Monthly Archives: April 2016

Irving Glick, Srul

One of Canada’s distinguished classical composers, Srul Irving Glick is also a prolific composer of Jewish music with special devotion to music of the synagogue. His website includes listings of recorded music, his published works and complete repertoire as well as this online biography.
http://www.snapmedia.com/srulirvingglick/bio/body_bio.html


Srul Irving Glick, Canadian Music Centre
The Canadian Music Centre includes a directory of composers that includes an online biography and list of selected works. These websites have both English and French versions.
http://www.musiccentre.ca/CMC/dac_rca/eng/f_/Glick_Srul_Irving.html

George and Ira Gershwin

The “official” Gershwin website. It includes a jukebox, biographies of Ira and George, anthologies of their film and and show music, lots of good clips of music in the jukebox, with information about performers and the song.
http://www.gershwin.com/


The official website of George and Ira Gershwin. This site includes an extensive bibliography of the writings by and about the Gershwins. The biographies are brief, but there is an excellent photo gallery and discography.
http://www.cmgww.com/music/gershwin/

Gebirtig, Mordechai

Born Krakow, Poland, 1877. Died, 1942. Yiddish folk song poet. He was a poor carpenter who was self-taught in music and composed songs completely by ear, remembering them all in his head. Because he was illiterate in music, friends notated his songs. Despite the handicaps, Gebirtig’s (also spelled Gebertig) songs grew wildly popular and were picked up, even in the United States, to become part of folk, popular theater and sheet music repertoire. Several books of his music were published during his lifetime including Mayne Lider. Mordechai Gebirtig: His Poetic and Musical Legacy Edited by Gertrude Schneider is a book published in 2000 of his music, reviewed at this site.
An opera has been written by Joel Hoffman about his life.CCM Opera Recalls The Holocaust.…
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Fine, Irving

This website is part of the American Memories project of the Library of Congress. “The career of Irving Fine (1914-1962), composer, conductor, writer, and academic, is documented in the Library of Congress Music Division by approximately 4,350 items from the Irving Fine Collection.” In addition to biographical materials, “this first online release presents a selection of 57 photographs, a sketchbook that includes sketches for the woodwind Partita and a string quartet, a manuscript score for the String Quartet (1952), a recorded performance of the Quartet, and the finding aid for the collection.”
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ifhtml/

Gershon Ephros

Born, Serotsk, Poland (outside of Warwaw), 1890. Died, June 28, 1978, Perth Amboy, NJ. Composer and cantor. Compiler and editor of the Cantorial Anthology (6 volumes) which made Jewish liturgical music for the entire year’s holidays available in print. One of the largest accomplishments of this work was making avaiable alternatives to the florid operetta style music so prevalent at the time. Having studied hazzanut and harmony with Abraham Zvi Idelsohn, he set off on an idealistic quest to find the purest Jewish cantorial music. He developed a type of ethnographic field work, interviewing as many cantors as possible, and copying down all the music they knew. He then painstakingly edited the work. Ephros had come to US in 1911, and later appointed cantor of Congregation Beth-El in Norfolk, Virginia in 1918.…
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Denburg, Moshe

Moshe Denburg (b. 1949) grew up in Montreal, Canada, in a religious Jewish family. His first musical influences were the singing and chanting of the Synagogue and his mother’s singing of Jewish and Israeli folksongs. His musical career has spanned over 3 decades and his accomplishments encompass a wide range of musical activities, including Composition, Performance, Jewish Music Education, and Piano Tuning. His compositions have been performed in many parts of the world and as a Performer/Composer he has recorded and toured with his ensemble Tzimmes all over North America.

