ISRAELI SUPERSTAR COMES TO TORONTO!
Kobi Oz in Concert
Sunday, November 8, 8 PM
Mod Club Theatre, 722 College St
$15 advance* | $25 door (doors open at 7 PM)
General admission seating | All Ages
Advance ticket sales are now closed, but you can still purchase tickets at the door: $25 | doors open at 7 PM on Sunday, November 8
The former lead singer and songwriter for the internationally famed Israeli group Teapacks, Kobi Oz performs Psalms for the Perplexed in Toronto for the first time outside of Israel. This new, innovative project from the always daring Oz is the result of his adventures exploring the depths of ancient Jewish text and modern Israeli life. With simultaneous translation in English, this moving show draws on Talmud and Torah, urban realities and secular sensibilities, witty midrash, and deep contemplation. Oz’s music dances around the misty areas between belief and non-belief, past and present, certainty and doubt, singing out in a bold and honest voice to us all.
Kobi Oz is accompanied by an acoustic band of top Israeli musicians, Johnny Koren, Noam Shlomo, and Adam Mader.
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TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
 Click here to purchase tickets, or call 1.888.222.6608
* TicketWeb service charges apply to advance ticket sales. Advance ticket sales close at 11:59 PM on November 7. Tickets will be available at the door on November 8.
Presented together with the Mifgash Program/The Israeli Forum, Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation, Israeli House, Hillel of Greater Toronto and the Israeli Division of UJA Federation
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DIRECTIONS/PARKING/TTC
The Mod Club is located at 722 College Street at Crawford Street, west of Bathurst Street and just east of Ossington Avenue in Little Italy. It is across the street from the College Park Metro grocery store.
TTC: The closest subway stations are Queen's Park and Ossington. From Queen's Park Station, take the 506 Carlton streetcar west along College Street. The 506 streetcar stops in front of the Mod Club at Crawford. From Ossington Station, take the 63 Ossington Bus south to College Street. The Mod Club is just west of Ossington, at Crawford Street.
PARKING: Metered street parking is available on College Street. There are also several 'Green P' pay parking lots nearby. The closest is on Beatrice Street, just south of College, two blocks west of Crawford. There are also two lots on Clinton Street, north of College, five short blocks west of Crawford.
For a map of 'Green P' lots closest to the Mod Club:
http://parking.greenp.com/find-parking/?a=722+College+Street&x=13&y=23
Please DO NOT park in the Metro parking lot across the street from the Mod Club. You will be towed.
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About Psalms for the Perplexed
What happens to an Israeli pop star after spending a few years “soaking in the rich marinade of Judaism?”
What happens when he engages deeply with Jewish text and practice without losing his own idiosyncratic agnosticism?
The answer is Psalms for the Perplexed – a brand new project by Kobi Oz, the former lead singer and songwriter of Teapacks.
This new, innovative project from the always daring Oz is the result of his adventures exploring the depths of ancient Jewish text and modern Israeli life. Drawing on Talmud and Torah, urban realities and secular sensibilities, witty midrash and deep contemplation, Psalms for the Perplexed is an inspirational show.
Dancing, as it does, around the misty areas between belief and non-belief, between past and present, between certainty and doubt, Psalms for the Perplexed sings out honestly to us all.
The performance in Hebrew is accompanied by simultaneous translation projected on a screen above the stage. In between songs, Oz addresses the audience in English and discusses his influences.
Kobi Oz is accompanied by an acoustic band of top Israeli musicians:
Johnny Koren: piano, accordion, vocals
Noam Shlomo: acoustic guitar, vocals
Adam Mader: mandolin, violin, flute, trumpet, vocals
A recent article in the Forward highlights this trend in Israeli music:
Israeli Rock Finds Religion: The New Wave Sweeping the Holy Land, by Robbie Gringras (June 24, 2009).
About Kobi Oz
Kobi Oz was born in 1969 in the town of Sderot, located in the south of Israel. Sderot, where many leading musicians grew up, is considered one of the most important cities in the Israeli music scene.
Oz began creating and playing music at the age of 15. He started out playing keyboards for the band Sfatayim, which performed traditional Moroccan music. He eventually became, among other things, a leading music producer who "discovered" many new artists like Hadag Nachash.
Additionally, Oz collaborated with Sarit Hadad as lyricist and melodist on one of her albums. This album was a huge breakthrough on Israeli radio, and included Hadad's most well-known and talked about hits.
Besides his music career, Kobi is an author who has published two best selling books: Petty Hoodlum (2002) and Moshe Chuato and the Raven (1996).
Kobi is a social activist who organized a big demonstration to raise public awareness of the tragedy of his home town, which is constantly under missile attack from Gaza. About 40,000 people came to Rabin Square to show solidarity with the traumatized children of Sderot. Oz is best know as the lead singer and song writer for the group Teapacks. Teapacks was formed in 1988, when Gal Peremen and Kobi Oz met at a Kibbutz in southern Israel. The two began playing Kobi's original songs, and were later joined by other musicians from local Kibbutzim and the city of Sderot. Teapacks was named "Band of the Year" numerous times by various Israeli media outlets. Their thousands of live performances filled concert halls, festivals, and a host of high-profile events in Israel and around the world.
Although they have recently disbanded, Teapacks was seen as a key mover behind the legitimization and success of Middle Eastern music in Israel. Ever since Teapacks' explosion on the scene in the early 90s, Middle Eastern styles began to be considered worthy of heavy rotation on Israeli radio. Teapacks represented Israel in the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest (kind of an international American Idol for songs). The controversial song “Push the Button” drew much acclaim and debate.
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| Location: | The Mod Club Theatre, 722 College Street |