Mishael Dickman, originally from New York, came to live in Israel at the age of ten. He started learning piano when he was just six years old. In his teens he began to branch out to guitar and saxophone. While traveling across Russia as an emissary from the Jewish Agency, he started learning flute instruments. This was mainly due to the fact that it was too difficult to carry a piano or guitar and wood wind instruments are definitely more robust for traveling. He now plays 12 instruments including piano, guitar, ukulele, drums, bass, harmonica, saxophone, recorders and more. His two favorites are Saxophone and piano.
After his army service, at the age of 23, he founded a band called ‘Para Aduma’. Mishael realized that if he learned drums and had a better understanding of the instrument, it would help when giving direction to the drummer in the band. And, with the same thought process, he also learned guitar and bass.
His first professional gig came about from teaching a child for his BarMitzvah. The parents knew about Mishael’s musical background and, with their forthcoming event approaching, told Mishael that they were looking for a six-piece band. This gave Mishael the initiative to start a six-piece band in order to get into the business as a professional. His first band consisted of family and friends and proved that this was the direction he wanted to follow. And so, his first professional gig was at the Mount Zion Hotel with a six-piece band consisting of, among others, a violinist, saxophonist and a vocalist. This was the start of his professional ‘Simcha’ career, but parallel to that he was still promoting his original music band ‘Para Admua’. The new six-piece simcha band was called ‘Tzuzamen’. Eventually Para Aduma and Tzuzamen merged to form one band doing everything and toured Israel playing original songs written and composed by Mishael.
Asked if he still plays for fun, as some professional musicians have been known to lose their passion if they play as their fulltime career, he answered with a comparison about playing music to being thirsty. A gig satiates the thirst to play, but when there is downtime from events, the thirst needs to be quenched by continuing to play for fun. It’s during these ‘downtime’ periods when he becomes most creative and continues to write and compose original music.
Another talent that has come to the forefront of Mishael’s skillset is being a DJ. In the last few years Mishael made the decision to ‘up his game’ and offer this service at events in addition to his other many musical talents.
When he’s working at events one of the driving forces that keeps him going, is his personal connection that he forges with the families who hire him. On a personal level the thing that keeps him going is learning new instruments. He may get repeat requests for the same songs, but he stays innovative by offering these songs with the new instruments that he is constantly learning.
Looking to the future he sees himself as upping his game in two directions. One – producing whole events, including music and offering the complete package to this clients. With his already vast knowledge of the events world and the many connections that he has established over the years, puts him in a very unique and opportunistic position. The second option is to up the music game by offering ‘Live-On DJ’, combining electronic back tracks with live musicians at live events.
BarMitzvahs are his favourite type of event, more so than weddings, mainly because they are typically smaller, more informal and there is more opportunity to connect to the family and the guests.
During the Corona pandemic was when Mishael downsized from Para Aduma and decided to rebrand and just offer ‘Mishael Music’. Many businesses rebranded during this time and many others collapsed completely. The Corona pandemic was not a good time for anyone involved or connected to the events industry. Mishael manged to get through this dark time and is now back in full swing.