In October I went to give a lecture to students at the University of Turin at the request of Daniela Santus - a university professor that teaches a course on Israel.
The lecture I was asked to give was about my life in Israel and about my music - its roots and its relation to Israel.
When I arrived at the university in the morning of the lecture I was greeted warmly by the students (despite the cold weather that prevailed outside ..). This was the first time that my show was of a lecture type and not singing. At first I was not sure about the content of my speech so I decided the best is to follow my heart.
I began talking about reaching Israel straight into the sealed room in the Gulf war, about the difficulties of a Brazilian coming from a warm and joyful place straight into a small, closed room in a country that is in a state of war.
I described how I learned Hebrew in the sealed room with Haim Yavin, Zehu-Ze and the music of Arik Einstein and Shlomo Artzi.
I spoke about the way I learned the local mentality and the way to fit in and how I always saw that a smile and humor can turn any negative situation into a positive one, I talked about how I think that in Israel we are so much in need of joy and peace.
It was important for me to express my hope and belief that we will have true peace in our region.
I also talked about my music and the message I'm trying to convey - a message of love, joy and tolerance.
I showed the students two video clips of my songs - 'A little happiness' and - 'My heart aches'. I was glad to see that even the Muslim students identified with my story and in the end when I sang two songs in Hebrew the students - including the Muslims - joined me to the chorus and sang along with me.
It was very exciting to receive so many friendship requests in the facebook along with many favorable responses that were accompanied by requests for additional lectures and shows.
Since I am very connected to Israel this was an important experience for me because I feel that through my story and the music that I create I reach into the hearts of people who then get to see Israel in a different and more positive way than before our encounter.

Best Regards

Elisete

A musical part from the lecture