Aya Korem (; born 7 January 1980) is an Israeli

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

singer and songwriter.

Biography

Aya Korem was born in Nazareth Ilit and spent her childhood there. After she graduated high school, she served as a tank instructor at the IDF's

Armored Corps An armoured corps (also mechanized corps or tank corps) is a specialized military organization whose role is to conduct armoured warfare. The units belonging to an armoured corps include military staff, and are equipped with tanks and other armou ...

. Since childhood Korem has been singing and performing, playing the guitar and the piano. Between 2001 and 2004, she studied Songwriting,

Composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

and Performance at the

Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music Rimon School of Music is a contemporary music school in Ramat Hasharon, Israel. It is Israel's largest independent professional school for advanced study of jazz, R&B, bebop, rock, and pop music. The school was established in 1985, by a group ...

Ramat HaSharon Ramat HaSharon (, ) is an affluent city located on Israel's central coastal strip in the south of the Sharon, Israel, Sharon region, bordering the cities of Tel Aviv to the south, Hod HaSharon, Hod-HaSharon to the east, and Herzliya and kibbutz ...

, a school that gave birth to many Israeli singers such as Noa and

Aviv Geffen Aviv Geffen (; born 10 May 1973) is an Israeli rock musician, singer-songwriter, music producer and author. In addition to his solo career, Geffen is a founding member of the band Blackfield, he was also the global music director for WeWork. Ge ...

. She was part of the "magic class", studying together with

Miri Mesika Miri Mesika (; born May 3, 1978) is an Israeli singer and actress. She is most known for winning several Israeli "Female Singer of the Year" awards, selling more than 200,000 copies of her albums in Israel, and for her portrayal of the title ro ...

Keren Peles Keren Peles Toor (; born 11 March 1979) is an Israeli singer-songwriter and musician. Peles embarked her musical career in Israel in 2005 as a songwriter and later with her debut album ''If This Is Life (album), Im Ele Ha'Hayim'' (2006), and has ...

, Ohad Hitman and Eric Berman that went on to be popular singers. She enrolled in the music college just to "pass some time" until she decided what she really wanted to study, but ended up having a successful music career. She dreamed of being an architect, and one of her temporary jobs was cake baking at a bakery. Aya Korem lives in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Music career

Korem started her music career as a songwriter. Her first public exposure was the song ''Ata af Pa'am'' (אתה אף פעם, "You Will Never"), released in the first album of Miri Mesika in April 2005 and a theme song she wrote and performed for a TV show called "Hama'arehet". Only after receiving compliments for her voice did she decide to also become a singer and started working on her own album. In 2006 Korem released her debut album, ''Aya Korem''. It was produced by Ori Zakh, a close friend and Miri Mesika's husband, a Rimon graduate who also produced both Miri Mesika's albums and Ohad Hitman's first album. The work on the album's songs began already during Aya's studies. In February 2006 the first single was released, ''Kayitz'' (קיץ, "Summer")—a song of hope for a lover that would come one day "like summer". The second single from the album, ''Shir Ahava Pashut'' (שיר אהבה פשוט, "Simple Love Song") was released in March 2006, reached No. 1 on the Reshet Gimel chart and came 4th in the Song of the Year competition. Later came ''Klipa'' (קליפה, "Peel"), '' Yonatan Shapira'' (יונתן שפירא), ''BeSof HaLayla'' (בסוף הלילה, "At the end of the night"), ''Ata Zorem Etzli BaDam'' (אתה זורם אצלי בדם, "You Are Flowing in My Blood") and ''HaShir shel Itay'' (השיר של איתי, "Itay's Song"). The album features mostly songs written by Korem herself. " Yonatan Shapira", which Korem wrote as an assignment to write a song about a job announcement, is a humorous love song for a pilot Aya met during her studies in Rimon, one of the signers of the pilots' letter. According to Aya Korem, Yonatan Shapira was not pleased with the song, but living abroad, did not suffer much from the consequences. Korem received the Golden Album award, which was presented to her on her 27th birthday party. The album sold about 30,000 copies. Korem recorded videos for some of the songs and went on a 1.5-year performance tour. At the beginning she performed with a band, but after taking part in a piano festival in the end of 2006, she switched to more intimate gigs, performing with a piano and a cello only. Having yet about 70 songs unpublished, Aya Korem released her second album, ''Safa Zara'' (שפה זרה, "Foreign Language"), on 28 February 2008. The album included songs she wrote at the age of 26–27 and has

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

influences. The lyrics deal with a wider range of subjects than those of the first album. The first single, ''HaSof shel HaSipur'' (הסוף של הסיפור, "The End of the Story"), is a sad love song co-written by Aya Korem and Eric Berman. The single was released in December 2007. In February 2008 ''Al Ta'amini'' (אל תאמיני, "Do Not Believe") was released. The lyrics of ''Al Ta'amini'' talk about the fleeting condition of a celebrity in the popular culture. ''"And then somebody will say: 'your time is over, and now let someone else take the stage'"'', wrote Korem. The song was inspired by

Janis Ian Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit "Society's Child, Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" an ...

