About Hillai

Hillai Govreen is a clarinetist, saxophonist and composer based in New York. Her upcoming album Every Other Now is a collaboration with bassist/composer Ben Meigners, and features some notable names of the NY music scene such as Steve Cardenas (guitar), Eric McPherson (drums), Café Da Silva (percussion) among others. The album is set to be released in August 2025 under the Fresh Sound label.

Her previous album “Allusions” (2021) is a duet with pianist Nitsan Kolko. Their duet features spontaneous musical dialogue and alludes to various ancient fables. In addition, Hillai arranged music for a nonet consisting of strings and woodwinds.

Hillai Govreen has collaborated with a wide range of international musicians, including George Cables, Allison Miller, Arturo O’Farrill, Eric McPherson, George Colligan, Steve Cardenas and Harold Rubin. She has toured across India, Europe, Israel, and the U.S. and has performed at notable New York venues such as Dizzy’s Club, The Jazz Gallery, Smalls, Mezzrow, Birdland, National Sawdust, and Ornithology. Hillai is an endorsing artist for P. Mauriat clarinets and saxophones.

She graduated with honors from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in 2020, where she studied with renowned musicians including Anat Cohen, Mike McGinnis, Chris Cheek, Tony Malaby, Billy Harper, Steve Cardenas, and Reggie Workman.

Born and raised in Israel, Hillai developed a passion for music early on. She started learning classical piano at the age of 6, and at 12 took up the clarinet, studying under Professor Michael Gurfinkel. During high school she was awarded musical scholarships from the American Israel Cultural Foundation for four consecutive years, played first clarinet in the Young Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, and received a full scholarship to study at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin.