Nika Kushnir • the accordionist and composer from Haifa, plays (also) as a treatment for Alzheimer's and dementia patients

In one of the unique apartments in the Hadar neighborhood, between the contemporary cafes - lives the musician Nika Kushnir where she and her partner Nega Shani raise their pair of tiny twin children and Tovia, the dog who sings while playing the accordion.

Musician born in Vinnytsia (Ukraine)

A list of many academic degrees and with distinction, are found in Nika's biography, with the accordion at the top of her mind. Now Chaya lives in Haifa. She was born in Vinnytsia in Ukraine (1987), but spent her childhood and youth in Upper Nazareth. Currently, Nika teaches the course "History of Music for Dance" at the Reot High School for the Arts in Haifa.

She is also an accordionist in the ensemble - 'Iman', works at the Levinsky-Wingate Academic Center, as well as at the Ron Shulamit Conservatory and previously even worked at the Musician company. She is a former accordionist in the Hebrew Bible - when her main occupation was playing music as a treatment for Alzheimer's and dementia patients.

degree studies and playing the accordion

She has a bachelor's degree in musicology and theater at Tel Aviv University. She studied accordion with Cnima Jaques Mornet in France, at the International Accordion School - and was a student of the accordionist Emil Aybinder, who is an Israeli accordion artist, a Jew born in Serbia who combines in his repertoire folk music from the Danube and the Balkans, light and international classical music.

She holds a degree in education and a music teaching certificate from the Levinsky College of Education. In addition to this, Nika has a master's degree in composition, with her thesis under the guidance of Professor Oded Zahavi - as part of advanced studies in the Department of Music at the University of Haifa. Nika Kushnir is an accordionist and composer who has been active in the music scene for more than a decade.

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The muse of the accordion music even on the cliff of times

Despite being on the precipice of the times - "when the guns roar, the muses are silent", at least that's what the proverb claims, the guns don't always silence the muses. This is because the war itself evokes strong emotions and is therefore always a significant subject in art.

It can even be noted that some important and significant musical works were written precisely under the influence of a war period. For example: Haydn's "Wartime Mass" is a famous example, as is the opening to Tchaikovsky's "1812" and Symphony No. 7, "Leningrad", by Shostakovich. The accordion players, Vanika among them, combine in the performance of classical music, light classical music, jazz and ethnic music all over the world, in a way that crosses both cultures and ethnic traditions.

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Childhood and autodidactic abilities

At the age of three, Nika immigrated to Israel from Ukraine. Grew up in Nof HaGalil, former Nazareth Illit, and currently lives in Haifa.

Nika describes her father as a Zionist man and an eternal student. During his life he worked as an engineer at the naval shipyards in Haifa and upon his retirement he studied Chinese medicine. Today her father is engaged in providing massage treatments with the help of acupuncture. Ima is a linguist and a teacher of Russian literature who changed her employment in Israel and is a social worker in the municipality of Nof HaGilil. Nika has one sister, Yulia, who is about a year and a half older than her and lives in Ramat Aviv.

Already from the age of 4-5 when she grew up in Nazareth Illit, which is today's Galilee landscape, her life cleaned up the field of music. She played the piano in the kindergarten classes and even started singing in the choir. Befitting children from the former Soviet Union, she also danced in a ballroom dance class... (the many medals are still on display at her parents' house). In the rest of her early childhood and youth, Nika wanted to impress those around her when she taught herself to play and sing the songs of the bands 'Tipx' and 'Haviloyim' on the guitar.

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Nika and "The City on Break"

According to the narrative, 'Nika' is the name of the goddess of victory in Greek mythology, and the companion of Zeus, the head of the gods, and of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war tactics - but in fact the name of the accordionist 'Nika' was given to her as a reminder of the name of 'Saba Nahum' - when her parents settled for the letter N ' as the beginning of the grandfather's name. Nika spent most of her childhood and youth years with grandfather Boris and grandmother Ivgenia, as her parents worked tirelessly "from the warmth until the soul leaves".

She attended elementary and high school in Nazareth Illit. With tongue-in-cheek wit, Nika describes the district where the family lives, Nazareth Illit (the Galilee landscape) as a "city on pause."

A year of service 'Acharei Association - Youth Leading a Change' in Jerusalem

After graduating from high school, Nika left for a year of service in Jerusalem. She is a member of the 'Amomat Acharei' to the branch in Jerusalem. There, this movement works to strengthen the capabilities of youth, young men and women from all parts of Israeli society - with an emphasis on the geo-social periphery, and thus the vision is to bring about equal opportunities in Israeli society, and mutual guarantee within and between parts of society.

