Victoria Hanna
One of the most interesting vocal phenomena of the last years hails from Jerusalem: the music of Victoria Hanna combines Jewish mysticism, Dada, surrealism, and spiky feminism. The unique vocal artist bends her voice in never-before-heard shapes and finds inspiration for her songs in Kabbala. Hanna is part of a continuum of strong and edgy visionaries, like her idols Laurie Anderson and Björk.
A rabbi’s daughter, Hanna grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family in Jerusalem. The home was full of books, from which Hanna absorbed words and letters. As a child, she stuttered, but finally turned the problem into an opportunity and harnessed it as part of her expression. The song is her healing power and language is her tool for creation. She utilizes the tones of Hebrew and Aramaic to their fullest potential. In her work, she deploys a variety of vocal techniques in the performance of ancient and modern Hebrew texts, among them the "Book of Creation," an early Kabbalistic treatise. Victoria draws inspiration from ancient traditions, which relate to the voice, mouth, and Hebrew letters as tools of creation.
Victoria Hanna's artistic footprint extends across prestigious institutions such as the BAM, The Kitchen, Stanford Live and more.
In recognition of her groundbreaking contributions, Victoria Hanna was honored by Forbes magazine in 2015, being named one of the 50 most influential women in Israel. She has also earned the esteemed Rozenblum Award for Outstanding Artists, a testament to her impactful artistic legacy.
Solo performance
Victoria Hanna, Israel’s most dazzling musician of the moment, her songs are works of art - Aramaic hip-hop, cabbalistic rap and spoken-word performances. Victoria Hanna moves between ancient music and contemporary beats, between philosophical and religious texts. Various vocal and language techniques characterize her compositions. She explores the limits of vocal sound, plays with letters, recites the Aleph-Bet. She skips, exuberates, and beguiles.
"Place in Eden" | A New Original Performance
Victoria Hanna and Omri Mor
Embark on a captivating musical journey with two virtuoso musicians based in Jerusalem. International vocal artist Victoria Hanna and acclaimed pianist Omri Mor bring their extraordinary talents to the stage. Having performed across the globe, Omri Mor is a renowned pianist, while Victoria Hanna, truly a phenomenon, has set herself the aim of creating an integral artwork of language, voice, and music. Together, they present familiar and forgotten songs, written before and during the establishment of the State of Israel. Delve into courage and curiosity as the performance explores the dreams and experiences of those who settled in the land of Israel, accompanied by visuals from the archive, screened in both English and Hebrew. Join us to listen, reflect, and even sing along, as we uncover the rich tapestry of history through their music.
Vocal Workshop
Have you ever experienced your voice and speech as a tool for healing and empowerment? What does it mean when said the Hebrew language contains ancient knowledge that can expand our consciousness? International vocal artist Victoria Hanna invites you to join the fascinating vocal research she has been doing for years. Together we’ll learn to feel the human voice, the language, and letters as raw materials and as a gateway to new spaces of consciousness and creativity. We will learn and read from the oldest Kabblaist book, Sefer Yetzira (The Book of Creation). We will place and echo consonants and vowels in the physical body and in the space surrounding us. This is a groundbreaking work, through which we want to connect to the primal use of the mouth as a tool of the creation. We will practice and learn shaping our relationship with our inner world and the “outside reality” through voice and speech. The workshop involves physical, vocal and calligraphy work. No previous experience is necessary.
Lecture Performance/ Master Class
The Jerusalem-based, international voice artist Victoria Hanna will discuss the physical and
sensual explorations that she has been pursuing in her art. This is a living exploration, anchored
in the human voice, its location in the body, and its relation to speech. Building on ancient
Kabbalistic traditions that see language, the voice, and the mouth as tools of creating
worlds, Victoria will reveal the Hebrew alphabet as an instrument for playing with the mouth.
By thinking with foundational Kabbalistic texts,such as the Book of Creation (Sefer Yetzirah)
and the writings of Abraham Abulafia, we will come to understand how the letters have been,
and can be, used for daily work with speech and the body. Through the years, she has been teaching at the most distinguished universities around the world, including Yale, Stanford, Berkeley, Michigan University, Virginia Tech, Monash University in Melbourne Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Bialik's Project
Victoria's latest project, dedicated to the celebration of 150 years of Bialik.
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Reviews
"Hanna is blessed with one of those voices that demands full attention, holding audiences rapt with her acrobatic voice and leaving mouths agape."
Time Out New York
"The freshest, edgiest, weirdest artist on the Israeli airwaves today."
“In ‘22 Letters’ — as in the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which are showcased in beautiful calligraphy through-out the video — Victoria Hanna breathes light and life into the Hebrew language, with the help of Hebrew texts and catchy beats. Watch this video to fall in love with Hebrew letters, Jewish mysticism, and well, with Victoria Hanna.”
The liberal New-York based magazine Forward
“The freshest, edgiest, weirdest artist on the Israeli airwaves today.”
Public Radio International
“Israeli singer explores the space between rebellion and servitude.”
Songlines
“If Bjork was Middle Eastern, she might sound something like Victoria Hanna. She is magically chameleonic.”
New York Music Daily
