Violist Rivka Golani by Sarah

Rivka Golani

Rivka Golani was born on March 22nd 1946 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Her father was Jewish, and had lost his family in the Holocaust. Golani’s mother was from Polish Galicia and and was very artistic, same as her father. Since the Golani family had been so engaged in the arts, Rivka Golani decided to play the violin age age seven, and became a pupil of Alexander Moskowsky at 18. while her sister had learned to play the cello. Switching to the viola at 21, she became a pupil of the composer and violist Oedoen Partos while studying 1965-71 at the Rubin Academy of Music at the University of Tel Aviv.
Golani lived in both London and Toronto. She was a member of the Israel Philharmonic and appeared as a soloist with other orchestras in Israel before moving to Canada in 1974. Golani taught 1978-87 at the University of Toronto and her pupils included Mary Carol Nugent, Beverley Spotton, and Kent Teeple. In 1987, Golani settled in London with her then husband, the conductor Thomas Sanderling, but she frequently returned to Canada to give concerts. She performed on a viola with a unique cut-away design made by her former husband, the Hungarian-born luthier Otto Erdesz. Then she later appeared as soloist with several orchestras and symphonys such as the Boston Symphony orchestra, Royal Concergebouw, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, and many more. At the Promenade concerts in London she played concertos by Walton in 1984, Robin Holloway in 1985, and Elgar in 1990. By 2003, she had 215 pieces and 50 concertos were written for her.

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