Noa (singer)

Noa, born Achinoam Nini (Hebrew: ; Aẖinóʻam Nini; born June 23, 1969), is an Israeli singer-songwriter, percussionist, poet, composer and activist working internationally. She is accompanied by guitarist Gil Dor and often plays the conga drums and percussions as she sings. Noa represented Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 together with singer Mira Awad, with the song "There Must Be Another Way". Her music is known to fuse languages and styles. She has performed in 52 countries and was the first Israeli artist to perform in the Vatican.
Biography.
Noa was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to a Yemenite Jewish family, and moved to New York City at the age of two. She attended SAR Academy and Rabbi Joseph H. Lookstein Upper School of Ramaz High School, remaining in New York until her return to Israel alone at the age of 16.
She completed her mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces performing with a military entertainment troupe. After her release she studied music at the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in Ramat Hasharon, where she met her long-time partner and collaborator Gil Dor, then a faculty member of the school.
Noa is married to Asher Barak, a pediatrician. They have three children.
Music career.
Noa has performed in a variety of locations around the world, including Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, Olympia in Paris, Rome's Colosseum, The Barbican in London, Zellerbach Auditorium in Berkeley, California, the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, the Stockholm Water Festival in Sweden and Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona. 
Noa has recorded songs in English, Hebrew, Yemenite Hebrew, Spanish, Neapolitan, French, Italian,   Sardinian, Galician,   Arabic. Noa and Gil Dor have had various ensembles since their early days as an acoustic duet. Noa and Dor's ensembles vary from album to album, ranging from collaborations with musicians such as: Zohar Fresco, Steve Rodby, Solis String Quartet, Hila Carni and symphonic orchestras around the world. Noa's music is 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 Dor's background in jazz, classical rock, have created Noa and Dor's unique sound audible through hundreds of songs written and performed by the duo. Noa plays percussion, guitar and piano. 
In 1994, Noa performed "Ave Maria" with English lyrics she wrote for a live audience of 100,000 and a TV audience of millions at the closing event of the International Year of the Family at the Vatican, Rome, Italy, witnessed by Pope John Paul II.
Noa and Dor have performed on numerous occasions with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. They recorded an album during a live performance at Tel Aviv's Mann Auditorium in 1997. Over the years they have collaborated with symphonic orchestras from Lille, Messina, Parma, Murcia, and Florence. In September 2003, Noa performed an orchestral piece entitled "L'isola della Luce" (after the Greek island on which it was performed) which was written by Nicola Piovani especially for her. The work was commissioned by the Cultural Olympics Committee in Athens. In May 2004, the duo performed with the Israeli rhythm and dance troupe Mayumana between the two final games of the Euroleague basketball championship.
Together with Arab-Israeli singer Mira Awad, Noa represented Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. Their song "There Must Be Another Way" qualified for the first semi-final but eventually finished in 16th place.
Soundtracks.
In 1998, Noa recorded the part of Esmeralda in French for the original soundtrack of the multi-Platinum selling "Notre Dame de Paris", but did not play the role in the musical. Her song "Babel", written in English, French and Hebrew as theme song for the Gerard Pullicino movie of the same name, topped the charts in France the following year.
Noa collaborated with French composer Éric Serra on two songs: one for the film "The Experience of Love" from the James Bond film "GoldenEye", and the song "My Heart Is Calling" from the Luc Besson film "The Messenger".
In 2000, Noa recorded the theme song "La vita è bella" of the film "Life Is Beautiful", Roberto Benigni's Oscar award-winning film. Noa also wrote the lyrics to the song now titled "Beautiful That Way", together with Dor. The song was recorded and released with the album "Blue Touches Blue", and also appears on the soundtrack to the film as well as on her album "Noa Gold" in two versions.
Duets and collaborations.
Noa and Dor have collaborated with Khaled from Algeria, Nabil Salameh, of Palestinian origin, born in Lebanon, Handallah from Nablus, Rim Banna from Nazareth, Amal Murkus from Kfar Yasif, and Mira Awad from Kfar Raameh.
In May 2002, she took part in a concert at the Rome Colosseum, under the banner of "Time for Life – A Tribute for Peace", featuring Ray Charles, Mercedes Sosa, Khaled, Nicola Piovani, and artists from Afghanistan, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Africa and Ireland. In May 2004, she performed in We Are the Future, a globally telecast fund raising concert for children in conflict areas. On July 2, 2005, she performed in Bono and Bob Geldof's Live 8 concert in Rome's Circo Massimo.
In September 2005, she performed at the "Ambrosetti Forum" which took place in Villa d'Este, Como, Italy, in the presence of Shimon Peres, Saeb Erekat and Amr Moussa.
In November 2010, Noa and Mira Awad performed at the closing concert of the Science for Peace event hosted by the Fondazione Umberto Veronesi at the Bocconi University of Milan, Italy.
FAO ambassador.
In October 2003, Noa was named Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Political views.
Though Noa claimed "she has paid a price in Israel for 'being outspoken about peace and expressing left-wing political views'", she has performed at Israel's Independence Day celebrations in London and Vancouver. She is also an outspoken opponent of the BDS movement, noting that she herself has been "a victim of its hypocritical and harmful activity."
Discography.
Noa and Gil have written and produced three albums: "Achinoam Nini and Gil Dor Live", "Achinoam Nini and Gil Dor" (also known as "Rachel and Leah"), and "Achinoam Nini". Their five international albums are "Noa" (produced by Pat Metheny) and "Calling" (produced by Rupert Hine) for Geffen Records, "Blue Touches Blue" (produced by Mike Hedges) for Mercury Records, "Now" (produced by Gil Dor & Yoad Nevo) and "Genes & Jeans" (produced by Gil Dor) for Universal Music. In addition, Noa recorded a live album with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and a live CD and DVD with The Solis String Quartet.