Nir Seri – “Maleh Shira Kayam”

Nir Seri’s music project has begun to take shape. His debut album is making its appearance at long last. Filled with Song like the Sea shows itself to be a long and varied work. Each song showcases another facet of Nir Seri, a wealth of different styles, varying from song to song. The “project” brings a new concept to music albums – working together. Seri has picked well known texts from all corners of our lives (Adon Olam, Sameach Tesamach), found whatever is unique in them, revealed nuances that no one has before now, and added amazing tunes and arrangements. The music is well crafted and includes a range of styles and texts. All the music is the work of Seri’s own hand. The whole album is imbued with an air of holiness and closeness to Hashem.

Nir Seri is thirty two years old, married with five children, and lives in Moshav Azriel in the coastal area. He is a music therapist by profession, hence his music contains elements apart from notes and words. “Music should have character, should tell a story, provide an experience that leaves an impression, and contain a non-verbal message for the listener. This is the power in the combination between words and music. This abstraction through which you can touch people on the deepest most hidden level.”

Musical composition as a means of emotional therapy is not new to Seri. He compares his music as a whole to a way of treating people, “One can see how music can subtly affect the psyche with the right exposure.” “My natural connection to music”, explains Seri, “led me to seek my own musical interpretation of Jewish texts that I strongly relate to.”

It is worthwhile taking the time to appreciate the real experience that the songs in the album provide, each song through its own style. “Dror Yikra” for instance conjures up the atmosphere of erev Shabbat, with the scent of the simmering delicacies and the sense of peace that en wraps us as the Shabbat queen approaches, all in all Nir Seri creates an almost tangible feeling. His use of music as a therapeutic tool teaches us the potential hidden in the notes. Nir Seri sees the album that he has created as a three dimensional experience that includes the use of various senses and emotions, prayer, therapy, joy over and over.