Monthly Archives: April 2011

World Premiere oratorio, A Melancholy Beauty!

Varna International Presents The 2nd Songs of Life Festival
June 23 at 7:30pm
Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre

ONLINE: (http://www.citicenter.org/songs)
BY PHONE: 866-348-9738
IN PERSON AT OUR BOX OFFICE: (http://www.citicenter.org/contact)

Songs of Life is pleased to announce the addition of the Boston Modern Orchestra
Project to the featured performance of the World Premiere oratorio, A Melancholy
Beauty!

A Melancholy Beauty is a major choral-orchestral oratorio that brings 300 superb
choristers and instrumentalists to the stage in an unparalleled music celebration
which combines classical choral-orchestral music with traditional rhythms and folk
styles that are rarely encountered today. This song of life will unravel the true
story of the Rescue of all Bulgaria’s Jews during WWII. This coming together of
musicians, from the US, Israel, and Bulgaria, the very countries that were impacted
by these crucial events, will redefine freedom and harmony through the power of
music.…
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Klezmer Concert Features Music of Dave Tarras

Yale Strom, one of the leading artists of klezmer culture, will perform the music of the “Benny Goodman of Klezmer”, Dave Tarras – many of these Tarras’ melodies have never been published or recorded before now.
Thursday, May 5 · 7:00pm – 10:00pm
FREE TO THE PUBLIC!!!
Dweck Center, Brooklyn Public Library
1 Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY

Hot Pstromi clarinet virtuoso NORBERT STACHEL (Pink Floyd, Freddie Hubbard, Diana Ross, Roy Hargrove, Tower of Power, Boz Scaggs, Sheila E and many other world-class bands) will bring new exciting artistic interpretation to Tarras’s tunes.

Strom will also discuss his new book, Dave Tarras:The King of Klezmer (Or-Tav), a Tarras-family authorized biography. Tarras is considered the most influential klezmer musician of the twentieth century. Even the great be-bop artists Charlie Parker and Miles Davis traveled to the Catskills to study the technique of this complex and compelling virtuoso.…
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Di Tsvey

Thursday, May 12 · 7:30pm – 10:30pm
Congregation Tifereth Israel
1354 E Broad St
Columbus, OH 43205
Steven Greenman
The “Di Tsvey in May Tour” continues with a fabulous concert at:
Congregation Tifereth Israel – Cultural Arts Concert
Steven Greenman and Pete Rushefsky will be joined with special guests:
Cantor Jack Chomsky – Tifereth Israel
Cantor Star Trompeter – Tifereth Israel
Gail Rose – Temple Beth Shalom

Tickets: $10
Phone: 614-253-8523, x. 115
Contact email: CantorJC@aol.com
www.tiferethisrael.org

Jewish Ghetto Cabaret – Yom HaShoah Program

Temple Emunah Yom HaShoah Program
Cost: FREE, and registration is not required.
When: May 01, 2011 | 07:30 PM to 09:00 PM
Where: Temple Emunah, 9 Piper Rd, Lexington, MA, Lexington, MA 02421
781-861-0300; wheelchair accessible

Special Features:
Jews in the various Ghettos during the Shoah had numerous
cabarets of musicians and singers. Songs ranged from the sad
and deeply somber in response to the death and horrific
conditions within and without of the Ghettos, to parodies on the
Nazis, to the typical songs sung in the cabarets of Europe before
the war. The caliber was so high as to attract the attendance of
German soldiers out of uniform.

Our Jewish Ghetto Cabaret program will be rich and varied and
be presented by a small musical ensemble, soloists, and the
Mak’haylah.…
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9th Daniel Pearl World Music Day– Concert eSACHERe

Concert “eSACHERe” is held under the auspices of the Embassy of Switzerland and as part of the 9th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days.

“eSACHERe”
(12 composers of Swiss patron Paul Sacher)

CONRAD BECK (1901-1989): Drei Epigramme
LUCIANO BERIO (1925-2003): Les mots sont alles …
PIERRE BOULEZ (1925): Messagesquisse*
BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913-1976): Tema ‘Sacher’
HENRI DUTILLEUX (1916): 3 Strophes sur le nom de Sacher
WOLFGANG FORTNER (1907-1987): Thema und Variationen
ALBERTO GINASTERA (1916-1983): Punena No. 2
CRISTOBAL HALFFTER (1930): Variation uber das Thema eSACHERe
HANS WERNER HENZE (1926): Cappriccio
HEINZ HOLLIGER (1939): Chaconne
KLAUS HUBER (1924): Transpositio ad infinitum
WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI (1913-1994): Sacher-Variation

FRANTISEK BRIKCIUS – cello
*Guests: JAN TALICH – conductor & eSACHERe Cello Ensemble

