Retired IDF major becomes Rimon School of Music's oldest graduate

After 27 years of service in the IDF and without any formal musical training, embarking on a rigorous musical career was the last thing Arik, then in his mid-40s, was expecting to do.

By TOBIAS SIEGAL
Arik and Ron Kita warming up Pablo Rosenberg. (photo credit: DAVID GRANOT)
Arik and Ron Kita warming up Pablo Rosenberg.
(photo credit: DAVID GRANOT)
Arik Kita will soon be graduating the prestigious Rimon School of Music as its oldest currently enrolled student. At the age of 51, Arik divides his time between his family, his deep passion for music and his day job as a consultant to the Israeli Defense Ministry, while constantly finding new ways of bringing them all together.
After 27 years of service in the IDF and without any formal musical training, embarking on a rigorous musical career was the last thing Arik, then in his mid-40s, was expecting to do. His father was “in essence, a military man,” and “the values of service and contribution were prevalent in the house,” Arik recalls.
As a young teenager he wanted to join the Submarine Flotilla but was injured early on during training and was later recognized as a disabled veteran. But that injury and the several operations that followed didn’t prevent him from trying again, this time in the IDF Teleprocessing Corps, where he remained for nearly three decades, completing his service at the rank of major and as chief technology officer of the Lotem Unit, “a position designated for looking ahead to the technological future of the military,” he explains.
When asked about the reasons that caused him to leave a steady and fulfilling job, which had been a major part of his life, he specifically remembers a seminar he attended.
 “When I was about 35, I did a self-awareness seminar, where they encouraged a mind-set of fulfilling your dreams and thinking about the future, while creating the life you want. For me, something about that connected to music.”
Although Arik says that he had no real prior musical training, he does mention an inclination toward jazz as a young teenager. He points out his older sister, Ila, “who used to bring home different kinds of music, influenced by the ‘80s pop culture,” and especially remembers listening to Weather Report for the first time, an American jazz-fusion band of the early 1980s.
“It was different from anything else we were used to hearing,” he reminisces. That’s when Arik remembers falling in love with “the sound of the saxophone which stayed in [his] head ever since.”
Surprisingly, it was during one of his busiest and most challenging positions that Arik decided to peruse that subtle inclination toward music that had followed him for years.
“It was a very busy time back then. I was in a very demanding position. I remember being head of the software branch in my unit. I had around 30 soldiers underneath me, something like four or five teams, a lot of pressure and constant conflicts, always something to do.”
It was then, that Arik understood that he wanted to do something else. “I realized that if I want something, I need to do it now and not postpone it,” he says.
He started taking saxophone lessons at the Rosh Ha’Ayin Conservatory, as part of a special program by the Rimon School of Music called the Sixth Jam. The program includes weekly meetings and is meant to encourage amateurs or older people who haven’t yet had the opportunity to hone their skills and become real musicians, according to Fernando Knopf, a senior lecturer at Rimon and director of its Latin American music department.
KNOPF, WHO also co-founded the Sixth Jam program, explains, “The program is part of Rimon’s external studies array. It was established around 10 years ago.” Although it is primarily offered for older people, the program is open for all ages, thus offering unique intergenerational experiences.
“The pianist could be 80 years old, the drummer, 60, the bassist, 65, and the keyboardist a young soldier,” Knopf points out, and adds that “music has no age.”
After attending the program for a while, Arik noticed opportunities for integrating his music into his daily job. He started performing in military ceremonies with his saxophone, using the opportunities to practice, and even established a little band in his unit comprised of fellow officers. He became known as the “Musical Major.”
The peak came when Arik was chosen to represent his unit as part of the Witnesses in Uniform Program (Edim Be’Madim) an educational initiative that sends IDF officers to Poland every year in order to commemorate and learn about the Holocaust. Arik remembers “a burning feeling telling [him] to take the saxophone with [him],” even though he was only just a beginner at the time. But he did bring it, ending up playing alongside professional musicians during ceremonies throughout the trip.
It was a “formative experience” as Arik describes it, further strengthening his inclination towards the saxophone and the ways he can contribute to others through it.
After retiring from the IDF, Arik started looking for new opportunities to practice.
“I took the saxophone with me everywhere,” he recollects with amusement, and after realizing that his two daughters, Gil and Ron, also had strong inclinations for music, the three teamed up and eventually started performing together as an ensemble called Kita Jazz Trio.
“It strengthened our relationship. We send each other materials, we play together, and we try to keep each other updated,” Arik says.
The three have since toured the country, performing in various events ranging from memorial ceremonies to private parties and cultural evenings organized by the municipality. Eventually, the head of the culture department at the Rosh Ha’Ayin Municipality came across a local article about the jazz trio and invited them to help warm up famous Argentine-Israeli singer Pablo Rosenberg in 2017.
Arik’s daughter Gil is following her father’s footsteps and has recently started attending the Rimon School of Music as well. Looking to the future, Arik, who will graduate Rimon in a few months, is hoping to continue to practice and play with his daughters, which he knows cannot last forever, and dreams of performing at the annual Israel Jazz Festival.
When he isn’t planning his own future, Arik is busy working on the future of Israel’s defense systems. He currently works as a technical consultant to the Defense Ministry, specializing in intelligence systems and working with ELTA Systems, one of Israel’s leading defense companies.
When asked how he manages to keep it all together, juggling between so much, he says, “Creating a life that you like requires a lot of initiative, no one will do it for you. You have to constantly reinvent yourself.”
For more information about Arik and the Kita Jazz Trio visit facebook.com/KitaJazzMusic.