In-Depth
with
Loving the Silent Tears Star:
Liel Kolet
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Award-winning
singer Liel Kolet (Israel) performing “Truth,
Ego, Soul and Blessings” in Loving the Silent
Tears
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Since
first winning a European talent contest at the age of
twelve, the music career of Israeli singer Liel Kolet
has gone from strength to strength with her in much demand
to perform all over the world.
On the Loving the Silent Tears red
carpet, while being interviewed by Hollywood Weekly magazine,
Liel was filled with excitement and shared, “I’m
so happy and so excited to take part in this beautiful
musical and perform today on the same stage with an Iranian
and Lebanese singer. And this is a really powerful moment
for me. Just to be able to sing with them on the same
stage is just a proof that we can share this world together
and live in peace.”
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The show’s director Vincent Paterson also
described this number that Liel took part in, titled “Truth,
Ego, Soul and Blessings,” as “somewhat a historical
situation. In the Middle East, we have representations of Iran,
Lebanon, Israel, for the first time on stage together.”
But to fully understand the significance of this
performance involving the 23-year-old vocalist and peace advocate,
who was born and raised on a kibbutz in northern Israel, we
need to look at her past. In an interview with Supreme Master
Television, Liel explains, “As a child, I experienced
the war and I’ve seen the suffering of the children. Actually
there were times that I had to go into the shelter with my family,
with my little sister, and with my brother.”
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Singing
for peace: (left) with 42nd US President Bill Clinton
(vegan), and (right) famous Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli |
At age 14, during Liel’s performance at the
80th birthday celebration of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Israeli
President Shimon Peres, she spontaneously invited a special
guest to join her and a children’s choir consisting of
40 Arab children and 40 Jewish children to sing John Lennon’s
famous peace song, “Imagine.” Of this memorable
experience, she shared, “So when I asked President
Bill Clinton to join me on stage, everyone was like this, ‘What
is she doing?’ Everyone was shocked. But I think that
that’s what made it so powerful because he came on stage
and he sang with me ‘Imagine.’ That was really a
turning point for me in my career because he helped me make
my message of peace even stronger.”
Liel has received the distinguished Radio Award in
Germany for her work dedicated to achieving a harmonious world.
Furthermore, she has recorded peace songs with international
legends such as Herbie Hancock, Julio Iglesias, Patti LaBelle,
the Scorpions, and Andrea Bocelli. “With Andrea Bocelli,
I recorded a song and we performed it together, a song called
‘Ray of Hope’ which was written by the President
of Israel, Shimon Peres, and I had the honor to compose this
song.”
Recently, Liel had finished recording her US album
with the legendary producer and multi-Grammy Award winner Humberto
Gatica, and this was shortly followed with the magical experience
of performing in Loving the Silent Tears.
On KCAL Ch. 9’s California Adventure TV prior
to the show, Liel said, “Music is a global language and
it touches you no matter where you are and no matter where you
come from. And I think that this musical has all of those things
together.”
She further shared, “I think Supreme Master
Ching Hai is very special. And I think it’s beautiful
that there are people in the world that still care for these
kinds of messages. I read Supreme Master Ching Hai’s poems
and I found them very inspirational. It has such a beautiful
story, such a beautiful message of acceptance and it’s
not just about world peace. It’s about inner peace and
peace of mind. I’m very humbled and very honored to take
part in this project and sing her beautiful poems.”
| from
“Truth, Ego, Soul and Blessings”
 As
for those who despise and abuse me,
I’d
pray that their hearts will quickly blossom
By
the Grace of the radiance of ten thousand suns,
Just
from one single strand of Your hair, O Lord!
—Excerpt from
Silent Tears poetry collection
By Supreme Master Ching Hai
Formosa - 1980s |
After the musical, We Are in America, a Hebrew-language
monthly magazine, featured Israeli singer Liel Kolet on the
front cover, along with a full two-page article. The article’s
main photo showed Liel on the red carpet at the Shrine Auditorium
before the musical.
We hope that the message of love and harmony found
in the musical will continue on through Liel’s angelic
voice as a beautiful instrument of peace in the world.
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Israeli singer
Liel Kolet (right) with
castmate, Arab singer Camellia
Abou-Odah, both age 23 |
|  At
Loving
the Silent Tears vegan banquet after the performance,
Jewish news outlet
What’s New LA interviewed
Liel Kolet about her experience with the
musical. Following is an excerpt.
Interviewer:
How are you this evening?
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Interview
by What’s New LA |
Liel Kolet:
Well I’m doing great, I just had
a wonderful time performing in this huge event,
and I had this huge show called Loving the
Silent
Tears. We were singing the songs
of Supreme Master Ching Hai who wrote the beautiful
poems, which are all about peace and accepting
one another, and loving each other, and loving
nature and respecting the world that we are living
in.
Interviewer:
I liked your dress, by the way. White
and blue.
Liel Kolet:
It was meant
to represent the Israeli flag so I’m very,
very proud that I was able to wear this costume.
Interviewer:
It’s going to be a one-time show?
Liel
Kolet: It was really special
having all these great performers from all over
the world. Each one of them represented a different
country, it was 16 countries. And I think this is
something that was never done before. It was only
a one-time show to honor the Supreme Master Ching
Hai, for her.
Interviewer:
You have an amazing voice. And I
want to ask you about your new album.
Liel
Kolet: My new album is called
Ray of Hope. And actually I just got to see
it yesterday for the first time, printed, just out
of the factory, so I’m so excited about it.
I’m now in the middle of a PBS special tour,
visiting the stations around the country. And I
hope that the people will enjoy my music and the
album.
Interviewer:
I want to wish you good luck.
And when we came in, at the gate, they gave us
a book. And in this book every artist that’s
going to sing something in this beautiful musical
had a page. And your page looked wonderful as an
activist towards peace.
Liel Kolet: It’s
something that is really important for me. Since
you and I come from Israel and we experienced the
war, we know how it’s like to grow up in the
Middle East. So it’s really important for
me to send a message of peace and to share this
story with the world, and just let them know that
eventually we just want to live in a peaceful world.
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Trio
of harmony: from left, Israeli singer
Liel Kolet,
Arab singer Camellia Abou-Odah,
Persian superstar Siavash Shams |
Interviewer: This
musical, it’s worth to mention that it’s
proud to be vegan, it’s protecting animals,
and it’s pro peace. Right?
Liel Kolet:
Yes. That’s
what her [Supreme Master Ching Hai’s] poems
and her message is all about. And that’s the
messages that she’s sending through her songs.
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