Mr. Denburg has studied music extensively, both formally and informally. He has travelled worldwide, living and studying music in New York (1965-66), Israel (1966-73), Montreal (1973-78), Toronto (1978-82), India (1982-83; 1985-86), and Japan (1985). From 1986-90 he studied composition with John Celona at the University of Victoria, Canada.…
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Danielpour, Richard

American. Born New York, January 28, 1956. composer. pianist. “Richard Danielpour is one of the most recorded composers of his generation, and became only the third composer — after Stravinsky and Copland — to be signed to an exclusive recording contract by Sony Classical.” There is an in-depth biography of Danielpour from G. Schirmer (AMP) that includes a list of works and links to reviews of his music.
http://www.schirmer.com/composers/danielpour_bio.html

Copland, Aaron

Copland House
The official Aaron Copland house website contains a biography with a timeline, a list of compositions and pictures of the composer in his home. Information about the new Copland Society, founded in 1996, is available.
http://coplandhouse.org/


Aaron Copland and the Landscape of Imagination
A brief biography on the life of Aaron Copland residing on the website of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.


The Aaron Copland Collection at the Library of Congress
Part of the American Memories Project, this website includes links to the featured items in the Aaron Copland collections, including visual images and texts of personal letters, his own writings, his sketches and manuscripts of music, and photographs. An extensive and thoroughly organized primary source on the music of Copland. Also includes an index and a search screen.…
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Castelnuevo-Tedesco, Mario

Born: April 3, 1895, Tuscany. Died: March 16, 1968, Beverly Hills, California. A brief biography of Mario Castelnuevo-Tedesco.
http://www.composerjohnbeal.com/Mario.html


Papers of Mario Castelnuevo-Tedesco are held in the Library of Congress. Included are: “manuscript and printed music, programs, reviews of Castelnuovo- Tedesco’s music, contracts, photographs and related materials. In addition, the collection includes correspondence from many of the 20th century’s major musical figures…”
http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2000/00-114.html

Papers, Jerry Bock

American. Composer of musicals. Born, 1928, NYC. Best known for his collaborations with Sheldon Harnick: Fiddler on the Roof and Fiorello!. NYPL papers include scores, correspondence, show production materials, and personal life papers.

Bloch, Ernest

Born: July 24, 1880, Geneva, Switzerland. Died: July 15, 1959, Oregon, USA. A brief biography with a listing of works, a selected discography and some interesting links.
http://www.schirmer.com/composers/bloch_bio.html


Ernest Bloch
by Claude Torres, of Montpellier,France
“Discographie du compositeur suisse Ernest Bloch” The website includes a biography, a list of works by style, chronologically and alphabetically. There are also links to other important Bloch websites.
http://claude.torres1.perso.sfr.fr/Bloch/index.html

A Young Person’s Guide to Ernest Bloch
This interesting site from Japan on the composer Ernest Bloch provides a “chronological list” which is a listing of important dates of the composer’s life and a listing of compositions by the composer.
http://member.nifty.ne.jp/bloch/

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Blitzstein, Marc

The Marc Blitzstein website contains a biography, listing of complete works by genre, and photos about the composer. Many of these photos are recoganized as being held in the American Memory collection of the Library of Congress, but unfortunately, the site does not label or credit the photographs, so it is somewhat difficult to keep track… or these may be duplicates found in Wisconsin. The little search box didn’t seem to work. However, there is an excellent discography, filmography, bibliography and information about accessing the Blitzstein archive in Wisconsin. Also valuable is a listing of publishers and rights holders to Blitzstein music. The archive “also contains extensive and rare recordings of Blitzstein’s music, including many items which appear to have been made available only to the archive.…
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Bitton, Eyal

Canadian Composer. Born of Moroccan and German Jewish descent in Montreal, Canada on January 25, 1970. In 1971, his family and he moved to Kinshasa, Zaire where he attended TASOK (The American School of Kinshasa). He moved back to Montreal in 1978 and then attended United Talmud Torahs, Herzliah High School, Vanier College (DEC Pure & Applied Sciences), and McGill University (B.A. Jewish Studies). He has taught English at Ecole Maimonide and at College Francais. He served as President of the Sephardic Educational Center in Montreal, board member of the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, and YAD Co-Chair for Federation CJA Campaign 2001. He now lives in Toronto with his wife, Michèle Tredger. He is currently currently the Choir Director of Toronto’s Beth Tikvah Synagogue Choir, formerly conducted by Srul Irving Glick.…
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Bikel, Theodore

