Ester Rada ( he, אסתר רָדָא, born March 7, 1985) is an Israeli actress and singer.
Biography
Rada was born in
Kiryat Arba
:''This article is mainly about the modern Israeli settlement, not the biblical town''
Kiryat Arba or Qiryat Arba ( he, קִרְיַת־אַרְבַּע, , Town of the Four) is an urban Israeli settlement on the outskirts of Hebron, in the south ...
, Israel, to a religious
Ethiopian-Jewish family. Her parents, originally from a village near
Gondar
Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on t ...
, were rescued by
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
from a refugee camp in
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
during
Operation Moses
Operation Moses ( he, מִבְצָע מֹשֶׁה, ''Mivtza Moshe'') was the covert evacuation of Ethiopian Jews (known as the "Beta Israel" community or "Falashas") from Sudan during a civil war that caused a famine in 1984. Originally called '' ...
, in 1984.
She grew up speaking
Amharic
Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
at home and
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
in school. Her father was known as a cantor in the Ethiopian community in Kiryat Arba. Her parents divorced when she was a child
and later on, she moved with her mother and older brother to
Netanya
Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate I ...
in 1996, when Rada was 11 years old, which she considers a turning point in her life, since the family moved to a less observant neighbourhood where the majority were Ethiopian Jews, and also started to interact with French ''
olim
Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...
'', who were familiar with funk and rap, something unheard of in a religious Jewish settlement like Kiryat Arba.
She began working on her second album, after releasing her acclaimed first self-written and composed solo EP ''Life Happens'', which was produced by Israeli producers Kuti (
Kutiman
Ophir Kutiel ( he, אופיר קותיאל; born April 21, 1982), professionally known as Kutiman, is an Israeli musician, composer, producer and animator. He is best known for creating the online music video project, ''ThruYOU'', a self-titled ...
/Thru-You) and
Sabbo (Soulico), at the beginning of 2013, as well as her first full album, ''Ester Rada'', in 2014.
Rada performed at the Opening Ceremonies of the
2017 Maccabiah Games
The 2017 Maccabiah Games ( he, משחקי המכביה 2017), also referred to as the 20th Maccabiah Games ( he, המכביה ה-20), were the 20th edition of the Maccabiah Games. They took place from 4 to 17 July 2017, in Israel. The Maccabiah ...
on July 6, 2017.
Career
Rada started her acting career in musical theater, and won an award for her role in
Habima Theatre
The Habima Theatre ( he, תיאטרון הבימה ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the List of national theatres, national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the ce ...
's ''The Troupe''. In 2007, she played a major role in the TV serial
''Deus''.
[ In the same year she also acted in Habima's play ''Sdakim beBeton''. Her music career started during her military service in the ]Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
, where she sang Israeli pop songs for an IDF band.[
After the release of her EP, she started to gain worldwide popularity on a tour across ]Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, and Canada. She performed in 2013 at the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...
and was the opening act of Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...
' concert in Israel. Her music video "Life Happens" has been broadcast on MTV France
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
, East Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
, and Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, as well as on VH1 UK
VH1 was a British and Irish pay television channel that was owned by ViacomCBS. The channel was based on the original VH1 American channel of the same name. On 24 November until 26 December 2017, VH1 was renamed temporarily as VH1 Christmas. T ...
. Rada credits Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, ...
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...
, and Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...
as her musical influences, alongside Erykah Badu
Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the ...
, Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...
, Jill Scott, traditional religious Bnei Akiva
Bnei Akiva ( he, בְּנֵי עֲקִיבָא, , "Children of Akiva") is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 42 countries. It was first established in Mandatory Palestine in 1929.
History
B ...
songs[ and Ethiopian Jazz,] especially Mulatu Astatke
Mulatu Astatke (; French pronunciation: Astatqé; born 19 December 1943) is an Ethiopian musician and arranger considered as the father of "Ethio-jazz".
Born in Jimma, Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston where he ...
and Mahmoud Ahmed
Mahmoud Ahmed ( Amharic: ማሕሙድ አህመድ; born 8 May 1941) is an Ethiopian singer. He gained great popularity in Ethiopia in the 1970s and among the Ethiopian diaspora in the 1980s, before rising to international fame with African mus ...
