{"id":11518,"date":"2026-02-21T14:28:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T14:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ofrahazaofficial.com\/eng\/?page_id=11518"},"modified":"2026-02-21T16:06:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T16:06:27","slug":"nancybrandes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ofrahazaofficial.com\/eng\/nancybrandes\/","title":{"rendered":"NancyBrandes"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Nancy Brandes<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t
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Nancy Brandes: The Conductor Behind Chai\n<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Ofra\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Nancy Brandes – an Israeli arranger, composer, and conductor of Romanian origin – played a central role in shaping some of Ofra Haza\u2019s most iconic sounds during the 1980s. From the recordings that marked her major mainstream breakthrough to the refined ballads released shortly before she captured international attention, Brandes had a rare ability to translate Ofra\u2019s voice into rich, emotionally resonant, and deeply soul-stirring arrangements.<\/strong><\/p>

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A Moment of Mission: \"On This Cursed Ground\"<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Brandes often recalls the emotionally charged moment in Munich in 1983, only minutes before they walked onto the Eurovision stage:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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“Nancy, we must win on this cursed ground.”<\/span> (Ofra Haza to Nancy Brandes, minutes before taking the stage)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

For Brandes, standing on that stage beside Ofra was far more than a professional milestone \u2014 it was the realization of a deeply personal dream. As he later described it, for a Romanian musician arriving at Eurovision, the experience felt almost unreal, \u201cas if I touched the sky.\u201d In his memories, Ofra remained not only an extraordinary performer, but also a person of rare discipline and uncompromising professionalism, whose humility stayed intact even as she rose to international fame and became a global star.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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1986: World Cup celebrations in Buenos Aires<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlthough Brandes often says in interviews that his personal connection with Ofra was largely limited to the Eurovision period, the material preserved in the site\u2019s archive presents a much broader picture. In 1986, during Ofra\u2019s visit to Argentina, the two were documented in a remarkable historical scene: celebrating at Buenos Aires\u2019 Obelisk square with millions of people\u2014including Diego Maradona \u2014 following Argentina\u2019s World Cup victory.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Musical Partnership: From Eurovision to \"Shvil Tapu'ach HaZahav\"<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u2731 1983 | Akharei ha-Khagim<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(Ofra Haza and Avi Toledano Duet)<\/b> \u2013 Arrangement of the successful duet with Avi Toledano, featuring a warm and rich Israeli-pop sound.<\/p>

\u2731 1983 | Chai<\/a> (Pre-Eurovision and Eurovision)<\/b> \u2013 The shared peak moment where Nancy arranged the song and conducted the German orchestra live.<\/p>

\u2731 1983 | Vas, Vas, Vas<\/a> \/ Frei<\/a> \/ High<\/a><\/b> \u2013 Arrangement of the international versions of Chai.<\/p>

\u2731 1988 | Shvil Tapu\u2019ach HaZahav<\/strong><\/a><\/b>\u00a0\u2013 A delicate ballad arranged by Brandes for Ofra on the very eve of her major international breakthrough with the album Shaday<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nancy Brandes Nancy Brandes: The Conductor Behind Chai Nancy Brandes – an Israeli arranger, composer, and conductor of Romanian origin – played a central role in shaping some of Ofra Haza\u2019s most iconic sounds during the 1980s. From the recordings that marked her major mainstream breakthrough to the refined ballads released shortly before she captured […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11518","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofrahazaofficial.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofrahazaofficial.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofrahazaofficial.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofrahazaofficial.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofrahazaofficial.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11518"}],"version-history":[{"count":82,"href":"https:\/\/ofrahazaofficial.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11670,"href":"https:\/\/ofrahazaofficial.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11518\/revisions\/11670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofrahazaofficial.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}