Esti Kenan Ofri
Voice
Esti Kenan Ofri
Israel
Born in Italy and raised in Israel Esti Kenan Ofri is a singer, a composer and a performer.
Prior to working as a singer and composer, she was a dancer and choreographer of music and dance.
Her work is inspired by the diverse traditions of song and dance in Israel and particularly by the Sephardi-Jewish heritage.
Her voice and traditions have inspired composers such as Luciano Berio, Andre Hajdu, Noam Sherif, Betty Olivero, Piris Eliyahu, who write and arrange music for her.
Her own compositions have been performed by several Israeli ensembles. Two entire evening of her work “Kama Tikunim” 2011 and “A’l I’kvotav” have been presented at the International Oud Festival in Jerusalem.
She performed the leading role in Luciano Berio’s “Ofanim” with numerous orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abado. In Bologna, she sang the leading role in Fabio Vacchi’s opera “Il Viaggio”.
Her CD “Juego de Siempre” (“The Game of Forever”) is a collection of Judeo-Spanish songs arranged especially for her by the Israeli composers Betty Olivero and Oded Zehavi and produced together with the Museum of Jewish Diasora. A further CD “Spirit of the East” includes some of Piris Eliyahu compositions. Together with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta and Placido Domingo she sang “A Sephardic Passion” a work by Noam Sheriff, the best-known contemporary Israeli composer.
In 1994 she founded the duo “Kol Tof”, together with the drummer and percussionist Oren Fried. They since have been guests at several festivals throughout Europe, e.g. the festivities of the 50. anniversary of the UNESCO in Paris.
With the addition of the Moroccan Oud player Armond Sabach some years ago, the duo became the trio “Kol Oud Tof”, which is dedicated to the interpretation of musical traditionals of the northern African Jews, particularly the Moroccan , whose music is based upon Sephardic songs and enriched by texts, instruments and stylistic elements of the Arabic culture.
She regularly collaborates with the trio Kol- Oud- Tof, the East-West Ensemble, the Arabo-Andalucian Orchestra of Tangier and Slava Ganelin.
<<After a week of grey sky and heavy rain the sky came out and there, we were all the participants in the lovely Neve Tsedek yard important participants from the past Rina Schenfeld and Steve Hornstein and a lot of new fresh collaborators, and Yuval familiar Mantra, after half a year or more not being able to perform
This was really pure joy, communication with live people and surprisingly live audience.>>
