Yitzhak Yedid (Hebrew: יצחק ידיד, born 29 September 1971) is an Israeli-Australian composer of contemporary classical music.

[7] His compositional style has been characterised as "eclectic, multicultural, and deeply personal,"[8] blending elements of jazz and Jewish cantor music, classical European traditions, and avant-garde experimentation.

[16] His initial formative musical experiences included attending liturgical services at his local synagogue where he imbibed the sounds and rhythms of the Syrian-Jewish Baqashot tradition.

In his compositions, Yedid seamlessly integrates various elements, including energies and dynamics, while introducing a distinctive aesthetic that departs from the conventional norms of classical stage traditions.

[19] Yedid studied at the Rubin Academy of Music with Vyacheslav Ganelin and the New England Conservatory in Boston with Ran Blake and Paul Bley in 1997 and 1998.

[29] These compositions combined fully notated music with free improvisation, including maqamat, and composed for a selection of individual players.

In 2005, Yedid composed the Oud Bass Piano Trio,[36] performed at the Sibiu Festival in Romania, as well as in Australia, Canada, and the US in May and September 2005.

[37] In 2006, Yedid composed Since My Soul Loved,[38] a four movement composition for improvising players for violin, viola, cello, double bass and piano.

My music is like a story – it's like a film or a play.Yedid writes[58] In Israel, I grew up acutely aware of the tensions caused by the animosity between Palestinians and Israelis.

However, in my music, my intention is not to refer directly to experiences such as this but rather to look at Arabic and Jewish matters from a human perspective and in conjunction with philosophical and religious concerns.

It is my wish to convey the idea of cultural pluralism.Yedid's style of composition has been described as[59] eclectic, multicultural and very personal- a style that combines jazz and Jewish cantor music, classic European and avant-garde, randomness and a blend of techniques.Barry Davis wrote in The Jerusalem Post,[60] Over the past couple of decades or so, Yedid has put out an almost bewilderingly eclectic range of works and recordings.

His compositions are generally viscerally and cerebrally engaging, and often visually striking, with the piano- playing role requiring a certain amount of calisthenic activity and a significant dosage of emotional and technical investment.Yedid writes[61] Looking for new compositional approaches and challenging musical conventions through the synthesis of a wide spectrum of contemporary and ancient styles is what motivated my work.

I have been influenced in particular by Béla Bartók and Arnold Schoenberg to develop a personal vision as a composer.This correlates with what the critics write about his music: John Shand from the Sydney Morning Herald wrote in 2014 about Yedid's Myth of the Cave "a vividly expansive composition";[62] Noam Ben-Zeav (Haaretz) wrote in 2013 that "Yedid music is an authentic expression of new music which incorporates a wide spectrum of contemporary and ancient styles";[63] and Ake Holmquist (NorraSkåne, Sweden) wrote in 2004 that Yedid integrates specific stylistic influences into a personal created unity.

The manner in which he describes folkloristic influences and melancholic specific themes can remind of Béla Bartók; improvisatory float of hovering à la Keith Jarrett [...].Musically, Yedid creates a confluence between the Maqamat (Arabic music modal system), heterophonic textures of ancient genres, and compositional approaches of contemporary Western classical music, to produce an original sound.

[65] Yedid have shown a new direction in his later works and courage to make a commentary on international currant political/religious problems that continue to find no resolution.

[3] The Crying Souls was written as a response to the chemical weapons attacks that happened in August 2013 in Damascus when more than 1,300 innocent civilian including children were massacred.

[69] His winning composition, Kiddushim Ve’ Killulim (Blessings and Curses),[6] was unanimously declared the best new major work of Jewish music by the judges of the Canadian prize.

[70] Yedid received a total prize package valued at over CA$200,000, which included a world premiere performance of his work by Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, and a recording released on the Analekta label.