An Intimate Gathering at the Artist’s Home

The experience begins before the guests even realise it has started.

As the guests arrive, Ilya is already creating the music live — recording layers in real time, adding instruments one by one and controlling the process with his feet, through a MIDI controller running Ableton Live.

While the guests continue to arrive, there is time to meet, talk and mingle in the garden among the flowers, with coffee, tea and cookies.

Once everyone has arrived, they come inside and take their seats. The room grows quiet, the music changes — and the story begins.

From New York to Jerusalem through Nevada, and from there to the army, Bezalel, Denmark, Africa, Sinai, Iceland, Ibiza and other stops along the way.

The instruments enter the story at the places where they entered his life — the ocarina, the djembe and other instruments gathered along the way.

Later, the story opens into a more musical part, with instruments and sounds from different cultures and places.

The music, the places, the people and the story are all part of the same journey.

1 · Arrival — live looping and layers of sound, built in real time as the guests arrive.
2 · The beginning — family, identity, New York, Nevada, Jerusalem, and the complicated roots of the story.
3 · The road — the army, Bezalel, Denmark, street music, Africa, Sinai, Ibiza, film, workshops, and a life on the move.
4 · Back home — returning to Israel, love, children, building a shipping-container house for his family, and the beginning of a new chapter.

Around 25 seated guests share the room with the instruments and the story — whether it is an intimate experience for a couple or a private group.

The music and storytelling usually last between one hour and one and a half hours. If a meal is included, it adds roughly another hour to an hour and a half, depending on the group and the flow of the experience. The total visit is usually no more than about three to three and a half hours.

The experience can take place at any time of day — morning, afternoon, or evening — and unfolds between the house and the garden.

No two gatherings are the same. The time of day, the room, the guests, and the conversation all help shape the experience.

The ocarina appears when the journey begins. The djembe comes in with West Africa and the years of drumming workshops. Later the visit opens into a more musical final part — oud, flute, Persian santur, percussion, and other instruments gathered over a lifetime of travel, some of them rare: from far-off China, the Middle East and Africa.

The music is not decoration between the chapters. It is part of the story itself — another way of telling where he was, what he was doing, and who he was becoming.

A boy born into an American family arrives in Israel at three with his mother, a jazz pianist escaping his father. Dyslexia, a naval commando unit, Bezalel. Twelve years in Denmark, ten years of drumming and snorkelling workshops in Sinai, three years in Ibiza living out of a van, a house built by hand out of shipping containers — and starting again in Haifa.

The visit does not tell all of it. Part of it is kept for the room.

₪180 per person, for a group of at least 10 — VAT not included.
Includes herbal tea, coffee and cookies.

A home-cooked meal can be added (below).

Every dish is cooked and baked at the house on the day of the visit, from good ingredients and plenty of fresh seasonal vegetables and pulses. Vegetarian, vegan or with meat — the menu is adapted to taste and to budget.

Brisket — roasted in the oven, the smoker or the pot, with root vegetables and spices — or fresh salmon wrapped in herbs and lemon, with mushrooms and garlic

Red lentil soup with tomato, ginger and herbs, or a seasonal soup

Crisp crushed potatoes baked with olive oil and spices

Three house spreads, such as: courgette and cashew · Jerusalem artichoke and garlic confit · coriander, lemon and chilli · za'atar and sumac (in season) · Greek tzatziki · warm fresh hummus · green tahini with mint

Wholegrain spelt bread with seeds

Two seasonal salads with house dressings: fresh vegetables from a local organic farm · tomato salad with herbs and toasted seeds · roasted vegetables (antipasti) with balsamic reduction

Dessert, by season: chocolate mousse with mint or lemon zest · date cookies · watermelon (in season)

Herbal infusions, coffee and tea

₪280 per person, in addition to the visit — before VAT, minimum 10 guests.

A rich, filling soup — black bean, pea or lentil

Home-baked wholegrain spelt bread

Oven-baked crushed potatoes with spices

Green salad with organic olive oil, balsamic, honey and a citrus dressing

Salmon roasted with herbs

Chocolate mousse with mint (or another dessert)

Herbal tea from the garden, or coffee

₪150 per person, in addition to the visit — before VAT, minimum 10 guests.

The menu can be adapted — vegetarian and vegan included.
Guests are welcome to bring cake, wine or other drinks.
Outside catering can be arranged, at extra cost.

Booking & payment: a 30% deposit confirms and secures the date. The remaining balance is due by the day of the event and can be paid by bank transfer, cheque or cash.
Cancellation: more than 30 days before the event, the deposit is refunded in full. 14–30 days before the event, 50% of the deposit is refunded. Less than 14 days before the event, the deposit is non-refundable.
Visits including a meal: the final number of guests is confirmed no later than two days before the event.
Emergency situations: if the event cannot take place due to official restrictions or an emergency, the booking may be moved to another date by mutual agreement.