's song ''Stars'', which is even credited in the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

of the album.Liner notes of the album ''Safa Zara'', Anana LTD, 2008 Two more songs from this album have been released as singles: ''Otobiografia'' (אוטוביוגרפיה, "Autobiography") and ''Akhshav Kazot'' (עכשיו כזאת, "Now like This"). Aya Korem2

The lyrics of ''Zahav Shahor'' (זהב שחור, "Black Gold") are a female answer to the classic song ''Atur Mitzkhekh'' written by

Yoni Rechter Yoni Rechter (; born 18 November 1951) is an Israeli musician, composer, pianist, arranger and singer. Biography Yonatan (Yoni) Rechter was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. He is the son of Israeli architect Ya'akov Rechter and stepson of Israeli actr ...

. Korem's producer Ori Zakh sent Aya's lyrics to Rechter, and Rechter agreed to write music for the song. In 2009 Aya Korem also recorded the original song ''Atur Mitzkhekh'' for the 70th birthday of its original singer,

Arik Einstein Arieh Lieb "Arik" Einstein ( ; (3 January 1939 – 26 November 2013) was an Israeli singer, songwriter, actor, comedian and screenwriter. He was a pioneer of Israeli rock music and was named "the voice of Israel." Through both high public and c ...

. The song ''Tania'' (טניה) is inspired by

Louis-Ferdinand Céline Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches (27 May 1894 – 1 July 1961), better known by the pen name Louis-Ferdinand Céline ( ; ), was a French novelist, polemicist, and physician. His first novel '' Journey to the End of the Night'' (1932) won the ' ...

's novel ''

Journey to the End of the Night ''Journey to the End of the Night'' (, 1932) is the first novel by Louis-Ferdinand Céline. This semi-autobiographical work follows the adventures of Ferdinand Bardamu in World War I, colonial Africa, the United States and the poor suburbs of ...

''. Most of the songs are written by Korem herself also in her second album. The exceptions are ''Ruhot HaMa'arav'' (רוחות המערב, "Western Winds") by Yonatan Gutfeld, ''Akhshav Kazot'' with music by Ilay Botner, "HaSof shel HaSipur" and "Zahav Shahor". Both albums were recorded with the Anana label of the

Hed Arzi Music Hed Arzi Music (, meaning: ''Echo of My Country'') is an Israeli record label founded in 1946. History The company was founded in Tel Aviv in 1946 as a partnership of Zvi Levin (also known as Hirsch Lewin) with Josef Grossman, Alexander Borowi ...

corporation. In 2008 Korem recorded a cover for

Eran Tzur Eran is an ancient town and archaeological site in the Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh, India. It was one of the ancient mints for Indian dynasties as evidenced by the diverse coins excavated here. The site has 5th and 6th-century Gupta era t ...

's song ''Erev Bet Kislev'' (ערב ב' כסלו, "The 2nd of

Kislev Kislev or Chislev (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard ''Kīslev'' Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Kīslēw''), is the third month of the civil year and the ninth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew c ...

Eve") for the ''Hebrew Labor 2'' collection of cover versions dedicated to the 60th anniversary of Israeli independence. Korem also musically produced the song. She also performed three of her songs for the ''Pizmon Hozer'' project, dedicated to the birthday of

Gilad Shalit Gilad Shalit (, ''Gilˁad Šaliṭ'' ; born 28 August 1986) is a former MIA soldier of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who, on 25 June 2006, was captured by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid via tunnels near the Israeli border. Ham ...

, a captured Israeli soldier, and organized by the NRG website operated by

Ma'ariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'', or ''Arbit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or at night. It consists primarily of the evening '' Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two ...

. After the release of ''Safa Zara'' she introduced a political protest song, ''"Ha'Isha im HaSakit"'' (האישה עם השקית, "The Woman with the Bag"). Korem wrote songs for other artists, such as

and

Nurit Galron Nurit Galron ( , born March 21, 1951) is an Israeli singer. She is married to Israeli TV and radio journalist . Biography Early life Nurit Galron was born as Nurit Klimburd. Her mother, Leah Sitin, retired from the stage after being a sin ...

