A BRILLIANT MUSICIAN
University of Ottawa's Yehonatan Berick was a beloved performer and dedicated teacher
When Yehonatan Berick arrived in the music department at the University of Ottawa in 2013, the professor of violin was handed a valuable Italian violin. Made in 1761 by luthier Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi, it had been bequeathed to the university by the late NAC Orchestra violinist Sally Benson.
The instrument was in good hands. Berick was not only a brilliant musician who maintained a busy performing schedule, but also a kind and generous teacher who was dedicated to his students.
He died suddenly on Oct. 31 at the age of 52 after a short battle with stomach cancer.
In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen when he received the instrument, Berick said the university wanted the centuries-old violin to be played in concert as much as possible.
“I have a very active performing schedule and I said, `OK, I'd be very happy to try it.' And they brought it out and I played three notes and my jaw dropped,” he said. “It's a fantastic violin. It's one of the best instruments I've ever held.”
Born in Holon, Israel, Berick demonstrated an early aptitude for music. According to his sister, Omna Berick-Aharony, he taught himself to play a tiny accordion at the age of three. He took after their father, who was also a talented violinist and guitar player, although the elder Berick opted to pursue civil engineering instead of music.
By the age of six, young Berick was studying violin with the legendary Ilona Fehér, who also counted the likes of Pinchas Zukerman and Shlomo Mintz among her students. Following his army service and studies at the Tel Aviv Academy, Berick came to North America to study at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
At 25, he became artist-in-residence at McGill and then a violin professor at the Montreal university.
He also taught at the universities of Michigan and Toronto before accepting the violin-professor position in Ottawa.
At the University of Ottawa, he was a champion of the university's Summer String Academy, and a key figure in expanding the string program. He built an all-star team of contributing teachers, including NACO's Yosuke Kawasaki and Jessica Linnebach, and was an important link to the global community of world-class performers.
Berick lived in Ottawa with his partner, cellist Rachel Mercer, a member of NACO. He is also survived by his former wife and their two children.
In an email, Mercer recalls his dedication to his students, who called him by the nickname, Big Y.
“He cared so much about them, not only their progress but for them as human beings,” she wrote.
“Each student was an individual, but over his 30-plus years of teaching he developed so many concepts and metaphors that are like magic solutions for so many of the challenges string players deal with.”
She also remembered his mischievous sense of humour.
“He was the first one to join in a joke-off and always wanted to make people laugh,” wrote Mercer, describing rehearsals of the AYR Piano Trio, an ensemble comprised of Berick, Mercer and pianist Angela Park.
“The jokes increased to the point that none of us could play the music anymore and were just doubled over with tears of laughter streaming down,” she wrote.
Berick played piano by ear and taught himself to play guitar. But when it came to violin, he was brilliant, with an incredibly musical mind and a beautiful playing style that exuded power, warmth and generosity at the same time.
“He could play anything, but Bach was the highest to him,” Mercer wrote.
“Harmony ruled over all. It's what drew him to any particular music, like Brazilian guitar music or the Israeli songs that he so loved.”
During his career, Berick was an in-demand concert soloist and chamber musician who was also featured on many recordings and broadcast performances. Among his proudest musical achievements was a 2014 two-CD recording of all of Paganini's 24 Caprices, a cycle he started working on as a way to maintain his standard of playing, Mercer noted. He also tackled cycles of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas and was preparing a cycle of Beethoven Sonatas to be livestreamed.
“There was so much more to come,” Mercer wrote. “Over the past months I heard the complete Bach suites on viola coming from the practice room — all the major violin concerti and solo pieces.”
Beyond his musical expertise, Mercer said he went out of his way to make people feel good.
“Whether doing someone a favour, helping a student through a tough time, chatting with a cashier, or caring for his kids, he found the way to lift that person in that moment,” Mercer wrote. “I can't begin to describe what it was to be with someone like that as a partner. I know that everyone who knew him well was a recipient of that generosity.
“I don't think he really knew how beloved he is,” she added. “I hope that somewhere, somehow, he can feel all the love, the messages and tributes.”
A family funeral was held in Israel on Nov. 6.
The University of Ottawa is also planning a livestreamed tribute.
Donations can be made in Yehonatan's name to the School of Music Scholarship Fund at alumni.uottawa.ca/donation-form.
I don't think he really knew how beloved he is. I hope that somewhere, somehow, he can feel all the love, the messages and tributes.