Angels do live in Brooklyn. And one of them is Yula Beeri, an Israeli composer, musician and performer who began honing her talents when she was three years old. Influenced by Kate Bush and The Police, she came from Tel Aviv 10 years ago and has been part of the New York City music scene ever since.
Yula has described her life as "a tornado of comedy and tragedy of events on the way to pure joy." She has refused to fit into a specific musical genre and has even turned down offers from several record labels, including music giants Atlantic and BMI. Instead, Yula and her community of artists called the Extended Family have opened The HIVE NYC, a converted loft performance space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This is now a place dedicated to helping others showcase their talents, a space that thrives on the belief that everyone should be offered a platform to display and perform their art. Yula and the Family want to see great art happening and believe that no one should be scared to express themselves.
Yula says that, just like her, many of the individuals she meets just need a push and a moment of inspiration. Consequently, she was compelled to found a unique music and arts collective called YuliX and the Extended Family. She says "The Hive NYC is our way to give back, to show others that it is possible to express themselves even in an extremely competitive place where most of the time, money dictates successes more than the sincerity of the work of art itself."
Current members of The Extended Family and the Hive NYC include Isaac Gardner, Stefano Baldasseroni, Shahar Mintz, Sarah Zar, Uri Kleinman, Stefan Zenuik, Jason Yellen, Brian Baxter, Benjamin Kaplan and the list goes on. Together they have toured extensively along the East coast and the Southwest, and released two albums (Dark Side of The Bee and Victor). Yula recently told me, "Before we knew it, The Extended Family had grown fast by expanding beyond music to other forms of art, which included literature, animation, theater, dance, film, urban agriculture and sustainable technology and fine art." The Hive NYC has become a go-to-place for those wanting to see emerging artists in different fields of art.
One of Yula's latest projects is "Yulix the Opera", a story of how a weak woman finds her fighting spirit and transforms her and her surroundings into magic. The opera is designed to bring different disciplines through a single platform. This is a workshop that ties together all the ideas of the Hive NYC art community in hopes of raising awareness of the importance of members working together in harmony to produce a work that will entertain and educate its audience.
"Yulix the Opera" depicts the tale of the little falafel girl and how she found her true love! A delightful yet suspenseful, sexy musical story that includes collaborations by the Dance Group The Kilkenny Cats. This theatrical event will happen September, 1,2,3, 5. Space is limited, so RSVP early.
