Shai Cohen (born 1968) is an Israeli composer, researcher, and educator. He is an Associate Professor and Head of the Music, Technology, and Visual Media track at Bar-Ilan University. Cohen served as the chairman of the Israel Composers' League (2017–2021) and is a member of the board of trustees for the Prime Minister's Prize for Composition.
As a composer, Cohen's work is characterized by a dialectical relationship between raw acoustic materiality and the logical order of algorithms. He views technology not merely as a tool, but as a "scaffolding for musical thought," seeking to reveal the "latent morphological DNA" within sound. His musical language often integrates visual media, Artificial Intelligence, and unique graphic notation with complex rhythmic and harmonic patterns.
Musical Style and Technology
Cohen is a pioneer in the field of "Computational Listening," a methodology that processes acoustic structures to reveal what the human ear senses but cannot always articulate. He developed the Praat AudioTools library, an extensive open-source project containing over 360 Python and machine learning-based scripts. This library transforms scientific audio analysis into a manifest for musical synthesis, providing composers with parametric control over the most elementary components of a sound"Praat AudioTools - The Latent Morphology of Acoustic Memory"..
Selected Musical Works
Recent Works (2023–2026)
"Fractured Radiance" (2025) for ensemble. Meitar Ensemble, Desert Sounds Festival.
"Manifesto" (2025) for piano trio and electronics. Meitar Ensemble, Studio Annette.
"Mise en abyme" (2025) for Bass Clarinet and Electronics. Ensemble L'Itinéraire, EMS 2025 Paris.
"Fragments of the Flood" (2025) for Trombone, Harp and Electronics. Winner of the Gilgamesh Composition Competition, Los Angeles.
"Around The Point" (2025) for piano with mechanical microtonal add-on and live electronics.
"The myth of Trombonipus" (2024) for Jazz trombone, ensemble and electronics. Commissioned by the Israel Contemporary Players.
"A living face is not enough to photograph with words" (2024) for string quartet, string orchestra and fixed media. Tel-Aviv Soloist Orchestra.
"Improbable Melodies" (2024) – A study of nature and human creativity based on the vocalizations of the Rock Hyrax.
"Remain calm" (2024) for soprano, flute, video and electronics. Finalist at the Prix CIME 2025.
"The People of the Black Circle" (2024) for ensemble, narrator, live electronics, and video animation.
"Is P=NP?" (2023) for Voice, Vibraphone and Tibetan Singing Bowls.
"Points of Convergence" (2023) for a bass incorporating technology-based notation. TENOR Conference, Boston.
Earlier Works
"Who pulls the strings?" (2022) for electric guitar and string quartet. Commissioned by the Mivos Quartet.
"ER=EPR" (2021) for French Horn and Live electronics. Selected for ISCM WNMD, China.
"Remez" (2021) for Trombone and Piano. Winner of the V International Contest of Musical Composition, Spain.
"Entanglement" (2020) for conductor and interactive 2D point map.
"Darkness" (2020) for amplified ensemble, electronics and video.
"Seven Cadenzas" (2019) for string quartet and electronics. Commissioned by Carmel Quartet.
"Noumenon" (2019) for ensemble with audiovisuals. Commissioned by ISCM.
"I Heard a Fly Buzz... When I Died" (2019) for ensemble and electronics.
"Echoes of Eternity" (2009) for violin solo and orchestra. Performed by Haifa Symphony Orchestra (2023).
Selected Publications
Cohen's research on the intersection of music, mathematics, and creative thinking is widely published and cited.
Books
Music and Creation in a Computerized Environment (2011). The Open University of Israel. (687 pages). ISBN 978-965-06-1271-9.
Top-Cited Articles
Azaryahu, L., Broza, O., Cohen, S., Hershkovitz, S., & Adi-Japha, E. (2023). "Development of creative thinking patterns via math and music". Thinking Skills and Creativity, 47, 101196.
Gordon, I., Gilboa, A., Cohen, S., & Kleinfeld, T. (2020). "The relationship between physiological synchrony and motion energy synchrony during a joint group drumming task". Physiology & Behavior, 224, 113074.
Ornoy, E., & Cohen, S. (2021). "The effect of mindfulness meditation on the vocal proficiencies of music education students". Psychology of Music, 49(6).
Ornoy, E., & Cohen, S. (2018). "Analysis of contemporary violin recordings of 19th century repertoire: Identifying trends and impacts". Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2233.
Azaryahu, L., Broza, O., Cohen, S., Hershkovitz, S., & Adi-Japha, E. (2024). "Development of creative thinking via fractions and rhythm". Thinking Skills and Creativity, 52, 101514.
Honors and awards
2025 – Finalist, Prix CIME – International Electroacoustic Music Competition (for "Remain Calm").
2025 – Award-winner, The Gilgamesh Composition Competition, Los Angeles (for "Fragments of the Flood").
2022 – Menachem Avidom Prize Achievement Award (ACUM) for "Darkness".
2021 – First Prize, V International Music Composition Competition Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos, Spain.
2011 – The Prime Minister's Prize for Music Achievement, Israel.
2011 – Aberdeen Music Prize, University of Aberdeen, Scotland.
2010 – Menachem Avidom Prize Achievement Award for “Echoes of Eternity”.
