Some personal history

Born in NY to a Yemenite Israeli mother and an American father, I spent the most important years of human formation living in Israel in a small village in the Judaean mountains.

Being born into a vivid and lively family, I was fortunate to have music and art all around me. My mother, a unique Judaica artist taught us attention to detail and appreciation for beauty and nature. My cousin, Noa (Achinoam to us) quickly grew into an international superstar and I, as a kid, was her #1 fan. Singing her songs and seeing endless times the radiant performer she was (and still is) on was a HUGE inspiration and lesson in life. My maternal grandmother sang through every stage of life. cooking, knitting, mourning.. and my paternal grandmother was in fact a classically trained singer who gave up her dream to raise her children. Inspiration and music were omnipresent. The only problem was, well, that I was as shy as a hermit crab on his worst hair day. ever. 

So choir was the natural step for a shy music addict who needs to sing but can't stand being seen or heard. The Ankor Choir in Jerusalem introduced me to classical music at its core. Singing in harmony. blending voices. WOW. What a world I started discovering.. events such as singing in the girls choir in Turandot with the Israeli Phil and Zubin Mehta, or a trip to Berlin in 1992, right after the wall came down, to sing with the Berlin Phil and Claudio Abbado a piece by Luciano Berio !!! You see, for me this was equivalent to a fantastic class trip. I was completely oblivious of the giants I was encountering on my way. So many legends and glorious music- was hooked for life.

Choir and high school ended, Army began. After being posted for a short while at the border with Lebanon and leaning much about life (what to do when you're being bombed or how to check rolled up pitas for weapons or drugs anybody?) I was later trained as a teacher/commander and was given the task of teaching history and English to soldiers on their way back to civil life . Shyness didn't help.. But my voice started making a change. I discovered the power of the voice. My first solo stage was in fact in uniform. No music. Just presence, eyes, compassion, inspiration and the verb "to be". 

Once my military service ended the moment of truth arrived and I needed to learn how to use this instrument, choose a path and it was clear that music was the only way. 

In Tel Aviv university I studied with the late Mira Zakai (may she rest in peace) who taught me how to be a Mentsch and true to my art. Efrat Ben Nun taught me the first steps of how to use my voice. Next stop- NY, where I met the terrifying guru of voice and soul Patricia McCaffrey. She broke me and put me back together. I was almost ready to begin..

Next step- Berlin! Abbie Furmansky helped connect all the dots, John Norris threw in a new understanding of the full body of a singer, William Christie somehow by sheer miracle gave me my first huge break, and here we are today, Berlin, my home of 15 years. 

These days I share my life and family with the brilliant baritone Tomáš Král  and we do our best to raise with love and joy the two energy balls named Uriel and Lavie. Our most precious creations, our loves.. 

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