'Amort Acharei' operates in 132 local authorities, 47 youth villages and youth-sponsored frameworks, 72 ultra-Orthodox yeshiva, and operates 345 youth frameworks that are 'preparatory for adult life'. Most of them are three-year prep schools for youth aged 16-18 from all shades of Israeli society, and some of them are XNUMX-year prep schools, pre-military prep schools, a prep school that integrates young people with special needs and even a prep school for young Arabs.

As part of the year of service as part of the "After Me - Youth Leading Change" association, Nika worked in Jerusalem establishing a theater class, training a youth council, initiating and managing volunteer projects for the children of the Kiryat Menachem neighborhood, music studies at the Bank of Time, as well as volunteering at an old people's home.

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The germ of the theater

In fact, Nika began studying for a bachelor's degree in journalism, cinema and education at 'Title'. This is the Higher School of Journalism Studies of Tel Aviv University, which exists alongside the Department of Communication at the university. In the Department of Communications, studies are held for an academic degree, while the 'Title School' operates as a framework for professional studies that provide certificate studies. The school is divided into a center for television studies, a center for the study of the written press and the Internet, and a center for radio studies.

Simultaneously with her studies and her bachelor's degree in musicology and theater at Tel Aviv University - she was an assistant director at the Ethiopian community theater 'Ntala', when the play she worked on was presented at the Edinburgh Theater Festival and at the 'Chamber' Theatre.

The theater germ led to the establishment of a community theater in Rishon Lezion as part of the 'Citizen Artists' project on behalf of the theater department. There she engaged in theatrical work with the group of neighborhood activists, writing a play about the relationship of the establishment to the citizen, composing and playing the music in the show itself.

Furthermore, Nika was one of the founders of the community theater in 'Rimonim Prison' - this as part of the course 'Joint Project for Prisoners and Students'. In this project she worked on writing the materials, directing, acting, musical work with the actors and composing the music for the show and actually playing.

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The accordion - "the piano of the poor" or "portable organ"

 In the course of 20 years, from the age of 4 to 24, Nika played the piano, but since she was writing music for the show - she began to use the 'piano with the strips', after all, it is the accordion which is referred to by her as the "piano of the poor" and alternatively as a "portable organ".

When she was about 25 years old, grandmother Ivgenia and grandfather Boris Barel Fishman bought her the accordion that she owns. As an autodidact, she began to play, compose and accompany the audience of actors in the plays she directed.

In Israel, the tradition of the accordion has moved over the years between folk music, especially accompanied by folk dances, singers and choirs - and its expression as a classical and diverse artistic musical instrument. It must be remembered that the accordion was the main instrument for accompanying singing, from the settlement period until the mid-sixties.

accordion, garmoshka and mapohon in Hebrew

The accordion, despite being a relatively heavy instrument, which is definitely not easy to carry. Its weight with the case can reach more than ten kilograms - and despite this it has become such a popular musical instrument, thanks to the strong sound that can be produced from it without the use of amplification means. Furthermore, the accordion is amazing in its ability to create complex harmonies. Nika claims that baroque music "sounds at its best precisely when playing the accordion", since its sounds are very similar to the sounds of the organ.

In 1829 in Vienna, Kirill Damien, born in Transylvania, is the one who patented the first accordion, although a similar device had already been invented in Berlin a few years earlier. Since that time, the accordion has undergone improvements and additions until the product known today.

The air stream created when the blower is turned on vibrates metal leaves-tabs that produce the sound. Both the 'pianist' keyboard and the accompaniment keyboard have registers for the variety of sounds, so to speak, like in a fine orchestra. The operation of the registers is based on the separation or combination of the lingual systems of the different tones and again: just like an organ.

The first accordion - a gift from grandfather Boris and grandmother Ivgenia

Almost a decade since grandfather Boris Barel Fishman and grandmother Ivgenia passed away - and it is possible that if it weren't for her grandfathers, they remembered with blessing, she wouldn't be who she is today. As mentioned, it was grandfather Boris and grandmother Ivgenia who bought her the first fine accordion (although she herself sold her old, worn-out car to add a little to the terrible amount that this accordion costs).

It happens that when Roa Nika cleans a person who is over 80 years old, she immediately remembers them... Moreover, every time she enters or leaves her house, she thinks of them - since right in the entrance hall of the house as an emotional souvenir, their hats hang. She often kisses these hats that hang in a place of honor, which is in the center of the coat rack and under the 'important' bookshelf - thereby 'telling them, grandfather and grandmother' everything that is on her heart.

Alzheimer's and dementia patients respond positively to music

Every time during a concert, and every time Nika practices playing the accordion, she reflects on the figures of the grandfathers. It is clear to her that everyone who knows her knows about her deep connection to her grandparents. In her work "Matriculation" there is a chapter dedicated to them, a chapter whose name in Yiddish is "A Freyaalchen Spek" which means: "Although there is doubt, but he is happy".