, produced an all-female tribute to

Kaveret Kaveret (, lit. "beehive"), also known as Poogy (, nickname of band drummer Meir Fenigstein chosen for their performances abroad), was an Israeli pop rock band, which operated originally from 1973 to 1976. Representing Israel in the 1974 Eurovisi ...

, starred in a version of

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childr ...

alongside

Miki Geva Miki Geva (Hebrew: מיקי גבע; born 9 October 1979) is an Israeli stand-up comedian, musician and actor. Biography Geva was born and raised in Kiryat Malakhi. He performed for the first time at the age of nine in a local music festival ...

and hosted, for two seasons, together with Danny Robas, a TV show, called "Israeli Duet", where the two hosted and performed with some of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

's best musicians. On 30 June 2011, Korem released her third album, ''Lealef et HaSusim'' (לאלף את הסוסים, "Taming the Horses"). After walking out on her former label, Korem produced it by herself and published a detailed guide on her blog about how to become an independent artist. This album, produced by Gil Lewis and Tomer Lenzinger, included the songs ''"Shesh ve'Esrim"'' (Six-and-twenty), ''"Rona Omeret"'' (Rona Says) and a cover of Ahuva Ozeri's song ''"Tziltzuley Pa'amonim"''(Bells Ringing). In 2013, she published her song ''Mehandes Machshevim'' (מהנדסת מחשבים; "Computer Engineer") in Hebrew and

Perl Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Though Perl is not officially an acronym, there are various backronyms in use, including "Practical Extraction and Reporting Language". Perl was developed ...

on the web. Her most recent album, ''Hakochevet Shel Natzaret Ilit'' ("the Star of Nazareth Ilit") was released in 2021.

Aya Korem Bill

In 2013, while in a long dispute with her label, Korem initiated a bill aimed to protect the rights of musicians in the industry, limiting talent contracts to a maximum of seven years. She led a group of artists to promote the bill, earning it the name "The Aya Korem Bill". The bill was introduced in the Nineteenth

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

by MKs Dov Khenin and

Amram Mitzna Amram Mitzna (; born 20 February 1945) is an Israeli politician and former general in the IDF. He is a former mayor of Haifa (1993–2003) and Yeruham (2005–2010) and led the Labor Party from 2002 to 2003. In 2012 he joined Hatnuah. Youth, e ...

, passed the first reading in 2014, and later passed the second and third reading in the Twentieth Knesset. The bill became law in February 2017. In January 2015, Korem was released from her contract with

Anana Anana or Ananas or ''variation'' may refer to: Plants * Pineapple (''Ananas comosus''), also known as "anana" and "ananas" in different languages * ''Ananas'', a plant genus, that includes pineapple Places * Ananás, Tocantins, Brazil, a villag ...

, after a legal battle that reached the

Supreme court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. Korem's victory paved the way for other artists who were bound by their contracts. 24 hours later she released her fourth album, Halev Haze, Hameshumash (הלב הזה, המשומש, "This Used Heart").

Awards and recognition

In September 2016 she released her fifth album, 2023, a dystopic futuristic concept album loosely based on her legal struggle. The album featured prominent artists including

Arkadi Duchin Arkadi Duchin (, ; born 1 June 1963) is an Israeli singer-songwriter and musical producer. Music career Duchin sang in the rock band HaChaverim Shel Natasha ( The Friends of Natasha). The band, which he formed in 1986 with Micha Shitrit, ma ...

Yishai Levi Yishay Levi, also translated as Ishay Levi (; born January 20, 1963, in Rosh HaAyin, Israel) is an Israeli singer, specializing in Mizrahi music. Biography Levi was born into a family of Yemenite Jews. He began singing in clubs in Israel in 1983 ...

Rona Kenan Rona (Aharona) Rachel Kenan (; born 26 July 1979) is an Israeli singer-songwriter. Biography Kenan was born on 26 July 1979. Her father is the late Amos Kenan and her mother is the scholar Nurith Gertz. She was attracted to music at a young age ...

, Mazzie Cohen, Lea Shabat, Nechi Nech,

Dani Litani Dani Litani ( ; born 30 June 1943) is an Israeli singer-songwriter, composer, actor and voice actor. Biography Early life Born in Haifa, Litani learned to play the piano at age six and at age nine, he and his family moved to Jerusalem. He also s ...

Efrat Gosh Efrat Gosh (; born 3 November 1983) is an Israeli singer-songwriter. Biography Efrat Gosh was born in Herzliya. She studied in the music department of Alon high school in Ramat Hasharon. She continued her education at the Rimon School of Jazz an ...

and more. Korem sings only the closing track of the album, Ish Tovea (איש טובע, "Drowning man"). In June 2017 the album received the Acum Award.

References

External links