Theodore Bikel: actor, singer and political activist. Known for his portrayals of Tevye the Milkman in more than 2000 performances of Fiddler on the Roof. Bikel is an advocate of Yiddish folk song. Bikel has been active in organizations dealing with the arts, theatre, and the intersection with government, business and regulation. He has written an autobiography called Theo: The Autobiography of Theodore Bikel. His website includes biographical sketches, lecture topics, speeches, sound clips and a schedule.

http://www.bikel.com

Bernstein , Leonard

The official website of Leonard Bernstein includes… well everything. Very comprehensive. Includes a biography and a series of “time line” events.
http://www.leonardbernstein.com/

The Library of Congress Leonard Bernstein Collection
“This online Leonard Bernstein Collection makes available a selection of 85 photographs, 177 scripts from the Young People’s Concerts, 74 scripts from the Thursday Evening Previews, and over 1,100 pieces of correspondence, in addition to the collection’s complete Finding Aid.” http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/lbhtml/

Berlinski, Herman

Herman Berlinski, the great composer of Jewish music, including synagogue organ music, was born in Leipzig on August 18, 1910. He studied piano, composition and conducting at the Leipzig Conservatory 1927-1932. He studied at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris from 1934-1938, and the Schola Cantorum from 1937-1939. He emigrated to the United States in 1941. This article explores some of his life and the performances of some of his music in Europe.
http://www.juedische-musik.de/synagoge/berlinski.htm

Berger, Arthur

American. Born in 1912 in New York. Died in Boston on October 7, 2003. Avant-garde composer. Studied at NYU and Harvard University. Focused in chamber and solo piano music. New York Music Critics Circle Citation, 1962. Won awards from Guggenheim, Fromm, Coolidge, Naumburg and Fulbright Foundations. Fellow of the American Academy & Institute of Arts and Letters. Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Taught at Mills College, 1939–1943. Taught at Brandeis University 1953-1980 as Irving Fine Professor of Music. Helped establish the graduate program at Brandeis. 2003 ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award.

Ben Haim, Paul (Frankenburger)

Israeli. Born 1897, Munich. Composer, pianist, conductor. After trying to start his career as a composer in Augsburg from 19224-31, he fled to Israel and settled in Tel Aviv in 1933. Ben Haim was part of the early musical pioneers establishing an “Israeli” national style. He won the Israel State Prize in 1957. While not well known outside Israel, Ben Haim’s music is receiving a much deserved reevaluation on an international basis. He died in 1984. For more information on his work, see the book Twenty Israeli Composers: Voices of a Culture by Robert Fleisher.

Ben-Amots, Ofer

Israeli. Born: Haifa, Israel. Studied, Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva, Switzerland; Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, Germany. University of Pennsylvania, Ph.D. in music composition. Vienna International Competition for Composers (1994). Ben-Amots won Aaron Copland Award and the Music Composition Artist Fellowship by the Colorado Council on the Arts (1999). “Dr. Ben-Amots is a member of the Advisory Board and the Editorial Board of the Milken Foundation American-Jewish Music Archive. In addition, he is a Jerusalem Fellow of the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity and its Artistic Director for North America since 1997.” His webpage lists compositions, his publishers, performances and reviews.
http://www.oferbenamots.com

Beigelman, David

Born, 1887, Lodz, Poland. Died, February, 1945, in slave labor camp, under Nazi occupation. Violinist, conductor, composer, and theater critic. Secret diaries found underground after the war mention Beigelman conducting the first symphonic concert in the Lodz Ghetto, March 1, 1941, followed by a concert for chorus and orchestra on March 13th. Deported to Auschwitz in 1944. Tsigaynerlid is a tribute to some of the Gypsies in the Lodz ghetto.
http://www.leonarda.com/compb.html

Bazian, Cantor Moshe (Murray)

