Noa

Noa and Gil Dor have had various ensembles since their early days as an acoustic duet but their most long lived musical relationship has been with the noted percussionist Zohar Fresco. The three have played hundreds of concerts together all over the world. The ensembles vary from album to album ranging from rhythm section through Solis String Quartet and up to symphonic tours. Noa's music is most prominently influenced by the singer-songwriters of the 60s, such as Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and James Taylor. These musical and lyrical sensibilities, combined with Noa's Yemenite roots and Gil Dor's strong background in jazz, classical, country and rock, have created Noa and Gil Dor's unique sound, manifested in hundreds of songs written and performed together. Noa plays percussion, guitar and piano. Achinoam Nini performing at the opening of the Peres Institute for Peace Together with Arab-Israeli singer Mira Awad, represented her country at Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song There Must Be Another Way, qualifying to the final from the first semi final and eventually finishing in 16th place. In 1994, Noa performed the English version of Ave Maria for a live audience of 100,000 and a TV audience of millions at the culmination event of the International Year of the Family at the Vatican, Rome, Italy, witnessed by Pope John Paul II. Noa and Gil Dor have performed on numerous occasions with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. They recorded an album with them during a live performance at Tel Aviv's Mann auditorium in 1997. Over the years their symphonic projects have multiplied, including concerts with Symphony Orchestras from Lille, Messina, Parma, Murcia, Firenze Symphony. In September 2003, Noa performed a vocal work entitled L'isola della Luce (after the Greek island on which it was performed) written by Nicola Piovani especially for her. The work was commissioned by the Cultural Olympics Committee in Athens. On May 1, 2004, Noa and Gil Dor, together with the noted Israeli rhythm and dance troupe Mayumana, gave a joint performance between the two final games of the Euroleague basketball championship, broadcast to thousands of television viewers around the world.