“I grew up in a very musical home, and we listened to a lot of classical French music and American jazz,” says pianist, vocalist and composer Deborah Dery. In a one-on-one interview with jazz journalist and radio host Yotam Ziv, presented by the Cultural Diplomacy Bureau of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Jerusalem Post, Dery explains her love for music, her work as a therapist in alternative medicine and the connection between the two.

Dery began playing the piano at the age of eight and soon moved to jazz, attracted by improvisation on the piano and singing. Dery studied at the Stricker Conservatory in Tel Aviv and later at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.

As a child, she enjoyed both playing the piano and singing and says, “I never wanted to choose one over the other because I always liked them both.” Dery has continued this quality in her teaching today, encouraging her students to use their skills to play an instrument and sing if they desire.

She says that her study of alternative medicine helped her achieve emotional and mental balance with her music. In addition to her musical teaching, Dery offers energy healing reiki treatments and also instructs people in the Alexander technique, which is a way of learning to move mindfully through life.

Her music also has healing properties. “The lyrics are very spiritual, and we are talking about self-healing,” she says. “The goal is to make the music a healing power for people.”

Dery recorded her first EP in 2019, and her soon-to-be-released debut album features original songs and lyrics in English.

Where does she see herself in ten years? “I want to be doing what I am doing now but doing it more –  performing and healing people with the methods that I have learned, and also healing people with music and making people happy.”