Ester Rada (; born March 7, 1985) is an Israeli actress and singer.

Biography

Rada was born in

Kiryat Arba Kiryat Arba or Qiryat Arba () is an urban Israeli settlement on the outskirts of Hebron, in the southern Israeli-occupied West Bank. Founded in 1968, in it had a population of . The international community considers Israeli settlements in the ...

, 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 ...

, were rescued by

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 ...

from a refugee camp in

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

during Operation Moses, in 1984. She grew up speaking

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

at home and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

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 () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...

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'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally described ...

'', 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/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 (), also referred to as the 20th Maccabiah Games (), were the 20th edition of the Maccabiah Games. They took place from 4 to 17 July 2017, in Israel. The Maccabiah Games are open to Jewish athletes from around the world ...

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 ( ''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 center of Tel Aviv. History ...

'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; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

, 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 continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and Canada. She performed in 2013 at the

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

and was the opening act of

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

' concert in Israel. Her music video "Life Happens" has been broadcast on

MTV France MTV France is a French pay-television channel operated by Paramount Networks EMEAA. It was launched as MTV Networks Europe began to further localise its brand throughout Europe. MTV France (previously MTVF) was launched on 20 June 2000. It is al ...

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. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountains, and i ...

, and

, as well as on

VH1 UK VH1 was a British and Irish pay television channel that was owned by ViacomCBS International Media Networks Europe, ViacomCBS. The channel was based on the VH1, American channel of the same name. The channel ceased broadcasting on 7 January 202 ...

. Rada credits

Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, 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, phra ...

, and

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

as her musical influences, alongside

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu, is an American singer and songwriter. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American musician. She is celebrated as one of the most influential musical artists of her generation. Hill is credited with breaking barriers for female rappers, contributing to the popular music, m ...

, Jill Scott, traditional religious

Bnei Akiva Bnei Akiva (, , "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, advocating the values of Torah and labor. Bne ...

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 language, Amharic: ማሕሙድ አሕመድ; born 8 May 1941) is an Ethiopian singer. He gained great popularity in Ethiopian Golden Age of music, Ethiopia in the 1970s and among the Ethiopian diaspora in the 1980s, bef ...

Rada has performed in several Israeli and international events, such as: * InDnegev festival. Mitzpeh Gvulot, 2012 *

, 2013 * Festival des Musiques Métisses.

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture. Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...

, 2014 * Festival Banlieues Bleues.

Aubervilliers Aubervilliers () is a communes of France, commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis departments of France, department, Île-de-France regions of France, region, northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. Geography Localisation Aubervilliers is one of th ...

, 2014 * Small World Music Festival.

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 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 cit ...

, 2015/2016 *

WOMADelaide WOMADelaide is an annual four-day festival of music, arts and dance in Botanic Park, Adelaide, South Australia. One of many WOMAD festivals held around the world, it is an event that presents a diverse selection of music from artists around th ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, 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 ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and r&b, with mixed undertones of black grooves".

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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 is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

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 ( ''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 the Jerusalem Forest. I ...

held as part of the

Israel Independence Day Yom Ha'atzmaut (, , ) is Israel's national day, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948. It is marked by a variety of official and unofficial ceremonies and observances. Because Israel declared independence on 14 ...

celebrations. On early 2015, Rada signed a contract with the label Discograph (belonging to

Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is a record label that 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, which is itself owned by Universal M ...

), for the distribution of her ''Ester Rada'' album across Europe.

Filmography and TV appearances

2015, Châlons-en-Champagne * '' Od ani holeh'' (2010) * ''Zrubavel'' * '' Kirot''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 * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

Biography

Career

''Life Happens''

''Ester Rada''

Filmography and TV appearances

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Nominations and awards

References

External links