Ittai Binnun

Ittai Binnun (Hebrew איתי בן-נון) (Born 1 October 1972) is an Israeli multi-instrumentalist musician, composer and producer.

Ittai Binnun was born in Jerusalem, in the historic quarter of Ein Karem to a Jewish family of Ashkenazy descent. As a child, he first began playing the clarinet and as a teenager began playing the saxophone, taking part in rock & jazz high-school bands. After his IDF military service he began studying philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem but gradually shifted his interest to music. Over the next years Binnun experimented with many musical instruments, developing professional skills on ney flute, duduk, guitar, saz, baglama and didjeridoo, and became known in the Jerusalem music scene for his skill on a wide range of different ethnic music instruments and styles.

Influences

Binnun's music is mostly recognized with the world music scene. Through growing up in Jerusalem he absorbed a wide variety of musical traditions such as local Arab music and Jewish klezmer. He studied and collaborated with Palestinian oud master Nizar Rohana, east-European Gypsy music saxophonist Gergely Barcza, and Albert Piamenta – the "founding father" of Israeli world music. Binnun has stated that his true musical ambition is to create a "multi-traditional" sound.

Binnun started his career as a performer as an actor, storyteller and clown. As an actor he began composing music for plays he performed in. He then began composing for the theater, films and television.

In 1998 Binnun was one of the creators of the play Mishte which portrays the biblical story of Saul and David, and observes the biblical events from a contemporary point of view. In addition to co-writing the play, Binnun composed the music, both original and rearrangements of traditional folk songs. Binnun performed the music live as an actor-musician. It was the Mishte's unexpected successes (highly acclaimed and showing for eight years straight) that had really first placed Binnun in the Israeli music spotlight. In 1999 he wrote the original soundtrack for the documentary film Sipurey Hatzer, portraying the urban renewal and destruction of cultural heritage in Jerusalem. In 2000 he joined the Arab-Jewish ensemble Josef and One as a wind instruments player.

In 2004 Binnun formed the world-fusion band Andralamoussia. In 2005 the band released their debut self-titled album. In the following years the band performed throughout Israel and took part in major festivals worldwide. In 2007 they collaborate with New York City's Hassidic new wave trumpet player Franck London at the annual Jewish Music Days in Jerusalem. Later in 2007 AndreLaMoussia performed a concert featuring Shaanan Street of Hadag Nahash and, in 2008, they performed at KlezFest London.

In 2007 Binnun served as musical director forGod Gave Me Laughter, a play based on Jewish humor by comedian and playwright Jackie Levy. In 2009 he wrote the original soundtrack for a modern production of the classic Jewish play The Dybbuk. The play gained an unexpected international success.

In 2009 Binnun composed the original soundtrack for the "Kolben Dance" dance company produced by choreographer Amir Kolben. Later that year, he produced and composed an interactive musical performance for the Bloomfield Science Museum titled An extraordinary tale of a drum a string and a flute. The show's aim was to recreate the invention of the first musical instruments while demonstrating physical principals of sound acoustics and music.

In 2010 AndraLaMoussia released their 2nd album "Bet" on Israeli alternative record label The Eighth Note. In the same year he composed the music for Time Tunnel, an IBA documentary film about the resistance fighters during the time of the British mandate in Palestine. In 2011 Binnun produced an album for Zeev Kitzis, a singer-songwriter immersed in Jewish culture and tradition. Later that year he produced the "Jewish Polesye" project – songs from the repertoire of Mariam Nirenberg, with international Polish singer Olga Mieleszczuk. In 2012 he composed the music for Human Turbines, an original movie about a Palestinian group of Jews and Arabs building a rainwater collection system to save a village in the occupied territories.

In 2013 Binnun formed the musical project Ittai & the Toys, a live show based on improvisation and changing collaborations with other musicians, for the first time in his career using computer-based production techniques and other digital devices on stage. After a three years of local and international tours, the Ittai & the Toys project released its first self-titled EP in 2016. That same year Binnun wrote and recorded the music for Mr K, a puppet show production by Patricia O’Donoven that examined the relationship between a puppeteer and his puppets. In 2017 Binnun was chosen as musical director of the annual Ein-Karem Music Festival in his native quarter of Ein-Karem.

• AndraLaMoussia – self-titled (2005) – Composer, producer & player
• AndraLaMoussia – Bet – (2010) – Composer, producer & player [the 8th note]
• Ittai & the Toys – self titled EP (2016) – Composer, producer & player

Producer and Player

• Yuval Zederma – self-titled. (2007) – Ney player
• Zeev Kitzis – Galor (2009) – Producer and wind instrument player
• Eitan Ulman – self-titled (2010) – Ney player
• Mika Karni – self titled (2011) Ney and Clarinet player
• Olga Mielesczuk – Jewish Polesye (2012) – Musical producer, engineer and wind instruments

Film Soundtrack

• Sipurey Hatzer (Courtyard tales) documentary (1999)
• Kikar Hakfar (Village square) (2006)
• Time Tunnel documentary (2010)
• Human Turbines (2012)

Music for theater

• Mishte (1998)
• The Dybbuk (2008)
• An Extraordinary tale of a drum a string and a flute (2008)
• The Jerusalem science museum summer light show (2012)
• Mr K (2016)