Website devoted to the life and works of Cantor Bazian. Born in Kishinov, Bessarabia. Served Congregation Tifereth Israel in the Bronx. He later officiated at the Linas Hatzedek Synagogue and the Kingsbridge Heights Jewish Center. Moshe Bazian was Cantor at Congregation Shaarei T’filoh in Flushing. Site includes biography, pictures and mp3s of the cantor.
http://www.chazzan.org/

Barnes, Milton

Milton Barnes, b. 1931, Toronto, d. February 26, 2001, Toronto, Canada. Jazz drummer and guitarist. Wrote chamber and orchestral music on Jewish themes; composed, orchestrated, and conducted scores for feature films and television. Composed in an “eclectic fusion style”. They are “marvellous works of energy, depth, and compositional values.” (Linda Litwack). A biography and sample works are available from the Canadian Music Centre.
http://www.musiccentre.ca/apps/index.cfm?fuseaction=composer.FA_dsp_biography&authpeopleid=843&by=B

Archive of Israeli Music

While not providing full biographical descriptions, this finding aid to the Archive of Israeli Music at the Tel-Aviv University, David and Yolanda Katz Faculty of Arts, provides an excellent listing of Israeli musicians. It includes birth date and place of birth, major musical interests, a death date if any, when the person came to Israel, and a listing of major holding items in the archive. For an immediate, if modest, amount of biographical information for getting started with Israeli musicians, this listing is very helpful. The actual holdings in the Archive will, no doubt, reveal much more information about each composer and musician.
http://www.tau.ac.il/~musarch/list.html

Amram, David

American. Composer, educator, French horn, piano, guitar. Degree from George Washington University in 1952. Composer-in-residence with the New York Philharmonic, 1966-67. Composed over 100 orchestral and chamber works. Scored Broadway musicals and films. Director of Young People’s, Family, and Free Summer concert programs for the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Wrote a book:Offbeat: Collaborating With Kerouac (2002). Also plays a variety of folk instruments. Known for his work with jazzmen Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Charlie Mingus, Thelonius Monk and Lionel Hampton. The Washington Posthailed Amram as “one of the most versatile and skilled musicians America has ever produced.” Amram’s family were from Savannah, GA, but he grew up in Pennsylvania and Washington DC. Wrote The Sacred Servicein early 1960s. It was commissioned by the Park Avenue Synagogue in New York, where it had its premiere in 1962.…
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Adler, Samuel

American. Born, Mannheim, Germany, March 4, 1928. Came to US, 1939. Studied composing with Herbert Fromm, Walter Piston, Randall Thompson, Paul Hindemith and Aaron Copland. B.M. from Boston University, M.A. from Harvard University, and honorary degrees of: Doctor of Music from Southern Methodist University, Doctor of Fine Arts from Wake Forest University, Doctor of Music from St. Mary’s College (Indiana), and a Doctor of Music from Saint Louis Conservatory. Music Director at Temple Emanu-El, Dallas, Texas (1953-1966). Music director of the Dallas Lyric Theater (1954-1958). Professor of composition, North Texas State University (1957-1966). Professor of composition, Eastman School of Music (1966-1995). Chairman of dept., 1974-1995. Composed over 400 published works, including large scale works such as operas, symphonies and concerti, and for smaller forces, such as wind ensembles, band, choral works and chamber music.…
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Achron, Joseph

JosephAchron

Joseph Achron, born May 13, 1886, Lodzdzieje, Poland (now Lasdjaj, Lithuania). Died, April 29, 1943, Los Angeles. Violinist, teacher and composer. His brother Isador was a pianist. A child prodigy and a concert soloist. He studied composition in Russia under Anatoly Ljadov. Toured widely, giving more than 1000 concerts between 1919-1922. Served as Head, and gave Violin Master classes in Leningrad’s Artist Union. He joined the Society for Jewish Folk Music in 1911. In 1922 established a publishing company called “Jibneh” in Berlin. Traveled to Palestine in 1924, staying only a few months. In 1925, Achron emigrated to the U.S. and settled in New York. Worked for a short time rearranging Yiddish theater music for Maurice Schwartz. Taught violin at the Westchester Conservatory. In 1934, he moved to Hollywood, composing film music.…
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Abravanel, Maurice

