I've been a fan of Achinoam Nini -- who goes by Noa outside of Israel -- ever since I saw her perform with her collaborator and accompanist Gil Dor at the Power Center in Ann Arbor in the spring of 1995. I had attended the show practically on a whim, just because the concert poster had caught my eye, student tickets were cheap, and I'd never really seen or heard Israeli music performed before. I wasn't sure what to expect as I walked through the auditorium doors -- quite possibly the only Filipino in a concert hall packed with what must have been Ann Arbor's entire Jewish community.
It turned out to be one of the most memorable shows of my life. We all sat rapt as Noa and Gil Dor took the stage armed with nothing but a guitar, a microphone, and Noa's striking, sinuous voice, coupled with a charisma and poise that would have been the envy of many artists twice her age. In keeping with her heritage -- Israeli with Yemenite roots by way of the Bronx -- the music was a fusion of folk, pop, jazz, classical, and Middle Eastern traditions. I loved the songs in Hebrew and Arabic, which, even through the language barrier, spoke movingly of love and jubilation, yearning and pain. And the songs she sang in English -- about worrying if her wings were strong enough to ride the world's winds, or about growing up a lonely Middle Eastern wildflower in a cultivated New York rose garden -- deeply resonated with me as a recent immigrant also struggling to translate myself from one culture to another. Gil Dor's guitarwork was virtuosic and Noa commanded the attention of all, weaving sound and gesture, storytelling and generosity of spirit, into a performance that I carried with me for a long time afterward.
Later that same year, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated at a peace rally in Tel Aviv where Noa had performed mere minutes before. The peace process was shattered; and Noa, by her account, became an activist in that moment, emerging as a steadfast advocate for dialogue and the two-state solution even as her blossoming musical career took her around the globe. It would eventually take her back to the US and to New York in 2018, where I had the pleasure of seeing her perform again at a synagogue in Queens -- a little older and wiser, an even more assured entertainer, and just as committed to raising her voice for peace.
Here is "Mishaela," perhaps her most popular song, performed live in 2005 with Gil Dor and the Solis String Quartet:
The lyrics -- by Dor, translated into English by Noa -- offer solace in these times as well: Mishaela, what do you see? What is it in your heart That greets the desolate silence with such laughter? It is one rainbow in the east, she says. It is all I need. You can find out much more about Noa on her website and music store (try the second link to see lyrics, translations, and notes for individual tracks). BONUS: I struggled with featuring just one of her many excellent songs, and I encourage you to check out more if you have the time. Here's another of my favorites, the exuberant "Morning (Boker)," sung in both Hebrew and English, and performed here with Galician flutist Carlos Nuñez:
And here's "Keren Or (Nocturno)," which sets to music a poem by Israeli poet Leah Goldberg, about lighting a candle to drive back the starless night:
Much more on her YouTube channel, here.
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Listen to the Spotify playlist here.
Watch the YouTube playlist here.