Monthly Archives: May 2008

Israeli Music Successful Draw for American Audiences

by Uriel Heilman courtesy of JTA.
Whether out of hunger for a connection to Israel or mere interest in the music,
increasing numbers of Jews in America — both Americans and Israelis — are tuning
into Israeli music performances.

Singing in unintelligible gibberish as her hands strike the
darbuka drum with frantic intensity, the short, pretty brunette at center stage
holds the audience transfixed as she reaches the song’s crescendo.
When she sounds her final note, the audience rises for a standing ovation.
Though it is her New York debut concert, Israeli singer-songwriter Din Din Aviv is
no stranger here. The performance hall at the Museum of Jewish Heritage is packed
with Israeli fans of Aviv who live in New York and American Jews clutching her CD.…
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Washington Jewish Music Festival 2008

Washington Jewish Music Festival 2008
May 31 – June 8

Nine days of music, film and dialogue from an amazing variety of artists and musical
styles. Visit www.wjmf.org for a full line-up and tickets.

The Ninth Annual Washington Jewish Music Festival celebrates and explores the wide
spectrum of sounds and traditions that make up Jewish music. Throughout a nine-day
festival, audiences will be able to hear a wide range of styles and influences that
make up the richness of Jewish music. The Festival will feature David Buchbinder’s
Odessa/Havana, an exciting Jewish-Cuban musical fusion; the Afro-Semitic Experience,
showcasing the musical traditions of both Jewish and African diasporas; Beyond The
Pale, presenting new klezmer music, fused with folk and roots; the silent film The
Golem
set to live music performed by Davka; the Sisters of Sheynville who swing in
Yiddish; dance music and classical music; musical theater and pop; and much more.…
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Nashir Celebrates Israel at 60

On Sunday, June 15, at 8:00 pm, Nashir! The Rottenberg Chorale will present
its annual concert at Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, New York.
The eclectic program features a major work by Israel Prize-winning composer
Yehezkel Braun as well as works of other composers from around the world.

Tickets are $24 (preferred seating), $21 (general admission) and $17
(seniors/students). For further information, contact Merkin Concert Hall
(212-501-3330).

Beyle Schaechter Gottesman: Song of Autumn

Yiddish Film Project
Worlds within a World: Conversations with Yiddish Writers
Beyle Schaechter Gottesman: Song of Autumn
A VELT MIT VELTELEKH: SHMUESN MIT YIDISHE SHRAYBERS
BEYLE SHEKHTER-GOTESMAN: HARBSTLID

The League for Yiddish, publishers of the magazine Afn Shvel is pleased to
announce that the
film Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman: Song of Autumn (BEYLE SHEKHTER-GOTESMAN:
Harbstlid
), the
second film in our series Worlds within a World: Conversations with Yiddish Writers
(A velt mit veltelekh: shmuesn mit yidishe shraybers) is ready and available for viewing and
purchase.

The film is available in VHS
or DVD format.
TO ORDER, send $30 plus $5 postage (in the US) or your credit card information to:
LEAGUE FOR YIDDISH
64 FULTON ST.
SUITE 1101
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10038.
Postage for Canada : $6.00 for either VHS or DVD.…
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Wild Peace: A Gala Concert for Israel’s 60th

Wild Peace: A Gala Concert for Israel’s 60th
Honoring Joyce Bohnen, Zamir alumna and former board chair
Sunday, June 1, 2008
8:00 pm
Sanders Theatre, Cambridge
Join Maestro Joshua Jacobson and the Zamir Chorale of Boston for a celebration of well-known works and hidden gems by Israel’s greatest composers, including Yehezkel Braun’s dramatic “Magash Ha-kesef,” Naomi Shemer’s mystical “Shirat Ha-asavim,” Gil Aldema’s joyous “Ashira Liydiyday,” Moshe Wilensky’s exuberant “Uri Tsiyon,” and a rollicking arrangement of Marc Lavry’s “Shir Ha-Emek.” The evening culminates with the world premiere of Cantor Charles D. Osborne’s stunning oratorio for chorus and orchestra, Like Wildflowers, Suddenly, based on the poem “Wild Peace,” by Israeli poet Yehudah Amichai.
Tickets from $18; students, $10
Visit www.zamir.org
[http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001akelOBI-lzxlFM96wF4rRTlRdfDZu_54wnTFMxfzOMgF57OwGRGBelHxWL7dDzWflwypC9sWi8PSN-WKiLOkQug0Os27yaH-5xBGnqgizRk=]
or call 617-244-6333.…
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Studying Jewish music at SOAS

SOAS University of LondonThe Music Department runs BA, MMus and PhD degree programmes; all focus on world music, with the opportunity to specialize in regional traditions including Jewish musics, and to receive high-level training in performance. In the BA, Music can be combined with language studies, Development Studies, Anthropology and many other academic disciplines, while PhD projects can be practice-led, fieldwork-based, or theoretical.