American. Born, Jan. 6, 1903 in Salonika, Greece. Died, September, 1993. Brought up in Lausanne, Switzerland. At age 19, he went to Berlin where he studied music and theory with composer Kurt Weill. Became an assistant at the Mecklenburg Theatre and there developed a very remarkable baton technique. Conducted in Zwickau, Altenburg and Kassel. In 1933 and 1934 he conducted Monteux’s Orchestre Symphonique de Paris, and at Ballet Russe. In 1936 he came to US and conducted the Metropolitan Opera. In 1938 he left the Met to conduct Broadway. After WWII, went to Australia to conduct the Sydney Symphony Society. A year later, accepted the post as Conductor of Utah Symphony, and remained there for 32 years. In 1949, received a Tony Award for conducting of Regina.…
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Zilbershtein, Tziona

Singer Tziona Zilbershtein lives in northern Israel. She devotes her recordings specifically for women as a religious Jew. Tziona has a lovely voice and a lot of talent. She’s trained in music and dance in the United States, from classical ballet to Indonesian traditional dance, to Tai Chi. She’s also a multi-instrumentalist and composer. Tziona originally performed in the improvisitory jazz style but has since moved into accessible religious songs based on liturgical and biblical texts. Among her CDs is the newHanayni, preceded by Miriam’s Drum, a superb recording of spiritual song and dance. Her focus on rhythms is evident in earlier recordings such as the CD Aleynu. Tziona’s music is availble through her website:
http://koltziona.com/

Ziegler, Dorothy Miriam

American. Born July 20, 1922. Muscatine, Iowa. Died March 1, 1972. Opera conductor, vocal coach, pianist, trombonist. In 1944 became a trombonist with St. Louis Symphony. 1946, MM, piano University of Southern California. 1955-1964 conductor of St. Louis Grand Opera Guild. Also taught St. Louis Institute of Music, Washington Unversity and the University of Southern Illinois. 1964, became director of Indiana University Opera Theater. 1966-1971, director University of Miami Opera Theater.

Bloomfield Zeisler, Fannie

American. Born July 16, 1863 in Bielitz, Silesia. Died, August 20, 1927. Moved to US in 1867. Concert pianist, teacher. Studied piano in US and then in Vienna with Leschetizky between 1879-1883. Professionally debuted at Chicago Beethoven Society in 1884. Concertized throughout the United States, in recital and with orchestras, promoting the works of contemporary American and European composers in addition to a vast standard repertoire.

Zefira, Beracha

Israeli singer. Her groundbreaking synthesis of western and oriental elements of music came to epitomize the new Israeli, a person merged from various backgrounds of both eastern and western elements. Born into a Yemenite family, around 1911 (although the date is not sure), her mother died at child birth, her father when she around 3. She was moved around to various foster homes, all of different ethnic backgrounds. In 1924 she went to Shpheia, a school with European teachers. She was trained in western music. She won a scholarlhip to study acting in Berlin in 1929. There she met the pianist Nachum Nardi and partnered with him in an “oriental” repertoire. They toured in Europe, and then in 1930, in Palestine to critical acclaim. She had western composers make arrangements of Oriental songs, and performed them widely.…
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Lang Zaimont, Judith

American. Born November 8, 1945. Memphis, Tennessee. Composer, musicologist, pianist, and professor. Child prodigy. Distinguished and highly celebrated for over 100 musical compositions in a variety of genres. BA Queens College,1966; Artist Master Diploma, Long Island Institute of Music, 1966; MA Columbia, 1968; Professor of Composition at the University of Minnesota School of Music since 1992. Advocate of women in music as editor-in-chief of the books, The Musical Woman: An International Perspective in 3 volumes. Composition awards include “a Guggenheim Fellowship (1983-84); Maryland State Arts Council creative fellowship (1986-87); and commission grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (1982) and American Composers Forum (1993).” Zaimont’s website includes a biography, a searchable discography, searchable listing of compositions, awards and prizes, a bibliography and links to online feature articles.

