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Mizrahi music

Israeli singer Yishai Levi, November 8, 2024. (Moshe Shai/FLASH900
June 7, 2026, 12:51 pm
Singer Yishai Levi, staple of Mizrahi music genre, dies at 63
Artist, whose career spanned decades from the 1980s, remembered for unique voice that ‘touched the hearts of millions of Israelis’
By ToI Staff
Israeli artists Neta Elkayam and Amit Hai Cohen are partners in life and in music. (Gil Rouvio via JTA)
January 10, 2026, 8:38 am
Speaking the language of music, Israeli-born couple brings Moroccan roots to US university
Neta Elkayam and Amit Hai Cohen draw on rediscovered heritage to connect with students at the historically Black Xavier University in Louisiana, where many have no exposure to Jews
By Asaf Elia-Shalev
Mizrahi singer Amir Benayoun performs with the Ashdod Andalusian Orchestra in Larnaca, Cyprus, on December 29, 2024 (Credit Mike Edry)
January 2, 2025, 9:13 am
Israeli and Greek music mesh in Cyprus concerts on Hanukkah
Amir Benayoun, Cypriot crooner Demetris Souroullas, and Ashdod’s Andalusian Orchestra perform pair of shows in Limassol and Larnaca, with candle-lighting
By Jessica Steinberg
Yoav Kutner at his Tel Aviv home. (Yael Kutner)
October 24, 2024, 5:03 pm
Israeli music guru Yoav Kutner says artists are muzzled over fears of political fallout
The media man’s tumultuous life, which includes losing his memory and a bout with cancer, didn’t strip him of his optimism even as he fears for Israel and bemoans conformist artists
By Tamar Mor Sela
Pianist Larissa Eliyahu (left) and her husband, Tar player Piris Eliyahu, will perform together for the first time in their 41 years of marriage on April 20, 2023 at Jerusalem's Confederation House (Courtesy Peter Vit)
April 19, 2023, 8:37 pm
Tar player Piris Eliyahu melds East and West, with pianist wife
It’s a family affair at the Eliyahus’ concert at Confederation House, breaking new musical ground
By Jessica Steinberg
The artists and Holocaust survivors who participated in 'Paskol Shlishi,' an album of Holocaust-inspired music organized by Zikaron Basalon and Galgalatz for Holocaust Remembrance Day 2023 (Courtesy Zikaron Basalon)
April 17, 2023, 2:28 pm
Mainstream Israeli artists make an album of new music to connect youth to Holocaust
‘Paskol Shlishi’ brings mix of major Israeli musicians together with survivors to inspire 13 original songs about the WWII genocide
By Jessica Steinberg
From left to right: Shaqed Druyan, Edmar Colon, and Tutti Druyan photographed for their album 'Kantika.' (Courtesy)
April 1, 2023, 5:00 am
With Ladino compilation, vocalist gets in tune with her family’s fading history
Israeli-American Tutti Druyan hopes release of song collection ‘Kantika’ revives interest in the endangered Judeo-Spanish language once spoken by her ancestors
By Penny Schwartz
Zohar Argov seen in 1981. (IDF Archive)
November 14, 2022, 5:07 am
Unfit to be ‘the king’: How singer Zohar Argov’s legacy continues to be whitewashed
35 years after his death in a jail cell, the music of the legendary Mizrahi singer and convicted rapist is more popular than it was in his lifetime – even in the post-#MeToo era
By Amy Spiro
Chris Silver, a professor of Jewish History at McGill University, collects records from around the world for the first archive of North African Jewish music, currently housed in his apartment in Montreal. (Courtesy of Chris Silver/via JTA)
March 23, 2021, 3:32 am
Historian turns obsessive 78s collector to preserve North African Jewish music
In the first archive of its kind, Prof. Chris Silver possesses about 500 albums recorded by Moroccan, Algerian, and Tunisian Jewish vocalists and instrumentalists
By Asaf Shalev
Israeli pop singer Kobi Peretz (C) and his wife arrive for a hearing at the Tel Aviv District Court on June 28, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
October 15, 2017, 12:53 pm
Pop star Kobi Peretz begins prison term for tax evasion
Mizrahi singer to serve 18-month sentence at Ma’asiyahu after president rejected pardon request earlier this month
By ToI Staff
Erez Safar at Scope, a New York showcase for artists. (Madison Margolin/Times of Israel)
April 3, 2017, 2:04 am
The Orthodox mastermind behind ‘Jewish cool’
Shemspeed founder Erez Safar helped popularize Matisyahu and promotes Kosha Dillz. But his own music might be his biggest passion
By Madison Margolin
Miriam Peretz and Eliyahu Sills, performing 'Madre: the Ladino Project.' (Courtesy)
January 15, 2017, 9:58 pm
Ladino groove: Two moms channel ‘herstory’ through song and dance
In their latest collaboration, Miriam Peretz and Rachel Valfer perform a rich fusion of feminine folk music
By Lisa Klug
Beloved Israeli singer Ahuva Ozeri, here with her favorite instrument, the Bulbul tarang, died Tuesday, December 13, 2016 (Courtesy Ilan Besor)
December 13, 2016, 3:11 pm
Pioneering Mizrahi singer Ahuva Ozeri dies at 68
Born in Yemen and raised in Tel Aviv’s Yemenite Quarter, Ozeri introduced the twang of the ‘Bulbul tarang’ to Israeli sound
By Jessica Steinberg
Melding Middle Eastern sound and western grooves at an earlier Oud Festival (Courtesy YouTube screengrab)
November 8, 2016, 2:59 pm
It’s hip to be pear when playing the oud
The string instrument returns for its 17th year as the star of the Oud Festival, opening November 17
By Jessica Steinberg
Moshe Peretz at the Ramle Magistrate's Court on September 8, 2016 (Flash90)
October 25, 2016, 3:03 pm
Pop singer sentenced to community service for tax evasion
In plea deal, Moshe Peretz fined and ordered to spend 4 months volunteering at old folks’ home but gets no jail time
By ToI Staff
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