Rona Kenan is a singer-song-writer and guitarist whose dark velvety voice, biting lyrics and striking presence have set the bar on what it means to be a female performer in Israel.

 

She made her debut as a song-writer and performer at the age of 18, when she collaborated with musician Eran Tzur on a tribute album to poetess Yona Vollach. Two years later, she formed her first band and began performing in Tel-Aviv, where her hybrid mesh of old Russian folk and luminous Israeli poetry, cabaret sound and soulful performance drew a rapidly expanding cult following.

 

In 2004 she released her debut album: "Breathing down to Zero", hailed by critics as the best Hebrew album of the year. (quote) The album was produced by legendary Israeli producer/musician Izhar Ashdot, with whom she began collaborating some years earlier and under whose tutelage she remained since. She became the first artist to be signed onto his label: "Izhar-Ashdot Music."

 

Throughout the years she took part in numerous musical and literary projects and wrote music for film and theater, including the award winning documentary "The Cemetery Club."

Since 2005 Rona is a chosen artist of Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation - IcExcellence.

 

Her second Album: "Through Foreign Eyes", was released in 2007 to rave reviews and sold nearly 10,000 copies in four months.

 

These days Rona is touring the country with her band, writing for and performing with renowned Israeli musicians such as Gidi Gov and Yehudit Ravitz and working on her third album.

 

Reviews:

 

"I have no doubt that 'Breathing Down to Zero' is the best Hebrew album of the year….the debut album of an outstanding Israeli artist who is talented, smart and beautiful all at the same time. It's a great pleasure to welcome her as the most prominent representative of the next generation in local rock."

Gal Ochovsky, Sept. 2004

 

"'Breathing Down to Zero' is without a doubt the best female rock album to have come out here in many years, and one of the best in general. Kenan displays an impressive array of qualities in every respect, wonderful…each time, listening to the album only reveals another furrow, another dimension, exposing true complexity and offering a long, meaningful relationship....She's a fantastic composer....She sings beautifully…really a great album. Such impressive debut albums in all the years of Israeli rock could be counted on one hand. Halleluiah."

Avi Efrati, Tel-Aviv Magazine, 2004

 

"A beautiful, personal, diverse and unusual rock album, with respect to both the music and the lyrics. A disk that's simply hard to take out of your CD player….This is possibly one of the finest debut albums ever to be released in Israel."

Time Out, Tel Aviv, Sept. 2004

 

"...Kenan is continuing to establish herself as an artist who performs her art while radiating quiet wisdom and purity. Her voice, over which she has absolute control, combines analytical coolness with emotional warmth and, despite being clear and straightforward it retains a kind of mysteriousness."

Timora Lesinger, Ynet, 2007

 

"Through Foreign eyes" raises her to a new level…. It's hard to believe that it is credited to an artist who is only 27 years old for whom this is but her second album. "Through Foreign Eyes" has a truly impressive ripeness, which, in the musical genre Kenan belongs to, is seldom discovered at such an early career stage."

Avi Efrati, Tel Aviv Magazine, 2007