Nurit Hirsh

Nurit Hirsh was born in 1942 in Tel Aviv

Nurit Hirsh was born on August 13, 1942, and grew up in Tel Aviv. Her parents came to Israel from Eastern Europe. Her father Hillel had been an opera singer in Vienna, and her mother Leah was a lawyer.

She finished high school at Ironi Alef and studied piano at the Rubin Academy of Music. There she studied composition with Mordecai Seter, orchestration with Noam Sheriff and conducting with László Roth. She later studied composition in New York and film and electronic music at UCLA.

After her army service she began composing. Her first published song, Perach Halilach, was written in 1965 to words by Uri Asaf and later sung by Chava Alberstein. She often worked with lyricist Ehud Manor, and singer Ilanit performed many of her songs.

In 1973 she conducted Israel's first Eurovision entry, Ey Sham, which placed fourth. In 1978 she conducted A-Ba-Ni-Bi, her song sung by Izhar Cohen, which won first prize. She also wrote film scores, music for Sallah Shabati at Habima and many children's songs.

She won the Israel Prize in 2016. She was married to businessman Yoram Rosenfeld, and they have two children, including opera singer Ruth Rosenfeld. She lives in Tel Aviv.