Miri Ben-Ari

When you think of hip-hop, we bet the first musical instrument that comes to mind is not the violin. Well, Israel-born Miri Ben-Ari (her last name means “child of a lion”) is trying to change that! Her breakthrough album is called The Hip-Hop Violinist. She has a newer ones, too, Pulling Strings.

Growing up a middle child (of  three) in Tel Aviv, her family was too poor to pay for lessons, but great Jewish violinist Isaac Stern helped her get a scholarship. She played in the Israeli Army String Quartet, where she discovered jazz, which she continued to study in the States. She then met jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsallis and recorded two jazz albums, Sahara and Temple of Beautiful.

But conquering classical and jazz still wasn’t enough! Miri heard hip-hop in America and really liked it. Once again, she didn’t have enough money for lessons, so she started playing in clubs and became a studio musician, playing behind everyone from Britney Spears (betcha never thought you’d see that name at this website!) to Alicia Keys. Then she played with Wyclef Jean at Carnegie Hall, and he asked to record with her. And then she played at the Apollo, a concert hall famous for soul music.

That led her to Chicago’s rap star Kanye West. He hired her to, according to allmusic.com, “write, produce, arrange, and perform all of the strings on his smash debut album, The College Droupout.” Miri started to step into the spotlight on a following hip-hop gig for Twista, who put her in a video of his. She has since recorded with Jay-Z, Queen Latifah, and Diddy.

Miri recorded a Hebrew version of The Hip-Hop Violinist. She says she won’t return to her classical or jazz styles, but will never drop her Israeli influences or her Jewish identity. Her next project will deal with the Holocaust; her grandparents are Holocaust survivors.

She says the fact that hip-hop wasn’t around in Israel when she was a kid helped her, because it forced to learn to play an instrument. “My soul lies with hip-hop and jazz,” she told a music-union magazine, “but my technique is classical.” Hip-hop also is very popular in Israel now. Israeli hip-hop group Hadag Nahash has even played Chicago’s House of Blues!

Today, Miri has also leared how to use a keyboard and a studio’s mixing board, and is considered a true innovator. As she told JVibe, “I go forward. It’s always easy to copy… It’s more difficult to think for yourself.”

Now she has hit the Top Ten of the music charts and is the first Israeli to win a pop Grammy Award. She also put music to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which went to #2 of the Billboard Hip-Hop chart.

But Miri has not forgotten how hard it was to get started playing when she was five and had no lessons. “I’m all about educating children,” said Ben-Ari, which is why she has joined the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, which helps schools save their music-eduation programs. “For some kids in my audiences, it’s the only time they’ll hear a (live) violinist.”

Bonus:

Read about another Israeli violinist who has gone way beyond classical...  and see a list of other Jewish violin virtuosos!