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Tuesday, May 15, 2012

... because of the music - Aya Korem

Aya Korem at Tmoona Theater
Aya Korem is a wonderful Israeli singer and songwriter. Last month we saw her performance called "One woman that sings" in Tmuna Theater, a small venue in Tel Aviv's Montefiore neighborhood. Unlike most of her concerts, where Aya performs mostly songs that she had written, "One woman that sings" is a homage to "women in her life", singers and poets, Israeli and foreign, who influenced her life and art.

That was a beautiful, touching performance. Sometimes encounters with works of art can influence us more profoundly than "real events" of our lives, and Aya Korem had compiled and presented a beautiful collection of the songs and stories about her encounters with "women in her life". And I was able to relate even more since some of these women are "women in my life" as well.

Among the songs that Aya performed that evening were "Twist in my sobriety" by Tanita Tikaram, "A case of you" by Joni Mitchell and "A birthday prayer", with lyrics by Tirza Atar. Tirza Atar was Israeli writer and poet, who wrote a number of children books, published several poetry collections, translated to Hebrew some of the great theater classics (by Tennessee Williams, Eugene O'Neill and more) - before she tragically died in 1977, only 36 years old. To me, "A birthday prayer" is one of the most beautiful songs ever written in Hebrew. Here is a classic performance of this song by Chava Alberstein:



Take a look at Aya Korem's own awesome blog (in Hebrew), and see Our World Tuesday for more beautiful and touching things around the world...

12 comments:

Dina said...

Thanks for both this bit of nostalgia and an update about today's music scene. And for the photo full of color.

Melissa said...

I fall in love more deeply into Israel.

Chrissy Brand said...

What a great gig photo.

Chrissy from Manchester: a photo a day at Mancunian Wave

Valladolid Daily Photo said...

Great live show shot, well done! This is the first time I´ve heard about her.

Olga Levina said...

Thank you so much Nelli! If my blog contributes to this feeling, I'm extremely flattered and very happy :)

יובל said...

If you're interested in Aya's music, you can listen to her latest (and truly wonderful) album here.

Yuval

LadyFi said...

That's a great picture.

Olga Levina said...

Thanks Yuval! I was on Aya's performance of her last album last winter (?) in Zappa... thanks for the link - listening to it now :)

Farfalla Dreams ~ Lisa Marie Farfalla said...

Thank you for sharing Aya's music. I've never been to Tel Aviv, but after I had this dream I am longing to visit.
http://www.farfalladreams.com/2012/05/o-tel-aviv.html

Lara Neusiedler, Austria said...

thank you so much for this post, it opened my ears to a new sound, beautiful music!

Olga Levina said...

@Farfalla Dreams - you really should visit... thanks for sharing your beautiful poetry!

@LadyFi - I'm flattered, especially since the compliment is coming from such a photography master like yourself...

@Lara - I'm so happy that I could introduce this bit of Israeli music to you... so much more to share!

umar muzammil said...

nice