Rada has performed in several Israeli and international events, such as:
* InDnegev festival. Mitzpeh Gvulot, 2012
* Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...
, 2013
* Festival des Musiques Métisses. Angoulême
Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a communes of France, commune, the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Charente Departments of France, department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern Franc ...
, 2014
* Festival Banlieues Bleues. Aubervilliers
Aubervilliers () is a commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, Île-de-France region, northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Albertivillariens'' or ''Albertivillariennes''.
Geography
Localisati ...
, 2014
* Small World Music Festival. Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, 2015
* Lotus World Music and Arts Festival. Bloomington, 2015[
* Coastal Jazz Festival. ]Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, 2015/2016
* WOMADelaide
WOMADelaide is an annual four-day festival of Music, Arts and Dance, which was first held in 1992 in Botanic Park, Adelaide, South Australia. One of many WOMAD festivals held around the world, it is a four-day event that presents a diverse select ...
. Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, 2016
''Life Happens''
In early 2013, Rada released an EP, ''Life Happens'' with four of her songs. The album was positively received by critics, who describe her music as "cross-cultural sound that is a deep reflection of the Israeli born Ethiopian's heritage" and "graceful composition of Ethio-Jazz, funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
, soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
and r&b, with mixed undertones of black grooves". BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
called this album her debut, highlighting her "powerful, soulful voice and seductive combination of Ethiopian Jazz, funk and R&B".[
]
''Ester Rada''
On February 9, 2014, her first full album, ''Ester Rada'', was published. The album was very well received by the critics and the public. In addition to the singles already included in her EP, the album included three singles – ''No More'', ''Sorries'' and ''Nanu Nay''; the first two became hits on the Israeli radio stations and ''Nanu Nay'' reached number seven for a few weeks on the charts, becoming the first song in amharic
Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
to be in the top 10 of the Israeli radio charts.
In May 2014, she sang at the Torch-lighting ceremony on Mount Herzl
Mount Herzl ( he, הַר הֶרְצְל ''Har Hertsl''), also ''Har ha-Zikaron'' ( lit. "Mount of Remembrance"), is the site of Israel's national cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities, found on the west side of Jerusalem beside ...
held as part of the Israel Independence Day
Independence Day ( he, יום העצמאות ''Yom Ha'atzmaut'', lit. "Day of Independence") is the national day of Israel, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. The day is marked by official and unofficial ceremonies ...
celebrations.
On early 2015, Rada signed a contract with the label Discograph (belonging to Harmonia Mundi
Harmonia Mundi is an independent record label which specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group.
Its Latin name ''ha ...
), for the distribution of her ''Ester Rada'' album across Europe.
Filmography and TV appearances
2015, ">Châlons-en-Champagne
* '' Od ani holeh'' (2010)
* ''Zrubavel''
* ''Kirot
''The Assassin Next Door'' ( he, קירות, Kirot; ) is an Israeli action drama film directed by Danny Lerner in 2009. The primary language is English with many scenes in Russian and Hebrew with English subtitles.
Plot
Galia is a Ukrainian sex s ...
''[אסתר רדא]
"EDB" site
* ''The Special''[
* ]Yes
Yes or YES may refer to:
* An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no
Education
* YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US
* YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...
's series ''New York''
* '' Haganenet'' (2014)
* ''Eshet HaShagrir'' (2016)
Discography
Studio albums
* ''Ester Rada'' (2014)
* ''Different eyes'' (2017)
* ''Chesed'' (2020)
EPs
* ''Life Happens'' (2013)
* ''I Wish'' (2015)
* ''Lady'' (2019)
Nominations and awards
References
External links
Biography
ht1.co.il
אסתר רדא Profile
ishim.co.il
Profile
Haaretz.co.il
Profile
israelhayom.co.il
haaretz.com/weekend "Israeli soul sister chooses to sing in English"
haaretz.com
Profile
residentadvisor.net
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rada, Ester
1985 births
Living people
Israeli women singer-songwriters
Israeli singer-songwriters
Israeli musical theatre actresses
Israeli people of Ethiopian-Jewish descent
Jewish Israeli musicians
Ethiopian Jews
Israeli film actresses
Israeli television actresses
People from Kiryat Arba
People from Netanya
21st-century Israeli women singers
21st-century Israeli actresses