Monday 9th May 2011, 7pm
The National Gallery – Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia in Prague (U Milosrdnych 17, Praha 1, Czech Republic).…
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Forgotten Woman Cantor in Jewish Week


The New York Jewish Week ran an article at the end of March on Julie Rosewald, the “Forgotten Cantor”. George Robinson, a long-time music critic and observer of Jewish religious culture, interviewed Judith Pinnolis about her article on Julie Rosewald that appeared in the American Jewish Archives Journal. It seems that a woman served as a cantor during the 1880s in California at the Reform Temple. To read the article in Jewish Week:
http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/short_takes/forgotten_woman_cantor_julie_rosewald_now_getting_her_due

To read the original article in AJAJ: http://americanjewisharchives.org/journal/

Eyal Maoz in Park Slope

Date: Thursday May 5 at 9 PM till 11 PM
Venue: Tea Lounge
Venues address: 837 Union Street. Park Slope, Brooklyn New York, NY 11217
Telephone: (718) 789-2762
Event URL: http://www.tealoungeny.com/calendar
You tube link: Rocks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qdK8xT7JFw
Cover price: Free
Music genre: jazz/world/rock
Event description:
Live Edom performance at Tea Lounge. Where Jazz meets New Wave, and echoes
of Joy Division are counterposed with John Zorn’s Electric Masada, begins
the rocking odyssey of Edom.
With Eyal Maoz – guitar;
Shanir Blumenkranz –bass
and Yuval Lion – drums.
www.edom.bandcamp.com

Young Artists Concert Series at YIVO

Thursday, May 12th. 7pm
As part of the Young Artists Concert Series, Hebrew College School of Jewish Music students
Richard Lawrence and Kate Judd will be performing in
a concert highlighting the works of Lazar Weiner and Joseph Achron at the YIVO
Institute for Jewish Research, New York City,
at the Center for Jewish History | 15 West 16th Street – NYC

For more information on the concert and to purchase tickets, please go to:
http://www.yivo.org/events/index.php?tid=181&aid=822

FRAUENSTIMMEN: Women’s Voices from Ravensbrück

May 1, 2011, 7pm – Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day.
Conceived and Directed by School of Jewish Music student and faculty member Lynn
Torgove, 2011Gideon Klein Scholar. Performed by students from the Cantorial and
Rabbinical program at Hebrew College, New England Conservatory and their friends,
School of Jewish Music student Becky Wexler, Music Director.

This Musical Cabaret portrays the lives of 7 women who were imprisoned at the
Ravensbrück Concentration Camp – the only camp originally built as an all women’s
prison.

May 1, 2011, 7pm – Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day.
This is a 90 minute performance without intermission and there will be a
post-performance discussion with performers.

The Fenway Center, Boston Massachusetts
77 St. Stephen Street, on the corner of St. Stephen Street and Gainsborough Street.…
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Ayn Sof Arkestra and Bigger Band for Passover Concert

Thursday, April 21 · 8:30pm – 10:30pm
East 6th Street Community Synagogue Max Raiskin Center
325 East 6th Street
New York, NY

Come join the Ayn Sof Arkestra and Bigger Band for a special middle of Passover Concert.
The midweek of the Festival of Passover is traditionally a time where the celebration of the holiday is stretched into the mundane workaday world, called “Chol HaMoed”.
Come join Ayn Sof for the holiday celebration! We may even break out the Slivovitz!
$10.00 Cover

NYC’s newest addition to the canon of new Jewish influenced music and culture, the Ayn Sof Arkestra and Bigger Band, under the direction of saxophonist Jazz Rabbi Greg Wall and Grammy winning trumpeter Frank London.The Arkestra consists of some of the most innovative artists on the scene today, such as Pam Fleming, Rob Henke, Jordan Hirsch, Paul Shapiro, Jessica Lurie, Marty Fogel, Zach Mayer, Aaron Alexander, David Chevan, Fima Ephron, Eyal Maoz, Mathias Kunzli, Uri Sharlin, and many others.…
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Benjy Fox-Rosen’s TICK TOCK CD RELEASE

THE CENTER FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND DANCE’S AN-SKY INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH CULTURE PRESENTS:
TICK TOCK CD RELEASE PARTY!
Saturday, April 30, 2011 · 7:30pm – 10:30pm
Ukranian East Village Restaurant
140 2nd Avenue
New York, NY

Please join in for the CD release of Benjy Fox-Rosen’s Tick Tock, a new recording of Yiddish song from the acclaimed bassist/singer of the Luminescent Orchestrii and the Michael Winograd Trio.
The evening begins with an opening set of Yiddish song performed by Adrienne Cooper, Yiddish Diva Superstar. Then Fox-Rosen will debut the album, and we’ll top it all off with a Tantshoyz Yiddish Dance party, dancing set led by Michael Winograd.
@ Ukrainian East Village Restaurant, 140 2nd Ave
between East 9th St. & St. Marks Place in Manhattan
April 30, 2011 doors open at 7:30pm
$10-15, no one turned away for lack of funds