Yarkoni, Yaffa

Born in Israel in 1925, Yarkoni has had a successful singing career in the new State of Israel, starting off singing songs of the Palmach. She was a radio operator during Israel’s War of Independence. She started singing for large groups at that time, appearing in the army choral troupe and continued to bolster the nation’s morale through many of the tough wars for the next fifty years and became known as “the Singer of the Wars.” In 1967, Yarkoni was chosen to sing “Jerusalem of Gold” in front of the Western Wall after Israel recaptured the city. She traveled throughout the world singing Israel’s new Hebrew songs to sell-out audiences in world venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Paris Olympia and London’s Palladium.…
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Wolff, Cantor Josee

“Cantor Wolff, a native of The Netherlands, holds a degree in flute from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, and performed and recorded throughout Europe as a member of various chamber ensembles. In 1991 she received her Masters degree in Sacred Music from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, School of Sacred Music and was the first woman from the European continent to be invested as a cantor… She currently serves as Director of Student Placement and a part time faculty member at the School of Sacred Music, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. She was Director of the Department of Synagogue Music of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and served as cantor at Temple Shalom in Succasunna, NJ, Temple Beth Chaverim in Mahwah, NJ, Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York City, the Liberal Jewish Congregation in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and the Hebrew Congregation of St.…
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Wetzler, Rosalie

Rosalie Wetzler, Born Brooklyn NY in 1914. Died, 1973. Synagogue music director, conductor, pianist, organist, cantorial coach, Jewish music radio personality and life long Jewish music educator. Conducted Rosalie Wetzler Choirs. Prepared and conducted vocal quartets for Long Island synagogues and as a member of the Jewish Music Forum in NYC. In the 1950’s and 1960’s was a pioneer in bringing many new works of Jewish music by Freed, Weiner, Binder, Ephros, Janowski to NY congregations. One recording: “Our Temple Music” (out of print). Sang soprano with The Gotham Singers octet in the first NY performance (March 19, 1956 at The Jewish Museum) of Max Janowski’s Avinu Malkenu. In addition to her work as a synagogue music director and educator, Rosalie Wetzler hosted a weekly Sunday morning radio program of Jewish music from Israel and around the world on WBAB, Babylon, NY.…
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Wetzler, Laura

Laura Wetzler, Born 1957 in Bayshore, NY. NYC-based singer, composer, lyricist, recording artist, and lecturer. Tours internationally. More than 150 concerts, lectures, workshops, radio, and TV appearances each year. ASCAP award winning original music and independent film scores State of the Art. Daughter of Long Island synagogue music director Rosalie Wetzler, Laura began singing and teaching Jewish music professionally at the age of 15. Received Bachelor of Science Degree in Vocal Performance from Hofstra University. Dorothy B. Hoag Scholar in Music. Presents 24 different concerts/ lecture programs, including “A World of Jewish Music,” sung in Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, and Aramaic, “Kabbalah Music: Songs of the Jewish Mystics,” >”Music of the Jews of Italy” “Jewish Women in Jewish Song,” “The Hitmakers: Jewish Roots, American Dreams,” “The Kidsong Jewish Songwriting Workshop,” “Music of the Jews of Africa-Uganda And Ethiopia,” “Jewels of the Diaspora,” a duo concert with Janiece Thompson, touring colleges, museums and community centers since 1990 doing grassroots African-American and Jewish peace and anti-racism work through song; plus performances of her original music and independent film scores (State of the Art.)Recordings Songwriter’s Notebook and Kabbalah Music:Songs of the Jewish Mystics receive international radio airplay .…
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Marie Wertheim, Rosalie

Dutch pianist and composer. Born February 19, 1888, Amsterdam. Died May 27, 1949, Laren, the Netherlands. She survived WWII by going into hiding, but also gave clandestine concerts presenting works by Jewish composers. Musicologist Dr. Melissa De Graaf has written a biographical sketch of Rosy Wertheim for the Jewish Music WebCenter, which can be viewed here as a pdf file.