In the years 2013 to 2018, Nika engaged in group musical activities for dementia patients as part of 'Malbab' ("Malbab until the home" is a professional service for seniors at all levels of functioning) in Shoresh and Givat Mas'oa. In the years 2020 to 2022, Nika engaged in playing music for seniors in their homes on behalf of an association 'Sheila' in Haifa.

From the data and findings that emerged in the studies, it can be pointed out and concluded that Alzheimer's patients respond positively to music, the responses include several levels including cognitive, physical, behavioral and social. The music is a pillar that provides a framework for the patients and also offers the patients something familiar that can calm and quieten them in situations of discomfort and silence. It was also found that music remains in the patient's brain memory as something that exists until the last stages of the disease.

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MA in Composition with Honors + Performances and Solo: "Air in a Box"

Nika came to Haifa to study for her master's degree in composition with Oded Zahavi (composer, arranger and pianist), professor of music at the University of Haifa. Indeed, between the years 2019 and 2024, she managed to earn the MA degree in composition, with a thesis with honors, under the guidance of Prof. Zahavi.

As an accordionist, Nika has performed on many stages and festivals across the country such as: Studio Ent, Nahalel Festival, Beit HaMomid, Menashe Forest Festival, Yellow Submarine, the Chamber Theater, the Klezmer Festival in Safed, the Distillery, Temune Theater, Beit Avichai and Levontin. She plays with a variety of ensembles such as 'Trio Nika', 'Scandali - Gypsy Music Trio', 'Tel Aviv Klezmer Ensemble', 'Tijwal' and 'Iman'.

In addition to this, Nika performs in a solo show dedicated to the accordion (a show approved by the national 'Culture Basket') called "Air in a Box".

After wandering - naturalization in Haifa

After wandering from place to place and living in different places - Haifa arrived. As mentioned, Nika was born in Vinnytsia in Ukraine, but she spent her childhood in Upper Nazareth. From there she moved to Jerusalem, then to the village of Kfar Monesh, again to Jerusalem, then to France, then back to Jerusalem until she reached peace and land in Haifa.

Here, perhaps, is the context for Charlie Chaplin's vagabond life, which she appreciates very much. 'The Tramp' is Charlie Chaplin's best known character on the silent screen, which over the years has become a kind of cinematic icon.

Spencer Charlie Chaplin (1889 -1977), the man loved and appreciated by Nika, was an English comic actor and film director, who was very successful in the silent film era. Chaplin became a symbol, among other things thanks to the character "The Hobo" that he played in many of his films. He is considered one of the most important and influential figures in the history of the film industry. Chaplin was involved in all the production procedures of his films, starting with writing the script, through the direction and ending with the selection of the soundtrack and music.

The Tramp as Chaplin describes himself, is childish and ridiculous, but good-hearted. The hobo in his films tries to behave as a gentleman and with manners, despite his different social status. To get some inspiration from this special person, here are some concrete Chaplin quotes that are thought-provoking and maybe even laugh-out-loud.

• "A day without laughter is a day wasted."
• "Laughter is a strengthening drug, and eases the pain."
• "You'll never find a rainbow if you look down."
• "What is important in a film is not reality, but what the imagination can create in it."
• "Dictators free themselves and enslave the people."
• "I was and remain a clown - which places me above all politicians."
• "Man as an individual is a genius, but the crowd is a headless monster."
• "It is easy to help a friend in need, but it is not always convenient to devote your time to him."
• "By our very nature we want to help each other and rejoice in the happiness of others, but not in their troubles."

Tovia - the singing dog

The loud barking of the dog 'Tovia' greets those who come to the cloudy door of Nika Kushnir and her partner Nega Shani. However, after a brief friendship his barking fades away and he returns to his place. This lovely dog ​​was named 'Tovia' because of the place where he was collected and adopted, the workers' camp 'Beer Tovia'.

By the way, when playing the accordion and according to the tune - 'Tovia' usually sings, sings and barks - this is with the exception of when playing tunes by the composer Bach... because it is well known, even by the dog 'Tovia', that "Bach is complicated but excellent"

Coffee and pastry

'The Coffee Cantata' is a secular cantata (RIB 211) composed by Johann Sebastian Bach between the years 1732-1734. Translated from German it says: "Quiet please, stop chattering!" Burning in 18th century Leipzig.

The text, written by Christian Friedrich Henrizzi, states that: "If I am not allowed to drink a cup of coffee three times a day, I will shrivel up from torture, like a roast goat" in fact these lines were a kind of advertisement for coffee of that time. Nika, who is known to be "addicted to fine coffee" does not need this advertisement and therefore, immediately as benevolent hospitality - a steaming cup of coffee emerges from her kitchen with a perfect fragrance and an excellent aroma... just like in her 'Home Cafe' which is 'Cafe Masada' and/or 'Cafe Ha Pina' or 'Talque coffee'.

