The public is welcome to attend a free concert by Israeli singer, creator and composer Maureen Nehedar at Temple Israel of Great Neck at 108 Old Mill Rd., in collaboration with the Sephardic Heritage Alliance, Inc., on Tuesday, Dec. 18, at 7:30 p.m.
Born in Iran, Nehedar moved to Israel as an infant with her family following the Islamic revolution. She primarily sings in Hebrew and Farsi. This is her first visit to the U.S. in 15 years.
Her albums have received critical acclaim and have appeared on the Top 10 list in Israel. The performer’s second album, Gole Gandom (2016), is in Farsi, her mother tongue. In the Israeli paper Ha’Aretz, the headline for the review of the album was “This Israeli Singer’s Farsi Album Is Breathtaking.”
In 2018, she released the album Why Do You Stand Afar, which is part of the revival of Persian-Jewish traditional poetry, piyutim. Nehedar is the only composer in the world who performs traditional Perisan-Jewish music and poetry.
Her goal is to continue this disappearing tradition by writing her own original compositions in the scales of the ancient Persian music (Dastgah) and through reviving poetry and texts from Jewish sources. These compositions are integrated into her concerts, along with traditional Persian folk lyrics, which she gives a modern touch in order to expose as many people as possible to the music and allow them to (re)connect with it.
Nehedar has collaborated with many Israeli artists. Over the past decade she has performed throughout Israel and around the world, including with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra and the Ra’anana and Be’er Sheva symphonies.
She was among the prestigious artists who performed for a world music double album released by the BBC in 2012. She has received many other honors and awards.
