Since starting the violin at age 4, music has always been a central part of Yoni’s identity. Over the years he has used music as a means to explore different parts of himself: his Ashkenazi and Mizrahi ancestries, his relationship with prayer, spirituality, and meditation, and his voice as a creative being. Now, as a professional musician and prayer leader, Yoni vulnerably harnesses his own journey to facilitate meaningful experiences for audiences and congregations alike.

Together with Rabbi Yosef Goldman, Yoni is the co-founder of Kedmah: The Rising Song Piyyut Project. Kedmah is an ensemble of musicians and prayer leaders excavating their Mizrahi Jewish heritage through poetry and song. Their debut album Simu Lev presents melodies from Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Morocco, Turkey, and Jerusalem, rendered with deep reverence for tradition and boldly adapted with an ear towards our modern musical world. Since the release of Simu Lev, Kedmah has performed at venues such as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and the Weitzman Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, in addition to Jewish communities from Los Angeles to Boston.

In 2020, Yoni was named the first ever Community Creative Fellow, an initiative by the Jewish Arts Collaborative and CJP in Boston, which enabled the development of his debut solo album, Fragments, released in 2022. Described as “...an education for the ear and the soul,” Fragments is a collection of original and traditional music that invites listeners into the complexity of Yoni’s fragmented Iraqi-Jewish identity. Inspired by traditional Arab musical forms, the project combines Hebrew, Arabic, English, and Yiddish lyrics to express the fragmenting effects of migration, lost languages, colonialism, assimilation, and erasure. Since its release, Yoni has been performing Fragments extensively as a live concert experience with personal story-telling, and artistic projections that translate the lyrics in realtime. Yoni’s Fragments has been programmed as a part of the Lowell Folk Festival, Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts, Arrow Street Artsfest, The Boston Festival of New Jewish Music and Toronto Jewish Music Week amongst many other appearances in Jewish communities throughout the country.

From 2021-2022, Yoni was a part of Hadar’s Rising Song Fellowship, where he joined an international cohort of Jewish musical leaders envisioning new ways to cultivate spiritual life through song. As a member of the Nava Tehila community in Jerusalem, and then subsequently on tour as their violinist, Yoni has witnessed again and again how communal singing can powerfully transform community and foster spiritual connection. Yoni draws on these experiences as the artist-in-residence at Temple Beth Zion, where Yoni leads Shabbat Zimrah: a monthly meditative Kabbalat Shabbat of his own creation, utilizing original and traditional Mizrahi and Arab melodies. He also visits Jewish communities around the country as a guest artist, leading musical Shabbat services, teaching about Mizrahi culture and music, and performing solo and with his ensemble.

Besides his extensive work as a solo artist, bandleader, and prayer leader, Yoni plays regularly as a supporting artist with musicians such as Joey Weisenberg, Rabbi Yosef Goldman, Zach Mayer, Anat Halevy Hochberg, and Laura Elkeslassy. From 2021-2022, Yoni spent 10 months touring as a cast member and violinist in the Broadway production of "The Band’s Visit,” performing 250 shows in 27 cities across the United States.

Yoni is a classically trained violist, with a Bachelor's from Brandeis University and Master's from Boston University. Even throughout his classical education, and his subsequent years touring, recording, and performing with professional orchestras and chamber ensembles, Yoni has always maintained a deep investment in world music and improvisation. This interest first blossomed as Yoni explored Klezmer violin and Yiddish song, eventually forming his own Yiddish jazz band, Two Shekel Swing. The group has performed across the Northeastern U.S. and Canada at synagogues, festivals and jazz clubs and opened for Daniel Kahn and the Painted Bird. Their first album Pocket Change was recorded in the Fall of 2019.

Since getting his first oud at age 16, Yoni has also been fascinated with Arab Classical music, both secular and Jewish, studying with master teachers including Layth Sidiq, Simon Shaheen, Mal Barsamina, Elad Gabbay, and Roni Ishran. During his years living in Jerusalem, Yoni began playing with Hibba Orchestra and Jerusalem East West Orchestra, through which he collaborated with Israeli all-stars such as Ehud Banai, Kobi Oz, Shai Tsabari, Avihu Medina, Yair Dalal, and Ben Snof. Over the years, Yoni paired these diverse musical interests with a love for languages, studying Arabic and Yiddish, and singing in both.