having specialized in free vocal improvisation and contemporary composition techniques his recent work focuses on jewish liturgy and biblical text and on the rituals and relational structures engendered by them

david earned his graduate degrees in composition and in improvisation from mills college and has been serving as cantor in san francisco since 2004

described by ha’aretz as “an uber-performer,” david’s singing ranges from free improvisation to idioms as varied as german lieder, jewish liturgy, and american pop

recent appearances include tectonics festival (tel aviv) xavier veilhan’s studio venezia (2017 venice biennale) brett carson’s just visiting (temescal arts center) and naomi rincon gallardo’s formaldehyde trip (sfmoma, the broad la)

singer improviser mover and composer david israel katz came to san francisco from tel aviv where he fronted legendary underground band the fluorescents produced music for television and sang with the israeli philharmonic

they give pleasure to manifest thereness they speak poems and refine sounds to the alive and standing therepower because what is the only one in the hot heights building powers changing shit owning conflicts sowing rights growing freedoms creating recoveries terrorizing with fames solid state of magic whose sugar always moves the body of the world like they say: for who makes huge lights--the feathertouch never ends (psalm 136)

לאל ברוך נעימות יתנו למלך אל חי וקים זמירות יאמרו ותשבחות ישמיעו כי הוא לבדו מרום וקדוש פועל גבורות עושה חדשות בעל מלחמות זורע צדקות מצמיח ישועות בורא רפואות נורא תהלות אדון הנפלאות המחדש בטובו בכל יום תמיד מעשה בראשית כאמור: לעשה אורים גדולים כי לעולם חסדו אור חדש על ציון תאיר ונזכה כלנו במהרה לאורו ברוך אתה יהוה יוצר המאורות

jewish sunrise liturgy speaks glamorously of the movement from nighttime darkness to daytime light

leading up to the first new moon after winter solstice a grander scale of the same shift is celebrated yearly as the triumph of light over darkness

foreignfire invites jewish and nonjewish people from any background and with any level of experience for a six session workshop led by david israel katz to create an art ritual of participation in this spatiotemporal shift

we will combine reading and getting to know relevant texts with practicing voice movement improvisation and performance to create a new score for the final event december 21 at alleycat books

weekly workshopping sessions will take place monday nights november 11 - december 16, 8:00-10:00pm at studio valencia