A fairly new partner of Slava Ganelin, Esti Kenan Ofri (dance and voice)
feels especially intimate with the singing traditions of Sephardi Jews and
the classical Arabic music. In 1988 Luciano Berio wrote for her a leading
part in his work "Ofanim", a part she has sung on many occasions accompanied
by many renowned orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by
Claudio Abado. She's been also performing with percussionist Oren Freed
presenting a special approach to Spanish-Jewish tradition of dance and music.
While the name of Vyacheslav Ganelin is well known all over the world, the
name of Esti Kenan Ofri might be fairly new to the followers of improvised
music. She was born in Italy and raised in Israel. At the time of this
release Esti Kenan lives and works in Jerusalem. She studied dance and music
in Israel and choreography in New York, and she feels especially intimate
with the singing traditions of Sephardi Jews and the classical Arabic music.
In 1988 Luciano Berio wrote for her a leading part in his work "Ofanim", a
part she has sung since accompanied by many renowned orchestras such as the
Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Claudio Abado.
In 1990 she sang the leading role in Fabbio Vacchi's opera "il Viaggio" in
Bologna, and two years later she performed in Toledo with Placido Domingo
and the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta. They sang
Noam Sherif's "Passion Sephardi" marking the 500th anniversary of the
expulsion of Spanish Jews.
In 1992 she recorded a CD entitled "Juego de Siempre" (The Game of Forever)
under the auspices of the Museum of Jewish Doaspora. The CD is a collection
of Judeo-Spanish songs composed and arranged by Betty Olivero and Oded
Zehavi.
In 1993 she completed the choreography and music for "A la Nana I a la Buba"
for the Inbal Ethnic Dance Theatre, a piece based on Sephardi lullabies.
Since 1994 Esti Kenan has been a part of a duo with the percussionist Oren
Freed presenting a special approach to Spanish-Jewish tradition of dance and
music. They performed together at the 50th anniversary of UNESCO in Paris,
at Ravenna Music Festival, as well as other festivals in Europe.
She has been performing with Slava Ganelin since 1998, and their first
recording "On the Edge of a Dream" was released in Israel in 1999.
