Spotted by a talent scout at the age of 15, Koren was a regular fixture on the catwalks of New York before she discovered her singing talents while serving in the Israeli army. After turning down a longterm record deal in the U.S., she moved to London, where she worked on material with producers Dave Dix (Alison Moyet) and Thrashing Doves' Bill and Ken Foreman. In 1995, one of her tracks, "Like Brigit," reached the final of Israel's search to find their Eurovision Song Contest entry, but it took until 2008 for her debut solo album, Timeless Melodies, a collection of reworkings of famous classical pieces, to be released. Two years later, she recorded her first mainstream pop album, 72 Names, with Phil Curran and Yoad Nevo (Pet Shop Boys, Sugababes), whose lead single, "Beauty of the Duty," became her first single to gain any exposure outside the Jewish music scene. A graduate in Jewish studies, Koren was also personally invited to perform in front of the Israeli President Shimon Peres, played the voice of an agent in James Bond film Quantum of Solace, and has contributed songs to indie films The Man Who Sold the World and Cargo. ~ Jon O'Brien