Joanie Calem
Joanie Calem began her performing career in Israel in 1983, singing folksongs in Hebrew, Ladino, Yiddish, Arabic and English, and telling Middle Eastern folk stories for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. She simultaneously worked for local NGOs supporting Jewish-Arab rapprochement and often used her music in her community building work. When she moved to Columbus OH in 1998, she continued writing and performing for all ages and expanded her community building focus (and a lot of her songwriting) to disability awareness and inclusion, in all its forms.
Joanie uses her music and storytelling to build supportive community. She works with people with a history of homelessness, as well as in projects to create intergenerational communities. She can also often be found singing for environmental rallies, and at various social justice gatherings. Between 2004-2026, Joanie produced ten CDs of her music; seven for children and families, and three CDs of her original music for grown-ups. A fellow Columbus artist once said, “Most songwriters open a bottle of wine and sit down to write a song about broken love; Joanie opens a newspaper and writes a song about the broken world. She writes about the ups and downs of life (reality) from all its different angles.”
Joanie’s newest CD, “One Size Never Fits All” is hopefully coming out this fall, and features songs for healing the divides that seem to be cracking our relationships on all sides. We will sing our way back to a healed earth and humanity.
