BIO

Born and raised in Israel, Gilad started playing piano at age 8 and began his lifelong love affair with music. Upon picking up his first alto saxophone at age 12, the dream took form and his playing took off. Tenor saxophone and guitar came the following year, and at 14, he started his formal training in composition and jazz at the Thelma Yalin School of the Arts in Tel Aviv. Besides his formal training, a great deal of influence on his musical development was the Moroccan cantor singing he heard many times in the synagogue and especially of his grandfather who was a respectable rabbi.

 

At the young age of 16, a scholarship to the 5-week summer program at Berklee College of Music brought him to America, where he promptly wowed the faculty there to earn a full ride. In 2000, Mr. attended Berklee College of music in Boston where he earned his Composition and Performance degree along with numerous awards for achievement and musicianship.

 

As Mr. Ronen’s talents increasingly caught the jazz community’s interest, Los Angeles came calling in the form of a scholarship to the prestigious Masters program at the Thelonius Monk Institute. One of an elite six selected from hundreds of musicians by jazz legends Terrence Blanchard, Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter, he left Boston to share his talents with the West Coast.

 

In the L.A scene Mr. Ronen has performed with many known local artists and recorded music for current feature films such as “Duplex” and “Heart of Summer.” Never settling for the known, he has also refined his talents as a composer, studying under artists such as Vince Mendoza, Russell Ferrante and Alan Broadband.

 

Upon graduating from USC Gilad moved to New York city where he joined The Brand New Heavies Band.  He toured with them all around the world extensively until 2009 when he decided to move back to Israel and make a permanent home for himself.

 

For the past 12 years Gilad Has been an associate professor of the New School program in Tel Aviv. Some of his past students include : Tom Oren, Guy Mintus, Yoav Eshed, Alexander Levin, Yonatan Cohen to name a few. Gilad Ronen is one of the most recorded saxophonists in Israel musical history for film , T.V Show , pop artists, radio Ranging over 300 recordings. In the past 5 years Gilad has created a state of the art recording facility that consists of 6 unique fully separated acoustically treated spaces.  He evolved into producing records and managing a beautiful recording studio in Ramat Hasharon where he records and mixes music daily.  

 

As his talent and expertise grow, Gilad Ronen continues his quest as a forerunner of the developing Israeli sound, confident that he will one day stand among the legends of the music and sound he helped create.

 

He continues to produce, record and compose from GR studios in Israel Today.