Attendees of the IAC National Summit in Florida were able to experience some incredible music, including wonderful performances by singer and songwriter Nicole Raviv.
Raviv sang the national anthems at the opening ceremony of the IAC summit.
She also sang with Colonel Golan Vach, who was head of the IDF team at the Surfside tragedy.
“We’re here in MIami and I’m happy to represent Israel,” Raviv tells Israel National News.
“It was very emotional to share the stage with [Vach],” she says “He had just received an award for everything he’s been doing here. And everyone is so happy that he is here and he’s representing the IDF, he’s representing Israel. For me to get onstage with him was really an honor. He was sitting there in uniform and I was singing Hallelujah and it was really a moment that I’m not going to forget.”
Raviv also added a Hebrew verse to the song “because that’s my world.”
Raviv’s life story began in Montreal, Canada where she grew up. At 18, she moved to New York City to study music.
“I’ve always been a singer/songwriter, in love with music,” she says.
She studied musical theater at the American Musical Dramatic Academy and the New School University. She continued to train in New York, becoming a recording artist and singing at big events, including at sports events.
She is known for singing the national anthem for the New York Islanders for two years. She describes the moment she became nationally famous when her mic stopped working while singing the anthem in one word: “Ironic.”
“I was singing at the Stanley Cup playoffs in June 2021. We had a game against the Boston Bruins and my mic cut off. You couldn’t hear me. It was on live television. The most embarrassing moment for a singer. However, the entire crowd started singing the national anthem. It was a moment that unified everybody and they had my back. It was really special. My sound came back and they wont the game that night.”
She and her husband have since moved to Israel.
“The decision was an easy one. I live in Tel Aviv now. And I’m so happy that I do. It’s the best city ever. My family’s here. I get to see everybody. If feels like where I belong.”
She ads: “I plan to keep singing, that’s the plan.”
She is currently in rehearsals for a show in Hebrew, Greek, Arabic and English.
“I get to use my languages and I get to experience other cultures,” Raviv says. “This chapter of my life is about finding my roots and my culture.”