In his harpsichord recital at 2 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall, Shemer will perform several selections by J.S. Bach. At 3 p.m. he will lecture on Israeli contemporary music, and at 4 p.m. he conducts a Baroque music master class.
David Shemer was born in Riga in Latvia, then part of the Soviet Union. He studied music there until emigrating with his family to Israel in August 1973, two months before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War. He studied music theory, conducting and harpsichord at the Jerusalem Academy of Music. After graduation he was conscripted into the Israeli army, but was able to complete his M.A. in choral and orchestral conducting during his service.
He won a British Council scholarship to study at the Guildhall School of Music in London, and returned to Israel in 1982 to teach at the Jerusalem Academy. In 1989 he began the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra, the first ensemble of its kind in Israel, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2009.
Among Shemer’s accomplishments on the harpsichord is a recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
At HSU, Shemer will play Bach’s Partita No. 1 and No. 2, as well as several other works. All three events are free and open to the public. More information: http://HSUMusic.blogspot.com.