue, Yellow, Smoke for chamber orchestra, composed in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These works tend to have a darker expression (e.g, Elegy to the Future) and sometimes acquire an expressionistic style, as in String Quartet No. 2 – Hope Cycles. Navok’s interest in socio-political issues topics can also be sensed in some of his theatrical works, such as An unserem Fluss. His oratorio And the Trains Kept Coming: Slavery Document No. 3 directly tackles the issue of the Allies’ role during the Holocaust, using a libretto based on official documents from the period. Another major facet of Navok’s dramatic muse is his music for children – e.g., The Little Mermaid for narrator and chamber orchestra (2006), and the musical stories The Adventures of Pinocchio (2009) and Brave Little Timmy (2019). This latter work is based on Navok’s own libretto – a variation on Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf in which the child protagonist befriends the wolf rather than capturing him. This work served as the basis for Navok’s first children’s book, published in Hebrew in 2023. His more intimate vocal works are written for ensembles ranging from standard Lieder scoring (single voice and piano), through more unusual combinations (e.g., soprano and percussion in the semi-theatrical Dialogues), to voice and orchestra, setting texts in various languages and traditions, including Biblical texts in the original Hebrew; Israeli poets Leah Goldberg, Dan Pagis and others; Emily Dickinson, Antonio Machado, and others. Navok also composed several works for solo piano – including several cycles of semi-programmatic miniatures (e.g., The Old Photo Box), whose movements can be interpreted both as independent works and as parts of a larger whole. As a pianist-composer, Navok created four solo works through the process of real-time composition – i.e., the creation of musical works by the performer-composer, combining partially pre-determined shapes and materials with a degree of improvisatory freedom, without musical notation. The resulting compositions – Urban Nocturnes, Inner Landscapes, From the Log of a Longing Captain and Time Junctions – were released as audio recordings. Navok applies similar real-time-composition techniques in his collaborative work with Stephen Hornstein and Jeffrey Kowalsky. Together, these three musicians form the Butterfly Effect Ensemble, which specializes in creating live scores for silent films from the early days of the cinema up to 1929.
Discography
• Hidden Reflections (1996) • Meditations Over Shore (2001) • The Old Photo Box (2008) • The Natives are Restless (with Butterfly Effect Ensemble) (2010) • Urban Nocturnes (2011) • Music and Poetry – face to face (With D. Nurkse) (2011) • Chimera (with Butterfly Effect Ensemble) (2013) • Inner Landscapes (2022) • From the Log of a Longing Captain (2023) • Time Junctions (2023) • Rituals (with Butterfly Effect Ensemble) (2014/2023)
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Lior Navok”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q372577: Lior Navok
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Hoffmann, Gilah K. Fairy godmother foundation. Jerusalem Post. June 20, 2003.
- 2.The Massachusetts Cultural Council announces awards. Boston Globe. June 7, 2001.
- 3.Lior Navok. bmop.org.
- 4.Library of Congress Announces Koussevitzky Commissions for 2004, Library of Congress, March 1, 2005.
- 5.Jörn Florian Fuchs, "Bemüht, verwirrend und enttäuschend", Deutschlandfunk, 1 June 2015
- 6.Weininger, David. Should the Allies have bombed Auschwitz? A composer explores voices of the Holocaust. Boston Globe. January 18, 2008.
- 7.Jeremy Eichler, Documents of tragedy, for chorus and orchestra, Boston Globe, January 21, 2008
- 8.Composer Lior Navok - המלחין ליאור נבוק.
- 9.Lior Navok, quoted by Michael McDonagh, Review of the CD album Lior Navok: Meditations Over Shore, https://www.classical-music-review.org/reviews/Navok.html
- 10.Lior Navok’s biography page on the WGBH website - https://www.wgbh.org/people/lior-navok ; see also https://www.classical-music-review.org/reviews/Navok.html
- 11.Michael McDonagh, Review of the CD album Lior Navok: Meditations Over Shore, https://www.classical-music-review.org/reviews/Navok.html
- 12.Vibraphone and String Quartet Contemporary Music Percussion and Strings. Contemporary Music.
- 13.Chamber Music with Harp Harp and Winds. Contemporary Music.
- 14.Trio for Flute, Oboe and Piano Flute, Oboe, Piano repertoire. Contemporary Music.
- 15.Flute, Viola and Harp Trio for Flute, Viola and Harp. Contemporary Music.
- 16.First-Fruits – A Symphonic Prelude. Contemporary Music.
- 17.String Quartet No. 1 Contemporary String Quartet. Contemporary Music.
- 18.מפגש עם ליאור נבוק.
- 19.Contemporary Clarinet Concertos Clarinet Concerto. Contemporary Music.
- 20.Music for Woodwind Quintet Woodwind Quintet. Contemporary Music.
- 21.Saxophone Quartet Music for Saxophone Quartet. Contemporary Music.
- 22.The premiere performance can be viewed on https://www.youtube.com/live/l8ulLTRqLlU?si=oVD6HeoWYqlQVAJI&t=1365. The concert program, with the composer's program notes (in Hebrew) can be viewed and downloaded on https://www.jcamerata.com/sites/default/files/concerts/programmes/camerata_program_2182.pdf
- 23.9/11-chamber-music. Contemporary Music.
- 24.String Quartet No. 1 Contemporary String Quartet. Contemporary Music.
- 25.An Unserem Fluss Opera in Two Acts. Contemporary Music.
- 26.And the Trains Kept Coming. Holocaust Related Choral Music. Contemporary Music.
- 27.The Little Mermaid The Little Mermaid Opera. Contemporary Music.
- 28.The Adventures of Pinocchio Opera Family Concerts. Contemporary Music.
- 29.Brave Little Timmy Family Concert Music. Contemporary Music.
- 30.Soprano and Percussion Music for Soprano and Percussion Lior Navok. Contemporary Music.
- 31.THE OLD PHOTO BOX - CD. Contemporary Music.
- 32.Urban Nocturnes [CD] Lior Navok Music. Contemporary Music.
- 33.Inner Landscapes Solo Piano CD. Contemporary Music.
- 34.From the Log of a Longing Captain Solo Piano CD. Contemporary Music.
- 35.Time Junctions Solo Piano CD. Contemporary Music.
- 36.Collaborations. Stephen Horenstein. 2013-10-04.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
Teachers, collaborators, publishers and institutions recorded against this person, each on a stated basis.
Studied at
1- New England ConservatoryOrganisation
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,731 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Lionel TertisPerson
- Lioness RecordsOrganisation
- Lionheart Music GroupOrganisation
- Lior NarkisPerson
- Lior ShambadalPerson
- LiquicityOrganisation
- Liquid StrangerPerson
- Liran DaninoPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Lior Navok?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.