Noa Bentor

Hi, I’m Noa Bentor — singer, songwriter, and guitarist.
I was born in Kibbutz Ma’agan Michael, and when I was seven, my family moved to Australia. Those years shaped me profoundly: I was exposed to new music, learned English as a native language, and memorized every song on the weekly Top 20 chart. That’s where I discovered how deeply I love music, musicals, and singing.

In high school, I studied voice and guitar, majoring in Jazz and Classical music. By 10th grade I had already won a national songwriting competition, and in my senior year our school traveled to perform in New York. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to return there — and right after the army I was accepted to study at the American Music & Drama Academy in New York.

During those years I was exposed to some of the best musicians in the world and fell in love with the indie-rock and the singer-songwriter genre. I began my journey in songwriting, and in 2005 I released my debut album Waiting on a Shelf.

In 2006 I returned to Israel and became an active part of the indie music scene in Tel Aviv and I was chosen as the opening act for Suzanne Vega. My second album, Modern Grace, recorded live at Pluto Studios, was selected for major festivals such as SXSW and Toronto Music Week, and was released in 2011. Around the same time, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.                    I had to cancel my participation in the festivals and step away from music for two years. Still, the album received wide radio play and critical acclaim, and I was invited to open for Asaf Avidan on his Israeli tour.

At the beginning of 2014, the cancer returned, and I had to undergo harsh treatments again. This time, however, I chose to return to writing and singing, relying on my craft for refuge. The songs I wrote reflected a time of pain — both physical and emotional, love and heartbreak, questions of faith and mortality. These experiences came together as a raw and authentic musical journey, in my album Love & Darkness, released in July 2015 to rave reviews. Later that year, I performed at major international festivals Culture Collide LA and CMJ New York. The video for “Love & Darkness” won First Prize at the NYLA International Film Festival.

In 2021, I released my fourth album, and the Seasons are changing — my first in Hebrew. It is a concept album, centered on classical guitar and a string quartet, exploring cycles of emotion and renewal, healing and hope. The album includes seven songs, each representing a different season through words, melody, and color.

• For the past decade, I have been giving my talk “un/Lucky Cancer – From Pain to Creation”, across Israel and abroad. In it, I share my personal story of facing breast cancer twice as a young woman and musician — an inspiring lecture interwoven with live music from my albums.

• These days, I am also writing and developing a TV series based on my life story, titled “Art or Die”.

Alongside my artistic path, I am also an HR leader, educator, and producer. I was the Director of Educational Programs at the Bialik House Museum in Tel Aviv; Head of welfare and events at the International Center of the Technion; and in recent years was VP HR at the startup H2Pro.

I studied at the American Music & Drama Academy in New York. I also hold a B.A. and Teaching Certificate from Seminar Hakibbutzim, and an M.A. in Education from the University of Haifa.