When Yaniv Dinur was a kid, he loved to write and had a notebook that he filled with stories accompanied by illustrations drawn by his father. He’d share this notebook with his classmates and aspired to become a writer. But at the age of 13, Dinur decided to pursue what he loved most: music.
Dinur, now the director of Orchestral Activities at AU, was born and raised in Jerusalem. As a child, he would bang on the keys of the family piano while sitting in his mother’s lap. His parents bought him a small accordion, and he began to play tunes that he had heard on TV. In order to help him refine his talents, Dinur’s parents sent him to practice with his aunt, a piano teacher.
“She was very tough on me and wasn’t willing to give me any slack for being her nephew,” Dinur said. “I was terrified of her, but I am grateful that she expected as much from me as she did from any other student, if not more.”
Although the choice to pursue music over writing was difficult, Dinur notes that performers, unlike writers, are fortunate to never experience a writer’s block because the music is already written for them. When performing music, the musician must take the piece apart and understand how the composer built it.
“It’s so much fun because it’s kind of like what children do when they disassemble something at home to understand how it works,” Dinur said. “Then, you have to put everything back together in order for it to work again.”
Dinur’s first conducting teacher, Evgeny Zirlin, used to tell Dinur that he needed to be 100 percent confident while on the podium, but he should always question himself when he steps off the podium. He said believes that this is a good approach because asking questions and looking for answers is important for development.
“At one point [in my childhood], I wanted to become James Bond, a dream that I have yet to give up.”
“Sometimes you get stuck, you don’t understand something, and you have to make a decision that you’re not sure is the right one - just like in life,” Dinur said.
He came to America in 2007 to complete his doctorate in musical arts at the University Of Michigan. While there, he studied conducting under Professor Kenneth Kiesler and in 2012, Dinur came to AU to be the director of Orchestral Activities. In this role, he holds auditions, selects the music and conducts rehearsals and concerts for the orchestra.
Dinur’s mission as a teacher is to bring college students to music halls and to get them interested in music. He believes that the first step is to go to those students and involve them in the program.
COURTESY OF YANIV DINUR
In Dinur’s first year at AU, he started a project with the students in his Understanding Music class. He asked them to create art exhibits inspired by the pieces that the orchestra was going to perform. They could make any kind of exhibit, such as a drawing, photo, film or sculpture, as long as it was inspired by the music. He also encouraged them to relate the project to their major if possible.
Dinur was nervous about the project and uncertain about how it would turn out, but was amazed with what the students created. He said the most striking project was a red and black dress made by student Lauree Tu. It was inspired by a piece called “Danzón No. 2” by Arturo Márquez.
“We put up [the] art exhibition in the lobby before the concert, and that attracted a lot of attention,” Dinur said. “I think that rumor gets around that our concerts are fun and creative, and the ticket office’s statistics show that more and more students are attending them.”
Being the director of Orchestral Activities also involves a social aspect. It is important to him to make sure that the students feel a strong sense of belonging and that they feel that they’re part of something special and significant, he said. Doing so is a challenge in a university orchestra where students are graduating each year and new students are constantly joining, changing the dynamics of the group.
“[My job is to] build the orchestra, musically speaking, to a point that everyone feels, thinks, and plays in the same way, so that it is not just a collection of different instruments but one big, wonderful, homogenous instrument,” Dinur said.
He said he has succeeded so far in this aspect, having witnessed how devoted the students are. Some of his students have created memes based on things he’s said during rehearsal, and Dinur said he believes this is indicative of how much they enjoy being a part of the orchestra. The students have created a Twitter account @shityanivsays where they poke fun at things Dinur has said.
You need to sound like popcorn, like heavy popcorn.
— Shit Yaniv Says (@shityanivsays)
September 16, 2014
"You have to play it like birds who have had too much caffeine."
— Shit Yaniv Says (@shityanivsays)
September 21, 2014
When Dinur isn’t performing, listening to or teaching music, he enjoys drinking coffee, going to the gym, reading, meeting with friends and playing with dogs in his neighborhood.
“At one point [in my childhood], I wanted to become James Bond, a dream that I have yet to give up,” Dinur said.
To improve his “James Bond” skills, he also enjoys watching suspense shows like “Dexter,” “24,” “The Americans” and “Mozart in the Jungle.”
Dinur recently revived his childhood passion of writing and started a blog about contemporary music where he challenges himself to listen to a new piece every day that he’s never heard before by a living composer.
“I love it, but it takes a lot of time. My English is good, but when you write, it’s a different story,” Dinur said. “You really need to be familiar with the nuances of the language and know it intimately, and that’s a much harder challenge for me, since it’s not my first language.”
Dinur is on sabbatical this semester, using the time to study new music, prepare for upcoming concerts he is going to conduct and plan the next season of the AU Orchestra.
“I picture the orchestra as a source of inspiration for all students at AU whether they play in it or come listen to its concerts,” Dinur said. “I picture cool, hip gatherings in unusual spaces, where smart, young people get together to listen, laugh from, think about, and be moved by music. We are on our way there."
