Eva Wasserman-Margolis was born on the island of Key West in the Florida Keys. There her inspiration for music began, singing outside her parent’s garden. Her parents were her greatest inspiration. Her father, a concentration camp survivor, and her mother, born in India, came to meet each other in The United States of America to marry and make a home for their young family.

In 1980, Eva received her Master’s Degree in Music Performance at the University of Illinois and, in that same year, secured the position of Principal Clarinet with the Haifa Symphony in Israel. Her interest in Musicology at Bar Ilan University introduced her to the world of music research and, more specifically, to that of lesser-known composers. Her main ambition was to perform and record many of these lesser-known composers’ works. Eva’s dedication as an instructor established through the years a new generation of Israeli clarinetists who now study and perform throughout the world. They are her legacy. 

Eva organized the first Israeli Clarinet Festival in 1998 and brought clarinetists of international renown to teach and perform in Israel. She served as a national chairperson for the International Clarinet Association in Israel. She was the first clarinetist invited to represent Israel at the International Clarinet Festival in 1999, in Belgium, and in 2005 in Japan. This was, in part, funded by the American-Israel Cultural Foundation. Her former student, Michal Beit-Halachmi, went on to perform at the ICA conference in Vancouver, Canada, with Eva’s composition “The Generation of Hope.”

Eva has been invited to the USA, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Portugal, Belgium, Finland, Ukraine, Slovenia, China, Bulgaria, and Japan as a performer and clinician. In 2004, her invitation to perform in China at the International Clarinet Festival, partially sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Israel, was praised by Jilin College of the Arts. As a result, she was one of the five international performers and the only female to receive an honorary professorship for her performance. From 2005 to 2010, she conducted and coached at Giora Feidman’s Klezmer Festival in the Galilee. She is still a part of this festival and, in 2022, was invited again to take part. In 2006 she posthumously honored David Weber, the New York City Clarinetist, by organizing the David Weber Competition in Israel. In 2009, she was honored by Eastman School of Music in New York’s Woman’s Festival of Music. In 2010, Lomax Classic Mouthpieces in the United States created the EWM Series Mouthpiece in her name. Her compositions have also been performed at the Music by Women Festival 2021. In addition, she was the initiator and co-director of the International Clarinetist Corona Competition (2020-2021).

 

In 2010, Gianluca Campagnolo completed another volume of his books: The “Great Clarinetists, “ where she is included.

Her CD “Two Clarinets and Piano: Original Music from Finland, Malta, Israel, and Points In-Between” collaborates with Clarinetist Luigi Magistrelli and Pianist Claudia Bracco. Her second CD, Unforgettable Hues with Guitarist Massimo Laura and Clarinetist Luigi Magistrelli, includes music for two clarinets and guitar in the classical tradition. Mrs. Wasserman-Margolis is also included in Israeli Composer Sara Feigin’s CD: Jewish Music. In addition, Or-Tav Music Publications (www.ortav.com) publishes some of her music and books. Learning Clarinet, The Artistic Way was the first clarinet method book published in Hebrew. Her educational publications also include the highly acclaimed book TIME for TONE and THINKING TONE (EWM Publications). Time for Tone is published in five languages. These books are based on the premise that young students must develop a refined tone technique from the very beginning of their studies.

Eva’s compositions consist of five unaccompanied solo pieces for clarinet, The Generation of Hope, Ode to Odessa,  The Whispering Child, The Children of the Tribes, and HER TRILOGY Creating/Created/Creation (solo), Games of the Soul (with piano), and Nigun-Li (with piano). Many of her works have been performed worldwide, at festivals, and recorded on CDs.

2022 is going to be an important year for her! She is working on significant musical projects; however, her book for children and parents, comprised of 65 pages and eight years of work, is soon to be published. It is called The Children of the Tribes, named after one of her compositions for solo clarinet.

Ms. Wasserman-Margolis was the primary instructor of clarinet at the Conservatory in Givatayim (1984-2019).  

Ms. Wasserman-Margolis is a Buffet Artist and has been faithful to her two vintage Buffet Continental clarinets throughout her career. She also uses a Lomax mouthpiece called the EWM.

Vandoren V12 is her reed of choice.

Ms. Wasserman-Margolis also has an HHP Degree (Health Practitioner). She works holistically in helping her students with problems related to performance. She uses Bach Flowers, Frequency Medicine, and discusses healthy eating habits. She has a passion for Iyengar yoga and jewelry design and a huge passion for life!

www.evawassermanmargolis.com