Dr. De Graaf’s work is copyrighted. Pleasecontact JMWC if you need more information about the use of this article. This portrait of Rosy Wertheim is from the online exhibits of the Joods Historisch Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Weigl, Vally

Born, Vienna, 1899. Died, New York, 1982. Composer and piano teacher. Studied at the University of Vienna. Master’s in music therapy, Columbia University. National Endowment for the Arts grant enabled her to compose and record Natures Moods, New England Suite, and four song cycles. Chief music therapist at New York Medical College. Organized “Arts for World Unity” in 1960s. Photo credit: http://www.klassiekemuziekgids.net/compindex.htm

Wasserman-Margolis, Eva

Born on the island of Key West in the Florida Keys, Eva Wasserman-Margolis began to study clarinet at the age of 13. After finishing her Master Degree in Music Performance (1980) at the University of Illinois, she secured, at the age of 23, the position of principal clarinet with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra in Israel. While in Israel, she studied musicology at Bar Ilan University. She has focused on introducing audiences to performances and recordings of music of lesser-known composers in ensembles and solo works. She has recorded for composer Sara Feigin and finished a recording project of rare music for two clarinets and piano with Luigi Magistrelli. She has also been dedicated to raising a new generation of young clarinet players. They now study and perform all over the world.…
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Maxine Warshauer, Meira

A prolific composer based in Columbia, S.C. A graduate of Harvard, New England Conservatory of Music, and the University of South Carolina, Dr. Warshauer studied composition with Mario Davidovsky, Jacob Druckman, William Thomas McKinley, and Gordon Goodwin. She has received numerous awards from ASCAP as well as the America Music Center, Meet the Composer, and the South Carolina Arts Commission. She is the first recipient of the Art and Cultural Achievement Award from the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina in 2000. Ms. Warshauer has composed numerous works for Jewish liturgy and on Jewish themes. Meira Warshauer s  We Are Dreamers , for SATB chorus, clarinet, percussion and piano, was commissioned in honor of the 50th anniversary of the state of Israel. The text is Psalm 126, whose theme is the return of exiles to Zion.…
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Mira Sings

Mira Waksman-Kimiagaroof, a San Francisco-based artist, sings in Hebrew, although many compositions are Sephardic (Mediterranean and Middle Eastern) tunes that come from Uzbekistan, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Morocco and other Arabic countries. Her parents were of Uzbeki and Afghan heritage and she comes from a cantorial and family. She combines her Israeli musical influences blended with musics from others she works with. Mira’s website has a brief bio, features two recordings and press info. There are photos, but no labels.
http://www.mirasings.com

 

Wachs, Judith

American musicologist, performer, artistic director. Judith Wachs serves as artistic director of Voice of the Turtle, a Boston-based group specializing in the music of the Jews of Spain. The group “learns most of its repertoire from field recordings housed in Jerusalem at the Jewish Music Research Center, at Hebrew University and at the radio station Kol Yisrael. These versions were collected by radio-journalists, scholars, and ethnomusicologists from Sephardi communities in Israel,documenting many versions of the songs which have been preserved by oral tradition.” Their website includes information on the performers, their instruments, and the group through FAQs.
http://www.voiceoftheturtle.com

Tureck, Roselyn

American. Born December 14, 1914,in Chicago. Pianist. Graduated Julliard School of Music, 1935. Studied with Olga Samaroff. Carnegie Hall Debut Oct. 18, 1935. and Town Hall Young Artist Award with all-Bach concert over six weeks in 1937. She taught extensively in the New York area, and also toured frequently in Europe, Israel, South Africa and South America. Recorded Bach and other keyboard reportoire for harpsichord, clavichord and organ. Recipient of five honorary doctorates. Publications included Introduction to the Performance of Bach (1960). Taught at Mannes College (1940-1944); Julliard (1943-1955); Univ. of California at San Diego (1966-1972) and Yale (1991-1993). In 1994 she founded the Tureck Bach Research Institute at Oxford. Her CDs are still widely available. Many of her papers are held at the Special Collections of Mugar Library, Boston University and at the New York Public Library, Music Division at Lincoln Center.…
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Tucker, Sophie

