Press

 What the Critics Say:

“…musical metaphor for a country’s soul…Heartening was the coherence of Mr. Horenstein’s music and the talent of his supporting musicians.  As an American living in Israel, he still composes with the romantic’s sense of spectacle and glamour…”

Bernard Holland, New York Times 

Horenstein’s music: “What legends are made of!”

New York Newsday,  New York International Festival

“A sound universe where time flows in a sacred dimension”

Jacques Freschel, Zibeine (France)

“Stephen Horenstein, one of the prime movers and shakers behind this country’s avant-garde musical scene..”

Barry Davis, Jerusalem Post (Israel)

“Today the Israel Festival justified its existence.  The wager Stephen Horenstein placed hit the jackpot!  Stunning!”

Ha Aretz (Israel)

“The most important performance of the festival!”

Yossi Mar Haim, Ha Eer (Tel Aviv)

“Only one musical work captured new territory: Agadot, by Stephen Horenstein…exciting…virtuosic.”

Die Welt (Germany)

“On the cutting edge of contemporary music-technology…”

 Jerusalem Post

“A kaleidoscope of the modern Jerusalem experience”

Maariv (Israel)

On Horenstein’s recording (IREC Records, Milan): “Collages… an appropriate title for this passionate collection of impressionistic pieces…Horenstein transforms movement and sound textures in music infused with feeling and beauty.”

Al Levitt, Jazz Magazine, Paris

“A virtuosic ensemble…Horenstein is the best improvisation artist in the country”

Yossi Mar Haim, Ha Eer (Tel Aviv)

“Drawing upon folk songs, Yemenite chants and Afro-American rhythms, he sounds at times like Charles Ives, and at times like Villa-Lobos.  Yet, Horenstein has sifted these sources and has managed to produce a blend of big-city sounds that also sounds Jewish…the mesmerizing percussion solos were among the highlights of the evening.”

Max Stern, Jerusalem Post

“Rare and wonderful!…These four musicians have worked so many years together, they have a language all their own…There aren’t many artists at such a high level as Horenstein and his group.  They are the real thing!”

Ayal Reuveni, Kol Ha Ir (Jerusalem)

“…it challenges you to think, to react, and to eneter a tough world with a heavy pulse…you are dropped into a dense space and left to figure out what’s happening.  With repeated listening, the terrain gets more familiar and enjoyable…..What these artists do well is communicate the complexities of a paradoxical society, simultaneously traditional and pioneer.  In some ways they do a better job of revealing the Israeli soul than news soundbytes ever could.”

Ya’acov Gabriel,Tikkun, Review: “Between the Silences”, CD

“The music is entrancing and the surroundings fade at once. The envelope’s contents (which will not be revealed here) add another dimension to the interactive musical piece of art.”

Ha Aretz (Israel), Review “Zman Emet” (Real Time) art/sound installation