Listen to the album here:
http://benjyfoxrosen.bandcamp.com/
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TORONTO JEWISH FOLK CHOIR’S 85TH ANNUAL SPRING CONCERT

SUNDAY, MAY 15, 2011 AT POSLUNS AUDITORIUM
The Toronto Jewish Folk Choir celebrates its 85th annual
Spring concert by commemorating the original immigrant workers who founded
the choir. Its performance – under conductor Alexander Veprinsky – features
special guests Beyond The Pale (2010 Canadian Folk Music Awards’
Instrumental Group of the Year).

The concert takes place at the Posluns
Auditorium at Baycrest, 3560 Bathurst Street, north entrance, 2nd floor
(wheelchair accessible), Sunday, May 15, 2011, 3 p.m.

Tickets are $25; seniors and students, $20; children 12 and under free.
Information and ticket reservations may be obtained by calling 416-789-5502
or e-mailing tjfolkchoir@sympatico.ca Info will also be available at
www.winchevskycentre.org/institutions/choir.html and at the Toronto Jewish
Folk Choir on Facebook.

The Choir’s major work, In Amerike, vividly captures the immigrant
experience in an evocative suite by Winnipeg composer Sid Robinovitch.…
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Join Zemel Choir for Sephardi Choral Workshops and Concert

Spread over two Sundays, 12 June and 26 June culminating in a final public
concert on 26 June, the Zemel Choir invites you to take part in the annual event
called “Celebrate with Song”. This year the music will be Sephardi, from France,
Italy Spain and the Middle East. There will be professional vocal coaches to teach
singing techniques and a brief lecture on the history of Sephardi music will be
given. The event is open to everyone who ever fancied singing, or who already does
sing, whether in a choir or in the bath. For more information and an application
form please contact cws@zemelchoir.org

The Zemel Choir is the UK’s leading mixed voice Jewish choir. For more information about the workshops, visit:
http://www.zemelchoir.org/
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Judicial Review of “Divine Sparks”

In a very interesting way, The Boston Jewish Music Festival is continuing to build education about Jewish music. They’ve collaborated with The Arts Fuse: The Culture of New England, a discussion forum. This is their sixth session, “this time a discussion of the concert “Divine Sparks,” a provocative attempt to explore how Jewish cantorial music and other kinds of religious song can spark musical improvisation and spiritual experiences.” Written by Steve Elman, the reviews are opinions of six knowledgable people who attended the event in March.
http://artsfuse.org/?p=27943

Michael Isaacson lecture in NY at the Village Temple

Thursday, April 28 · 7:30pm – 10:30pm
The Village Temple
33 E. 12th St.
New York, NY

“Understanding the Power of Midrashic Synagogue Music”
CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT: http://bentisser.com/store/isaacson.htm

In a rare one-time appearance on the East Coast, noted Los Angeles synagogue composer, conductor, and music director Dr. Michael Isaacson will speak about looking and listening to Jewish music in a new way; one that enables the Hazzan and the Rabbi to select and program music that has more meaning and g…reater emotional impact for their congregations. This is a talk that will be life transforming for you and will only happen here in New York on Thursday evening, April 28th, 2011

Those in attendance will also receive a 20% discount on Isaacson’s profound book and accompanying double CD set “Jewish Music as Midrash: What Makes Music Jewish?” (To order your copy of the book in advance, email Dr.…
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Afro-Semitic Experience in Middleton, CT

The Afro-Semitic Experience will be performing in Middletown,
Connecticut in a couple of weeks. They are performing in concert on Saturday,
April 16, 8:00 p.m., at Congregation Adath Israel 8 Broad Street, in
Middletown. If you want more information about this concert the number at
Adath Israel is (860) 346-4709.

Visit the still fairly new Afro-Semitic Experience web site. The site has lots of music,
photos, and info about the band. Plus there is a news page that is updated
on a fairly regular basis. The address is http://afrosemiticexperience.net/

Celebrate Freedoom with Music For Passover from URJ

Soundswrite newsletter: Volume 10, Number 7 • April, 2011 • Adar II/Nisan, 5771

Purim is over, which means Passover is just around the corner! Arguably the most widely observed of all Jewish holidays, Passover (Pesach) is a celebration of freedom–a remembrance of our people’s Exodus from slavery in Egypt over 3,000 years ago. Today, there’s an amazing array of terrific music for Pesach, both traditional and contemporary, to enliven your holiday and brighten your home, your car, your classroom, or anywhere else you listen to music. Check out these amazing recordings by clicking on any cover image below. Chag Pesach Sameach!