Eduard Shyfrin says, 'Save your time for love'

• Published date: 29 March 2024
• Author: ALAN ROSENBAUM
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

As a child in Ukraine, Shyfrin received a well-rounded music education and spent seven years studying music theory, while learning to play the guitar and piano. His parents were partial to jazz, and the sounds of Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and other jazz greats resonated throughout the family's small apartment.Shyfrin's musical skills remained dormant for many years, as he was focused on the worlds of science and business, earning a PhD in physical chemistry and gaining a deep knowledge of physics. In 2002, he began his studies of Kabbalah, together with a new appreciation and interest in Judaism

The COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 enabled Shyfrin to rekindle his interest in music. "I realized that I had time, and I decided to restart," he says. "I hired a piano teacher, a guitar teacher, and a vocal teacher and started to play without any particular goal – it was just for myself."

Reverting to his scientific self, he cites Curie's Principle, which posits that symmetry must be broken in order to initiate a physical process. "When a system is in balance," explains Shyfrin, "there are no processes. In order for something to happen in the physical system, the symmetry and balance must be broken. It's the same with people. Nothing creative can happen when we are in a state of balance and symmetry. To create something, one should break the balance and be in a state of non-equilibrium."

The war between Russia and Ukraine and the toll it took on him as a native of Ukraine created a state of non-equilibrium within Shyfrin, who sent a letter of protest to the Russian embassy in London opposing the Russian aggression, wrote articles opposing the war in The Jerusalem Post, and provided financial assistance to Ukrainian aid organizations.

Initially, Shyfrin, who was then playing the guitar, assembled a group of musicians to perform at family summer events. He penned lyrics in English but did not think he was capable of composing music on his own. He honed his musical skills by listening to hundreds of tracks on Spotify. "I listened to rock blues, soul blues, jazz blues, and acoustic blues. I don't think there are any blues songs on Spotify that I didn't listen to. It was a very intense charge of information." He then studied jazz chords, where his mathematical skills helped him learn the complex chords of that musical style.

Shyfrin's compositions

Shyfrin created 12 compositions in the fall of 2022 and winter of 2023. He offered his...