Alongside this perfection emerges from the kitchen and stands out with its presence a fresh, excellent, decadent and indulgent plum cake made by Nega.

The green of the mountain, the blue of the sea and the sky

The space of the apartment stands out for its cleanliness and the exemplary order that dominates it. If it weren't for the number of children's toys, it would be thought that there weren't two tiny tots here. Langa and Nika have two twin sons named Barry (as a tribute to the late grandfather Boris) and Itamar (as a combination of the beginning of the name of the late grandmother Ivgenia).

Immediately after the entrance, a huge frame of a picture of the Haifa landscape sprouts: the green of the mountain, the blue of the sea and the sky. In addition to the large window in the living room - this aesthetic and beautiful view can also be seen from the other windows of the house.

In her house there is an atmosphere of music

The influence of the god Apollo (who in Roman and Greek mythology was the god of the sun, light, prophecy, medicine, music and poetry) - occupies a prominent allegorical place in Nika's house. Apollo was an expert in playing and singing and even excelled in his musical skills.

Nika has a very respectable collection of records, arranged very carefully in the dresser dedicated to them. In the living room stands a grand piano, above which is the metronome, and next to them, contemporary chanson tunes are played on the turntable in a soft tune.

family painting as homage

As a woman who is multi-talented in the field of art, Nika creates in her heart her love for her grandparents and parents also in a pictorial homage. According to the reference of an old photograph, she created with her great talent a painting that is a tribute to the memory of her youth and the harmony of her nuclear family. This painting has a 'place of honor', and it is on the shelf that protrudes above the record chest and near where the grandma and grandpa's hats are.

"The accordion - an instrument from which the soul speaks"

In 2000, a chair for folk music and classical music was established at the Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem, under the initiative of Emil Aybinder, where the accordion is the leading instrument. Nika, as Aybinder's student, dreams of continuing to perform in front of audiences and even wishes for large concerts with many participants.

For Dida, the accordion is an exciting instrument because it is an instrument with soul and breath. According to her: "This is an instrument from which the soul speaks..." and this is the reason why she wants to continue teaching students of all ages to play the accordion, as well as to instill culture and knowledge in her students who are at Reut High School.

'The most beautiful place in Haifa'

For every Haifai - his own 'most beautiful place in Haifa'. As for Nika, who is full of praise for the city of Haifa - (ahem... with the exception of the sidewalks in the Hadar neighborhood where you can't pass with the twin strollers) she raves about the area of ​​cafes and shops in the Talpiot market and the Hadar neighborhood, she loves the views of the Louie Promenade, the sea and Mount Carmel - and especially and with emphasis: the view seen from the university area.

Despite all this, in her opinion the most beautiful place in Haifa is Tel Shikmona, where the sea reserve abuts Rosh Carmel. In this place the Carmel Ridge continues into the sea and creates a unique underwater landscape surrounded by wild and rich nature. The marine reserve extends in the southern part of the city: from the area of ​​the Seas and Lakes Research Institute to the mouth of Nahal Lotem, and west into the sea.

From the top of the hill you can see on the west side a hewn pool in the sea which is about two meters in diameter. It is not known what this pool was used for in the past, but today it is called "the hot tub" (probably because of the eddies of the currents created when the waves meet/hit it). Very close to this point is a single tree and a bench at its foot - this is the point of Nika's Haifa 'Golden Star'!

'Attention' and alternatively 'two shells'

The instructions of the Ministry of Health during the first quarantine period were composed by Nika, thus creating her work called 'The Ministry of Health Modi'. This is a piece for voice and piano that was performed at the Israeli Music Festival in 2020 by the soprano singer Niva Ashad and the pianist Anastasia Sodomsky.

Her piece 'Shetty Konchiot', is to the text of the poet T. Carmi and was performed by the soprano singer Reut Ventorro and the pianist Hagi Yodan at the Music Festival in 2021, and later her piece 'Six Haifa pictures for solo harp' was performed by the harpist Ada Regimov at the 2021 Tslilim Festival in the desert.

Nika's words about the piece 'Two Shells': "T. Karmi is indeed no longer alive and did not confess to the current reality, but his words, which I composed in this song - are more relevant today than ever."

ninth. Carmi is the pen name of Carmi Tsharni = Charni who was a Hebrew poet, translator and Israeli editor. The poetry of T. Karmi is characterized by a lyrical style, but not sentimental, with a lot of use of irony.

She continues and says:

"Full disclosure, T. Karmi happened to the song 'Attention' while I, who composed its words, called it 'Two Shells.' To her, the sea is the same sea. To me, the sea is a metaphor for the human experience in all its shades, a person is a person. I dedicate the song to the victims of the war and wish for the abductees to return home soon."

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