Short bio
Shira Z. Carmel is an Israeli-born, Melbourne-based singer, composer and multidisciplinary artist. Working in Hebrew and English (and also Yiddish), she moves between alternative pop, jazz, cabaret, folk and experimental song, often setting poetry to music. Her projects have toured internationally and her work spans film, television, radio, interdisciplinary art and even commercials. Her new single, “Four Boys Maybe Five,” sets a poem by Tal Nitzán for voice, cello, baritone saxophone and piano.
Long bio
For more than two decades, Israeli-born and Melbourne-based artist Shira Z. Carmel has made songs that move between alternative pop, jazz, cabaret, folk and experimental music. A composer, singer and songwriter, she works in Hebrew, English and Yiddish, and has built a varied body of work through vocal ensembles, jazz projects, theatrical song and collaborations across the arts. Her music often interweaves political and humanist themes, drawing on her lifelong work as an activist and volunteer.
Shira was a founding member, songwriter and co-arranger of the vocal trio The Hazelnuts, which toured internationally. Other projects include the Shira Z. Carmel Quartet, her brass band Shira Z. Carmel and her Brasserie, the Yiddish experimental duo The Technicalities, and “Infinity and One — Lullabies for Mothers,” setting music to poetry about motherhood. Her work has also appeared in film, television, radio and commercials.
She holds a degree in vocal performance from the Multidisciplinary Department of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. In 2023, she received the Neve Schechter and Rabinovich Foundation Award for Original Israeli Creation.
Her latest single, “Four Boys Maybe Five,” sets a poem by Tal Nitzán in a minimal chamber arrangement for voice, cello, baritone saxophone and piano. The poem’s two mirrored scenes ask a parent to imagine both sides of a violent encounter. Recorded and produced in Melbourne, the song arrives from a distance that offers space to listen closely without looking away.
