Despite being called Israel’s greatest singer, Chava
Alberstein never expected her childhood dream to make her the voice
of the country.
“It is a mystery how I was able to reach this success. I
have been very lucky,” said Alberstein, who will be
performing a UCLA Live concert at Royce Hall tonight. “I can
work hard, write and can find new material. There must always be a
chemistry between you and your material.”
The Jewish, Polish-born singer has utilized this chemistry to
express the growth, joys and sorrows of the nation of Israel, where
she has lived since she was four years old.
Even though she was shy as a child, Alberstein felt compelled to
express herself through music. After taking numerous dance lessons
and picking up the accordion, Alberstein settled on playing the
guitar because she felt she could hide behind the wooden body. She
began releasing music in the late 1960s and has not stopped since
then.
“It’s not something that you know, it’s
something that happens,” Alberstein said of being drawn into
performance. “It becomes the thing you cannot live without.
You breathe it in the air; it is the road you walk on. It becomes
everything.”
Alberstein’s commercial achievements include releasing
more than 54 recordings, including 12 gold, six platinum and a
triple-platinum album. On top of that, six of her albums have won
the prestigious Kinor David awards, Israel’s equivalent of
the Grammy.
Among her achievements is the ability to sing in two languages,
combining the Yiddish of her youth with the modern Hebrew of
Israel.
“I’m very blessed to be able to sing in Hebrew, the
language the Bible was written in, and Yiddish, the sleeping beauty
of language,” she said. “I am able to work in two
dimensions.”
One of the most important parts of Alberstein’s work is
her ability to bridge the past and the present through the
disappearing Yiddish language.
As shown through her 1998 album “The Well,”
Alberstein is able to use Yiddish to conjure voices of the past.
The album, which is based on a collection of Yiddish poetry from
the Holocaust period, brought life to the stories of Jews who had
suffered atrocities in one of the darkest periods of human
history.
“It is something that you have to do to keep them alive.
You can never give up the past,” Alberstein said. “It
can never be a nostalgic thing, but a living thing.”
Moral issues have driven Alberstein to continue her work.
Although she has taken a turn from more political issues, she still
acknowledges the need for the security of Israel, especially in the
delicate situation it is in today.
“We think, “˜It cannot get worse, only better.’
But it gets bad again. Inside Israel’s political system,
there is no more left and right; people are less extreme,”
Alberstein said.
“It is my hope that the peace process can begin. I hope
the world will get a little more patient and relaxed. I hope that
we all will listen to one another. The rhythm of the world is
becoming hysterical,” she said.
Alberstein recognizes the fact that this change will need to
come from the younger generation. One of her favorite songs to
perform is “Miracle,” which was inspired by a speech
given by Pablo Casal at the United Nations. The song deals with the
topic of education for children and how each child is a miracle in
and of him, or her, self.
“We teach (children) names and numbers and cities and this
and that, instead of telling them how special they are. They could
be the next Shakespeare (or) Michelangelo,” Alberstein said.
“One miracle can help another miracle.”
It is through performance that Alberstein feels that she reaches
the most people. By changing her repertoire and paying attention to
the fact that there are always new faces in the audience,
Alberstein makes certain each of her concerts is a unique
experience.
“I try to make it as easy as possible (on myself), so I
can enjoy the concert. I take it one concert at a time,” she
said.
“There are times that the audience feels things that you
don’t. And there are certain moments when one song becomes
more emotional for you than the other songs. You never know why,
and it is not one specific song,” she said.
Although she has toured in the United States numerous times,
returning to UCLA is always special to Alberstein because it is the
place that has welcomed her back the most.
“I come to Royce Hall like I come to my home,” she
said. “Basketball teams have places where they play at home.
(Royce Hall) is one of the only places I come again and again to
perform.”
Yet, from her concerts to her three decades’ worth of
recorded material, Alberstein’s message of tolerance has
remained the same.
“Be open-minded to listen to everything. Be interested. Be
willing to keep your eyes and your ears open. Be interested in
learning new languages,” Alberstein said. “Diversity is
the most important thing in life.”