According to Brandes, Roșu și Negru won every prize at the Institute of Architecture rock festival in Bucharest, and he received the award for best organist.
After the regime refused the band's contracts abroad, he emigrated to Israel with no Hebrew. Two weeks after landing he was already playing piano in a Tel Aviv bar.
He arranged Ofra Haza's "Chai" and conducted for the Israeli delegation in Munich. The song came second.
On 15 October 2022 he went on stage with the members of Roșu și Negru in front of the Palace of Culture in Iași. He says about 50,000 people were there.
Nancy Brandes: the short answer
Nancy Brandes is an Israeli composer, arranger, conductor and stand-up comedian. He was born in Bucharest as Silviu Brandes, and there, in the early 1960s, he founded Roșu și Negru ("Red and Black"), one of the best-known Romanian rock bands of those years. In 1975 he emigrated to Israel and started again from zero, with no Hebrew and no audience.
Unlike the other profiles in this chapter, Brandes did not move to Romania. He lives in Israel. But his bond with Romania never broke: he has performed in Bucharest again, appeared on Romanian television, and in 2022 went back on stage with the band in Iași.
In plain words: Brandes's story is the opposite route, from Romania to Israel. It shows how deep the bond between the two countries runs, and what it takes to start again in a new country.
Bucharest: piano from age 4 and a band from high school
According to Hebrew Wikipedia, Brandes started playing the piano at the age of 4. In his autobiography, Stage Bug (Hebrew title: ״חיידק במה״), he describes a difficult childhood in Bucharest, and the humour that became his way of coping early on.
In an interview with the Romanian magazine Formula AS in May 2023, he said the band was born in 1963–1964, when he was in 10th or 11th grade. Inspired by a Cliff Richard film, he brought together a drummer friend and three guitarists, and they started playing at student parties and culture houses in Bucharest. In that period they also backed the singer Mirabela Dauer.
Iași, 1969 and fame
When he was accepted to the composition department of the Iași Conservatory, he broke up the band in Bucharest and formed it again with musicians from the conservatory. In 1967 the band took second place at a band festival in Iași, with a song he wrote.
According to Brandes, the key year was 1969. At the first rock festival of the Institute of Architecture, at the Grigore Preoteasa culture house in Bucharest, the band won every prize. He himself received the award for best organist. Then came concerts across the country, television shows, and summers playing in Mamaia on the Black Sea coast.
1975: "A fost cruntă!"
In 1975, he says, he reached a breaking point. The communist regime refused to approve about eight contracts for the band to perform in the West, and then a contract in Bulgaria as well. Brandes went to the Israeli embassy and applied to leave for good. At the last concert, at the Arenele Libertății venue in Bucharest, he announced that the band was breaking up. "The thousands of people in the audience simply started to cry" ("miile de oameni din public pur şi simplu au început să plângă"), he told Formula AS.
About leaving Romania he said: "It was brutal!" ("A fost cruntă!"). "I was born in Romania" ("M-am născut în România"), he added, and all his people and friends were there. Even so, looking back, he sees leaving as one of the wisest steps of his life.
According to Hebrew Wikipedia, he emigrated to Israel on 10 October 1975 and settled in Tel Aviv.
Tel Aviv: starting from zero, two weeks after landing
"It's something incredible. After a two-hour flight you arrive in Tel Aviv and you are nobody, zero" ("Este ceva incredibil. După două ore de zbor ajungi la Tel Aviv şi eşti nimeni, zero"), he told Evenimentul Zilei in 2011. "I didn't speak Hebrew" ("Nu vorbeam ivrit").
According to Formula AS, two weeks after landing he was already playing piano in a night bar, in the dark, before the star of the evening came on stage. "I will make it here too!" ("Eu o să reuşesc şi aici!"), he told himself then.
The rest of the road is well documented. According to Hebrew Wikipedia, he accompanied singers such as Riki Gal, Avi Toledano, Ilanit and Zvika Pick on the piano. In 1982 he arranged "Hora" for Avi Toledano, and in 1983 "Chai" for Ofra Haza. Both songs came second at the Eurovision Song Contest, and according to English Wikipedia, he was the conductor of the Israeli delegation in Munich in 1983. He also arranged "HaPerach BeGani" ("The Flower in My Garden") for Zohar Argov, and from 1985 to 1995 he conducted the Israeli Air Force Orchestra.
I preferred to fight to become an Israeli artist rather than be a ghetto artist in Israel. (Nancy Brandes, Formula AS, 2023)
Later he became a stand-up comedian. "Proud to say I cracked Israeli humour" (״גאה להגיד שפיצחתי את ההומור הישראלי״), he told the Israeli news site ynet in 2022, "as a new immigrant whose mother tongue isn't Hebrew" (״בתור עולה חדש ששפת האם שלי לא עברית״). In May 2023 he published his autobiography, Stage Bug.
