Mizel Arts and Culture Center and the Robert E. Loup JCC Present
9th Annual
Denver
JAAMM Fest NOVEMBER 3 — 21, 2016
A Celebration of Jewish Life Featuring Dynamic Authors, Books, Movies, Music, Dance and Theatre
Life is Beautiful Achinoam Nini (Noa) is an Israeli icon: a singer, composer and lyricist of world stature who is as passionate and principled as she is talented. Her musical achievements are the stuff of legend. She has sung for the Pope, performed with the Israeli Philharmonic and the Solis String Quartet, at the Eurovision song contest together with Mira Awad, with Sting and with Stevie Wonder, at Carnegie Hall and at a Sacred Music Festival in Fez. Today, Nini lives in Israel in a house by the sea filled with color, bright, primitive paintings, toys and many books – a contrast to her early life, which was spent overseas. The ethnic influences on her life and style are so varied that it’s easy to understand why Nini describes her childhood as “quite a confusing one, though happy, actually.” Born to Israeli parents of Yemenite origin who moved to the US when she was two, she grew up always feeling a little
different. The other students at the yeshiva school she attended in New York were mainly of Ashkenazi origin, and – another dichotomy – her family was traditional, but not religious. After school, she played with the Puerto Rican and African-American kids in the neighborhood. “It’s no wonder” she says with that familiar wide smile, that “I had to deal with an identity crisis.” Precocious in music, Nini found an outlet in song-writing and singing. At the age of seven, she joined the school choir led by Avshalom Katz, who was to prove one of the great influences on her life. Katz not only taught his choir wonderful songs, but also “inspired us to rise to the occasion of music.” Moreover, he took Nini’s talent seriously, and when she was 12, he arranged for her to record her compositions. Life is Beautiful continues on page 20