Scholarship support is available for Jewish Music studies at SOAS via the recently inaugurated JMI Mildred Loss Studentships. Please contact Abigail Wood for application details. Specialist research resources include the JMI library, housed at SOAS.

BA Music Studies

Jewish music course options currently include:
· Aspects of Jewish Music (2nd/3rd year)
· Popular Music and Politics in Israel (2nd/3rd year)
· Klezmer music: roots and revival (2nd/3rd year)
· Performance options: klezmer (1st year); free choice of performance study (2nd and 3rd yars).…
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Chamber Music at Rodeph Sholom Classical Jazz Concert

“Theme, Moods and Angles” for flute, cello and Jazz Trio”
Friday, May 30, at 8PM

Chamber Music at Rodeph Sholom reprises their classical/Jazz
crossover ensemble in a new program which premiere’s pianist/composer
Ted Rosenthal’s recent chamber jazz composition, Theme, Moods and
Angles for flute, cello and Jazz Trio, on Friday evening, May 30th,
at 8pm in Schnurmacher Chapel. The guest ensemble, Ted Rosenthal, piano,
Cantor Rebecca Garfein, vocals, Susan Rotholz, flute, Eliot Bailen,
cello and Artistic Director, Thomson Kneeland, bass, and Chris
Parker
, drums, will play works by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1922) and
Pablo Ziegler (1944-), Hector Villa-Lobos (1887-1959), Benny Carter
(1907-2003) and Ted Rosenthal (1959-). Mezzo-soprano Cantor Rebecca
Garfein will perform a selection of songs by Charles Dumont, Marvin
Hamlisch, and Richard Rodgers.…
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Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival 2008

Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival 2008 presents
ISRAEL@60 May 21-June 1
http://www.pjmf.net

TICKETS for all events $20 general admission, $15 seniors, $10 students
MORE INFORMATION at www.pjmf.net
TICKETS available at www.proartstickets.org
(412) 394-3353

ESTA in Concert
Wednesday, May 21 7:30pm
Byham Theater, 101 6th St.

ESTA is a unique band from Israel with an innovative and original
sound. ESTA’s music combines the aromas of world music, the power of rock, and the spirit
of jazz into a powerful, energetic new force that crosses genres, styles and
borders. Proclaimed as “Israel’s most original instrumental band”, ESTA has
toured prestigious festivals and venues throughout Europe, Israel and the
U.S., including a special performance for President Clinton at a White House
reception in honor of Israel’s 50th Anniversary.…
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Music in Our Time 2008 at CJH

On Sunday, June 1 at 3 PM, at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th
Street, NYC), the American Society for Jewish Music, in association with the
American Jewish Historical Society and the Mannes College of Music of the New
School, presents “Music in Our Time 2008,” our annual concert of contemporary
music.

As those of you who have attended the Society’s previous concerts of
contemporary music know, not only are these concerts an important part of the
Society’s mission, but they are filled with vital, committed performances of Jewish
music by wonderful artists.

The program for “Music in Our Time 2008” consists of works by Paul Richards,
Arkadie Kougell, Ofer Ben-Amots, Lionel Semiatin and Paul Schonfield.

