By Ismael AbduSalaam
Grammy Award-winning violinist Miri Ben-Ari has released a new music video entitled “Stand With Me,” a rendition of the National Anthem dedicated to Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Recruiting mogul Russell Simmons and fashion designer Marc Ecko for the project, Ben-Ari is aiming to capture the excitement of the American people before the 2008 Election Day.
And with her native Israel being an important foreign policy subject, Ben-Ari hopes to influence the Jewish community to place more support behind Senator Obama.
“At this time of economic crisis, we need leadership that can bring change to our country while capturing the essence of the American Dream,” Ben-Ari explained to AllHipHop.com. “Coming to America as a new immigrant, poor and without my family helped me to better understand and appreciate the American Dream.”
Assisting with the video is accomplished filmmaker Kenzo Hakuta, who apprenticed under internationally acclaimed video artist Nam June Paik.
Hakuta’s previous work has played in the Tribeca and Mill Valley Film Festivals, and garnered him a nomination as a Rockefeller Film Fellowship nominee.
A former student of late classical teacher Isaac Stern, Ben-Ari has come to be affectionately known as the “Hip-Hop Violinist” for her innovative fusion of Hip-Hop, Classical, and R&B.
Since her 1996 debut, she has gone on to help sell millions of records through collaborations with Jay-Z, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Maroon 5, Brandy, John Legend and Wynton Marsalis.
For her work as a score writer for the Hilary Swank film Freedom Writers, Ben-Ari last year received the first Israeli Martin Luther King Award from Israel and the Eternal Flame Award from the American Society of Yad Vashem.
Ben-Ari is also the CEO and co-founder of Gedenk (To Remember), a non-profit organization which promotes education among youth people about the Jewish Holocaust.