Israel Portnoy

Since becoming a dad a year ago, he has been busy writing songs for his daughter “Aura” so an EP along with the “Aura Toura” was only natural. Israel Portnoy is an artist, singer-songwriter and producer hailing from Manchester, UK. As a son of a musician-turned-Rabbi, he grew up writing, singing and playing songs as young as five, both in the living-room with his musical siblings and also on the podium in the synagogue. Simultaneously, courtesy of long journeys to school, BBC Radio 2 provided him with musical colors which would deeply affect his musical pallet; Portnoy discovered the Beatles, Clapton, Cohen, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and many others who he still draws inspiration from, which is evident in his eclectic original music. At the age of 16, Israel picked up and moved to the land of his namesake where he formed “the Portnoy brothers” with his brother Mendy. After two albums which included a collaboration with Alex Clare, a stint as Idan Raichel’s support act, performing with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and an impressive number of international performances, his focus shifted to several solo projects. His first, a concept album named “Facing Flames feat. Guilda,” was released on May 23, 2021, commemorating the first anniversary of a forest fire that destroyed his home and all his belongings – everything besides “Guilda” that is. His most recent project has taken a softer turn though, as he sings songs he wrote for his newborn daughter Aura, on his upcoming EP- aptly named “Aura”.