Biography

Naftali Schindler is a graduate of the Master of Musical Arts program at the Yale School of Music where he studied with Aaron Jay Kernis, Martin Bresnick, Ezra Laderman, and David Lang. Prior to that, he studied composition and music theory at Boston University, graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree. His teachers at BU included Martin Amlin and Theodore Antoniou. He presented his work in master-classes given by Lukas Foss, Samuel Adler, and David Liptak, among others.

Naftali's music has been performed across North America, Europe and in Israel, including performances by Robert Botti, Margaret Leng Tan, Steve Parker, Beth Griffith, Alea III, Yale Philharmonia, Pykka Quintet, and the BU Symphony Orchestra (in the 2006 honors concert). He has been commissioned by Alea III, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, folk re-imagined, Apple Orange Pair, Brian Ellingsen, The Travers Siblings, and Christopher Mallett, among others. He is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda and Shabtai, and is a recipient of the John Day Jackson and the Rena Greenwald Memorial Prizes and has been featured twice on Fifteen Minutes of Fame.

Naftali's music often incorporates elements of musical traditions from across the globe. He is also an aspiring throat-singer in the Tuvan manner and enjoys performing in gamelan ensembles.