When Mom Came Here

Ariel Horowitz and “The Shmer Sisters 24” Sing and Tell the Story of Naomi Shmer

To mark 20 years since her death, musician and creator Ariel Horowitz embarked on an exciting musical journey filled with love, longing, and optimism through the creative world of his mother, composer and poet Naomi Shmer. The series of performances features her songs, which shaped the shared Israeli soundtrack familiar to us all.

The show is a musical dialogue between Horowitz, Naomi Shmer’s son, and a select group of young female singer-songwriters from Israel who together form “The Shmer Sisters 24.”

With his characteristic humor, Horowitz offers a glimpse into the personal stories behind his mother’s songs. Together with the band, he pays tribute to Shmer through contemporary interpretations of her songs, while inviting the audience to join in—to sing, laugh, cry, yearn, and feel that the “lost, beautiful, and forgotten Land of Israel,” so present in Naomi’s songs, is not truly lost after all.

Naomi Shmer drew a map of the country for us—from “The Eucalyptus Grove,” through “Jerusalem of Gold,” to “The White City.” She accompanied us through pain with “We Both Come from the Same Village,” and through joy with “Put on White.” She went with us to kindergarten with “In Our Yard,” and into the army with “At the Nahal Outpost in Sinai.”

The show “When Mom Came Here” allows us to bask in the work of Shmer the creator while also getting to know Naomi the private individual.

The name “The Shmer Sisters 24” echoes the pioneering women’s ensemble Shmer formed in the mid-1960s. Or Edri, Danielle Rubin, Hadar Zacharia, Keren Tannenbaum, Nili Fink, and Einat Harel are among the most prominent and original young female singer-songwriters and musicians of their generation. Together, as the show’s house band, they bring to the stage the revolutionary, fresh feminine spirit Naomi Shmer brought to Israeli music as a whole in her time.

Childhood memories and the stories behind the songs: Ariel Horowitz
Arrangements and musical production: Ariel Horowitz and “The Shmer Sisters 24”

Performers

• Or Edri — bass, glockenspiel, keyboards, vocals and backing vocals
• Danielle Rubin — piano, keyboards, acoustic guitar, percussion, vocals and backing vocals
• Keren Tannenbaum — viola, vocals and backing vocals
• Nili Fink — guitar, vocals and backing vocals
• Einat Harel — drums, vocals and backing vocals
• Ariel Horowitz — piano, keyboards, bass, vocals and backing vocals

Running time: 80 minutes
Naomi Shmer photograph: Yael Rozen
Ariel Horowitz photograph: Shiri Atzitz