International artist Noa, known in her native Israel as Achinoam Nini, will come to Seattle on April 29 to give a special performance with Israeli-Arab musician Mira Awad.
“When I heard her speak on the Yair Lapid show on Channel 2 in Israel, I was extremely impressed,” says Noa about her friend and co-performer Awad. “I was looking for a partner to perform with, but although I did not hear her singing, her intelligence struck me, and so I got in touch and asked her to work together.”
That was 10 years ago.
Since then, Noa and Awad have established a long-lasting relationship and friendship that has had terrific results. The two have performed together throughout Europe and the United States, including representing the State of Israel in the Eurovision contest of 2009. They have also recorded an album together. The culmination of this relationship is their joint performance on the tour that lands them in Seattle later this month.
Noa was born in Israel, but moved to New York as an infant when her parents came to the U.S. to study. After finishing their studies, her parents decided to stay. But at the age of 17, Noa fell in love with an Israeli guy, who later became her husband, and moved to Israel to be with him. Later on, her parents took the hint and returned to Israel as well, but in the meanwhile Noa completed her studies in a Jerusalem boarding school and later joined the army. Now living in Shefayim, a kibbutz 10 miles north of Tel Aviv, with her husband and three kids, Noa performs all over the world.
Despite having given birth to her most recent child less than two months ago, Noa will be conducting an 11-day tour across the U.S., from Boston to Seattle and plenty of places in between. In addition to herself and Awad, the show will host her longtime collaborator Gil Dor, as well as Gil Zohar, a guest musician she considers to be extraordinarily gifted.
As a songwriter who spent most of her life in the U.S., Noa writes almost exclusively in English, though she sometimes writes music for written works by Israeli poets.
“I am of Yemenite origins, and this has played a bigger part of my music in recent years,” Noa told JTNews during a recent interview. “Some of my works are songs I have learned from my grandmother, and incorporated with original music and lyrics.”
Her latest solo album, Genes & Jeans, includes many songs that incorporate this style, and many of them will be included in the concert.
“My work has evolved naturally over my career,” she says. “I’ve become a mother, travelled all around the world, and this is evident in my songs. I have a very characteristic style that my followers can easily identify, because I’m all about the content and lyrics, not about producing popular music. I feel that my music is courageous — it’s not trying to imitate anybody or to reach the common denominator. Just like me, my music does whatever it feels like, and I believe that my fans find that appealing.”
Last year, Noa and Awad represented Israel in the annual Eurovision song contest, one of the longest-running television shows in history. It’s relatively unknown in the United States, but it is watched by an estimated 600 million European viewers each year. Noa and Awad were selected to participate in the competition that took place during May of 2009, choosing their song “There Must be Another Way.”
Noa said the contest, held just a short time after the Gaza War, came at a time when public opinion of Israel was very low.
“Many have opposed Israel’s participation, and there were demonstrations and a lot of negativity,” she said.
Noa’s collaboration with Awad, who is Palestinian, in performing in the competition was a monumental achievement and sent a very important message, they believe. “Our presence there, as a Jew and an Arab, was very important, and we received a lot of grateful letters from excited fans, many of them from Arab countries,” Noa said.
The duo was scheduled to perform in London for Israel Independence Day, though the JTA news service reported that Awad had to cancel due to scheduling conflicts, and Noa will perform on her own. Following their U.S. concert tour, the quartet — Noa, Awad, Dor, Zohar — will launch a European tour.
Noa’s latest solo album, Genes & Jeans, can be found online, as can her joint album with Awad, There Must Be Another Way.
Israeli music luminary to make her Seattle debut
