Shlomit Levi ( he, שלומית לוי) is an Israeli singer. She is a member of the
folk metal group
Orphaned Land, performing on their albums ''
Mabool'' (2004), ''
The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR'' (2010) and ''Unsung Prophets And Dead Messiahs'' (2018). She currently performs with American guitarist
Bruce Burger as the
world music duo
Shlomit & RebbeSoul
Shlomit & RebbeSoul is an Israeli-American world music duo, consisting of Yemeni-Israeli singer Shlomit Levi and American musician RebbeSoul (Bruce Burger). Formed in 2011, they released their debut album, ''The Seal of Solomon'', in 2015.
Hist ...
.
Early life
Levi was born in
Kiryat Ekron to a
Yemenite Jewish family before moving to
Rehovot
Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of .
Etymology
Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu movement, ...
when she was 10. Her parents came to Israel from
Yemen as teenagers during
Operation Magic Carpet
Operation Magic Carpet was the post- World War II operation by the War Shipping Administration to repatriate over eight million American military personnel from the European, Pacific, and Asian theaters. Hundreds of Liberty ships, Victory s ...
.
[ Archived at rebbesoul.com.] She began singing at the age of three and was exposed to traditional
Yemenite music by her mother and grandmother, although she preferred listening to Western and Israeli music to fit in with her friends.
She stopped singing Yemenite music as a teenager but was later drawn back to it after hearing
Ofra Haza's ''
Yemenite Songs'' album.
Levi attended
Orthodox schools for first through fourth grades.
After serving 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 ...
, Levi studied
cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning.
Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, which ...
at
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, receiving a
master's degree focused on
user interface design and a
BA in
social sciences.
During her time in college, she connected with student musicians and studied with a
Black Hebrew voice teacher from
Dimona.
After graduation, she briefly worked at a tech company in
Airport City before deciding to pursue a music career.
Career
Orphaned Land
Levi was put in touch by a mutual friend with the group
Orphaned Land, who were auditioning female singers. At her audition, she impressed the band with her ability to sing
mawwal. While not an official member, she toured with the band from 2004 to 2012 and appeared on two of their albums, ''
Mabool'' (2004) and ''
The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR'' (2010).
Shlomit and RebbeSoul
In 2011, Levi was introduced by Yedidia Snir to American musician Bruce Burger ("
RebbeSoul
Bruce Burger (born July 11, 1957, Utica, New York), known by his stage name RebbeSoul, is an American singer, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer. Performing since the early 1990s, he has released five solo albums and has rec ...
"), who had recently moved to Israel.
They began collaborating as
Shlomit & RebbeSoul
Shlomit & RebbeSoul is an Israeli-American world music duo, consisting of Yemeni-Israeli singer Shlomit Levi and American musician RebbeSoul (Bruce Burger). Formed in 2011, they released their debut album, ''The Seal of Solomon'', in 2015.
Hist ...
and released an album, ''The Seal of Solomon'', in 2015. She also collaborated with Burger and
oudist George Simaan on a version of "
Erev Shel Shoshanim
"Erev Shel Shoshanim" ( en, Evening of Lilies or ''Evening of Roses''; the Hebrew word ''shoshana'' has been identified with both flowers) is a poetic Hebrew love song. Its melody is often used as wedding music in Jewish weddings. It is well known ...
".
Personal life
Levi lived in Kibbutz
Givat Haim Ihud before moving to
Tenafly, New Jersey in 2013
and later to
Cresskill.
She is married to Boaz Arzi, a
software engineer, and has a daughter, Agam.
Discography
Solo
*
Shlomit Levi'' (Demo, 2009)
With Orphaned Land
*''
Mabool'' (2004)
*''Sentenced/Orphaned Land'' (2005)
*''Ararat'' EP (2005)
*''
The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR'' (2010)
*''The Road to OR-Shalem'' (2011)
*''Unsung Prophets And Dead Messiahs'' (2018)
Shlomit & RebbeSoul
*''The Seal of Solomon'' (2015)
References
External links
www.shlomitlevi.com- Shlomit's Official site
Shlomit & RebbeSoul official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levi, Shlomit
21st-century Israeli women singers
Living people
1983 births
Israeli heavy metal singers
Israeli emigrants to the United States
Israeli people of Yemeni-Jewish descent
People from Tenafly, New Jersey