​A musical tribute to the important Israeli composer and artist Avihu Medina will take place at the Méditerranée Festival on May 28, 2013.

Medina began writing songs in the early 1970s and these soon began winning awards at Oriental music festivals and garnering popularity with the Israeli public. Over the years Avihu Medina has written for the foremost Israeli performers, among them Zohar Argov, Uri Shevach, Ofra Haza, Shimi Tavori and others.  He has also worked with the finest arrangers in the country, among them Moshe Zorman, Moshe Wilensky, and Mati Caspi.  Medina has also been an active promoter of Mediterranean and Oriental music. As a writer and performer, Medina has brought Mediterranean/Oriental music to center stage in Israeli culture and it is now thoroughly entrenched in the media, social discourse and folk dancing circles. Thanks to Medina and other artists like him who have been active since the 1970s, what was once considered "Oriental" music has taken its rightful place as "Israeli" music.

Avihu Medina's songs are a broad canvas that reflects the changes that have taken place in Israeli society, which has become more diverse and more aware of its own diversity. This trend converges nicely with the current interest in World music and combinations of east and west, and traditions from far-flung places and divergent cultures.

We bring you three early Avihu Medina songs from the Oriental music festivals of the 1970s.