For tickets, please contact the CJH Theater Box Office, phone: (917) 606-8200
email: boxoffice@cjh.org .…
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Ayelet Rose Gottlieb Sextet at Jazz Standard

Ayelet Rose Gottlieb Sextet¹s Debut at the Jazz Standard

“A commanding vocalist” — New York Times

“The elegance in this music is juxtaposed against the rawness of its
sensuality” — Billboard

A.R.G. Sextet explores the balance between improvisation and the written
page. Though using traditional jazz group instrumentation, the band
challenges the assumed role of each of the instruments, particularly the
voice. They recently recorded a new CD anticipated to be released in 2008,
and will be playing a ³preview concert² at the world renowned Jazz Standard
this June. The Sextet’s repertoire features compositions and arrangements by
Ayelet Rose Gottlieb. She uses her own lyrics as well as poetry by Rumi and
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. among others. Arrangements include tunes by
Ornette Coleman and Bob Dylan.…
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Like Wildflowers, Suddenly

Like Wildflowers, Suddenly
On Creating a Musical Tribute to Israel
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
Hebrew College, Berenson Hall
$15 at the door
To register, Click here.
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001z-i2hewoZZ4kH5pX6sFnA5HpW2HGgKjmAwkahGFwtMFL8FxyaSflvZgrSkcU45O6U6LrOBL-PrYyIHpo7bahAWnVAtOem1Ax5I0CH1jWx1o5v-p9u3WPIJw_vlzuS–InLGL2Qe662KYOrTwuBwFZ2yrDtm5sdp6-IAdTmuKupY=

Cantor Charles Osborne
Cantor Aryeh Finklestein
Dr. Joshua Jacobson and the Zamir Chorale of Boston

Let it come
like wildflowers,
suddenly, because the field
must have it: wildpeace

So ends the poem “Wild Peace” by Yehuda Amichai. Those words were the starting point
for composer Charles Osborne and librettist Aryeh Finklestein as they set out to
create a musical tribute for Israel’s 60th birthday. The result is Like Wildflowers,
Suddenly
, an oratorio encompassing three stages of Jewish history-biblical, the
diaspora and the modern Jewish state of Israel.

In this special lecture-concert leading up to the composition’s world premiere with
the Zamir Chorale of Boston on June 1 at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, Mass., Osborne
and Finklestein will be joined by the Zamir Chorale and founding director Joshua
Jacobson to explore the inspiration for their work and the process of musical
creation.…
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Toronto Jewish Folk Choir Celebrates Yiddish and Israel’s 60th

TORONTO JEWISH FOLK CHOIR CELEBRATES YIDDISH MUSIC
& ISRAEL’S 60TH ANNIVERSARY IN ITS 82nd SPRING CONCERT JUNE 1

A Yiddish work celebrating the joy of playing the fiddle, and a salute
in song to the State of Israel on its 60th anniversary highlight the
82nd annual spring concert of the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir. Canada’s
oldest continuing choral body performs Sunday, June 1, 2008, 2 p.m. at
the Leah Posluns Theatre, 4588 Bathurst St., Toronto.Alexander Veprinsky
conducts the 30-voice Choir.

Tickets are $23; seniors and students, $19; children 12 and under, free.
For information and ticket reservations, e-mail tjfolkchoir@sympatico.ca
or call 416-636-0936 (evenings, weekends) or (416) 593-0750.
Information is also available at
www.winchevskycentre.org/institutions/choir.html.

Pianist is Lina Zemelman, with soloists Miriam Eskin, soprano; Artour
Razgoev
, tenor; David Weiss, baritone; and Herman Rombouts, bass.…
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CELEBRATING THE EARTH, MAY 3 – 4 AT ST. LUKE IN THE FIELDS

Force of Nature: Celebrating the Earth performed by Melodia Women’s Choir

Melodia Women s Choir/Cynthia Powell, Artistic Director, now celebrating their fifth
season and acclaimed by WNYC for their elegance and ringing tones, has scheduled
several spring performances: on Saturday and Sunday, May 3 and 4, 2008, they will
present Force of Nature: Celebrating the Earth, music about the natural world, at
St. Luke in the Fields Church in New York City.
487 Hudson Street
New York, NY
212-924-0562
Saturday May 3 at 8 PM
Sunday May 4 at 4 PM.
Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, discounts for students
and seniors: $20 in advance, $15 at the door.
Call 212-252-4135, or visit www.melodiawomenschoir.org.

The program will feature Samuel
Barber
‘s Sure On This Shining Night; Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály s Mountain Nights Songs Without Words For Women s Voices; Ronald Perera‘s Earthsongs; Zhou
Long
‘s Four Seasons, a setting of ancient Chinese poetry; A Goodly Heritage by
British composer Gordon Jacob; Spring Song by Israeli composer Yehezkel Braun;
Hotaru Koi (Firefly) by Japanese composer Ro Ogura; and Wellsprings (New York
Premiere) and Contemplations (U.S.…
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