A conscious choice: not staying in the bubble
One of the most interesting parts of the Formula AS interview is his decision not to shut himself inside the Romanian community in Israel. In his words, it would have been easy to perform Romanian-language shows, but it would have locked him into a niche. "I preferred to fight to become an Israeli artist rather than be a ghetto artist in Israel" ("Am preferat să lupt ca să devin artist israelian, decât să fiu un artist de ghetou în Israel.").
He also joked about himself and about immigrants from Romania, and at first that drew a fair amount of criticism from the community. "Today I am a source of pride for them" ("azi sunt o mândrie pentru ei"), he said.
His bond with Romania today
Brandes does not live in Romania, but he keeps coming back. According to Revista Cariere, in December 2009 he performed in Bucharest with a stand-up and music show called "Manual de Viață Conjugală" ("A Manual of Married Life"), at Casa Vernescu on Calea Victoriei 133. In 2011 he appeared with the band's veteran drummer, Ovidiu Lipan Țăndărică, on the show "Dănutz SRL" on Romanian television, TVR. "I haven't done a single artistic event in Romania without Ovidiu" ("Nu am făcut niciun eveniment artistic în România fără Ovidiu"), he said at the time.
On 15 October 2022 he went on stage with the band members in front of the Palace of Culture in Iași, at the show "Încoronarea Regelui 100", according to Radio Regional. He told Formula AS there were about 50,000 people in the audience, and that the moment was very moving for him.
How does he see Romania today? He stresses that he judges from relatively short visits and from what friends tell him. "It's clear to me that Romania has changed a lot for the better" ("mi-e clar că România e schimbată mult în bine"), he said, adding that in other areas "there is still work to do" ("mai e de lucru"). In his view, Romania has everything it needs to reach the level of Switzerland.
What a family moving to Romania can learn from his story
1. A new language is not a barrier. Brandes arrived without a word of Hebrew, and today he makes audiences laugh in Hebrew. If you move to Bucharest, you can learn Romanian step by step. On life in the city, see Living in Bucharest: pros and cons.
2. Do not stay only in the bubble. He chose the mainstream over the immigrant niche. In Romania too, it is worth getting to know the community and, just as much, building local connections. On the community, see our chapter on the Jewish community in Romania.
3. Start with the small job. Two weeks after landing he was already playing in a bar. A modest start is not a failure. It is a way in.
4. A two-hour flight. If you are moving from Israel, the distance he described in 1975 is the same today. On the routes between Israel and Bucharest, see flights from Israel to Bucharest.
5. Roots can turn into status. Many Israelis have parents or grandparents who were born in Romania. Who qualifies for citizenship is covered in our guide to Romanian citizenship for Israelis. And the historical background is in Romania, the Jews and Israel.
Frequently asked questions
Does Nancy Brandes live in Romania?
No. According to the reports we found, he has lived in Israel since 1975. In 2023 he told Formula AS that he visits Romania for relatively short visits, and always meets Țăndărică.
Does he have Romanian citizenship?
We found no publication that confirms or rules this out, so we do not write about it.
Where can I read the full story?
In his autobiography, Stage Bug: The Story of Nancy Brandes (Hebrew title: ״חיידק במה: סיפורו של ננסי ברנדס״), published in May 2023. The full interview in Romanian was published in Formula AS on 25 May 2023.
Can I see Roșu și Negru live?
The last concert we found was in Iași in October 2022. Brandes told Formula AS that, as far as he is concerned, he is ready for another reunion "any time" ("oricând"), but we found no planned concert.
The bottom line
Nancy Brandes made the journey from Bucharest to Tel Aviv and started from zero. Fifty years later, he still comes back to Romania's stages. It is a story about courage, about a new language, and about a bond between two countries that did not end when he left.
If you are considering the opposite route, from Israel to Romania, book a 30-minute call with me. We will go through the first questions together: work, language, school, and where to live.
Moti Azulay, Compass Group Romania
Sources: Formula AS, interview with Nansi Brandes, 25.5.2023 (Romanian) · Evenimentul Zilei, 29.3.2011 (Romanian) · Jurnalul, Roșu și Negru, 8.9.2008 (Romanian) · Revista Cariere, Nancy Brandes & Friends, 13.12.2009 (Romanian) · Radio Regional, Sărbătorile Iașului, 13.10.2022 (Romanian) · ynet, "Proud to say I cracked Israeli humour", 19.8.2022 (Hebrew) · ynet, a chapter from Stage Bug (Hebrew) · Hebrew Wikipedia, Nancy Brandes (Hebrew) · Romanian Wikipedia, Nancy Brandes (Romanian) · Wikipedia, Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983
Based on public reports and published interviews, correct as of 22 October 2026. Nancy Brandes was not interviewed for this article.
The complete guide: relocating to Romania
- Relocating to Romania: the complete guide
- Visas, residence and legal status in Romania
- The Jewish community in Romania
- International education in Romania
- Prominent Israelis in Romania
Prominent Israelis in Romania: all the stories
Now you know more.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult local professionals before any transaction.