One of the earliest Jewish popular music stars to entertain general as well as Jewish audiences, Sophie Tucker was born January 13, 1884 somewhere between Russia and Poland as her parents were coming to America. She arrived as an infant in the U.S. in 1884. Her parents, Charlie and Jennie Abuza, (name was changed from Kalish by the father to avoid Russian army)went to Boston and then to Hartford, Connecticut where the family opened a restaurant and rooming house. Sophie loved entertaining and used every opportunity as a young girl to show off, sometimes singing for customers. She dreamed of becoming a star and performed in some amateur groups at the local theater.

After high school she married a young trucker named Louis Tuck, and they had one son, Bert.…
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Tsufit

Israeli born singer songwriter. Her website bio reads: “By the age of 5, Tsufit, who had already lived in three countries, was putting on shows for the neighbourhood kids. By junior high, she joined a folk club that performed for the school. At age 14, she picked up the guitar at camp and a few years later, while still in high school, she started writing her own songs and performing at local folk clubs. A vivacious actress who was often cast in comedic roles in theatrical productions, Tsufit was shy in live concert situations. She had won several talent shows by singing pretty little songs until one day a friend of her mother told her to get her face out of the guitar and talk to the audience.…
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Tourel, Jennie

Born, June 22, 1900, Vitebsk, Russia. Died November 23, 1973, New York. Mezzo-soprano. At Opéra Comique for ten years. During WWII, Tourel espcaped through Portugal, then Cuba and finally NY. After an audition with toscanini, she appeared with New York Philharmonic and other major orchestras. Debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in May, 1937 and first appeared in Israel in 1949. Taught at Julliard in New York and in Jerusalem at the Rubin Academy. She was a great friend of Leonard Bernstein, who wrote Jeremiah Symphony to fit her coloratura mezzo-soprano voice. A picture from the Perry Collection at the University of Buffalo shows a picture of Tourel at the Russian Tea Room in NY.

Tiferet, Hanna

Songwriter, singer, liturgical leader.
“Hanna was the first woman to receive the title of “Eshet Hazon”— Woman of Vision, and “Miyoledet Neshama” —Midwife of the Soul. She received ordination as a rabbinic pastor from Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and studied at the Hebrew Univerity in Jerusalem as a Melton Senior Educator. She is currently co-spiritual leader at Congregation B’nai Or of Boston.” CDs include “Awaken, Arise” and “Kol Koreh: A Voice Calls,” “Olamama,” “Refuah Shleyma: The Healing Circle,” “And You Shall Teach Your Children,” and “Or Shalom.” Her website lists CDs, teachings, songbooks and contact information. Hanna Tiferet Siegel.FAX: 617-363-0371 E-mail: hanna@hannatiferet.com
www.hannatiferet.com

Teplow, Rebecca

American. Singer-songwriter. Rebecca Teplow began her musical path as a classically trained violinist while attending Yeshiva of Flatbush elementary school in Brooklyn, NY. After graduating from the prestigious High School of Performing Arts, Rebecca then went on to pursue a degree in Music Performance where she studied under violinist Itzhak Perlman and composer Robert Starer. Eventually, her thoughts turned from instrumental performance to the creation of music. Rebecca’s desire to write songs was realized with the release of her first CDT’filot/Prayers (2004). She released her second CD Kaveh/Hope (2008) to good reviews.
http://www.rebeccateplow.com

Teplow, Nomi

American born Israeli soprano, vocal coach and songwriter. Born in Ohio. Attended Columbia University for undergraduate and graduate studies. Member of the Metropolitan Singers Choral Society (Lincoln Center). Student of Agnes Massini (Rubin Academy of Music) after coming to Israel, 1990. Sang with the Tel-Aviv Philharmonic Choir, participated in several Israel Festival and on Israeli radio. Worked with leading Israeli popular artists such as Yoni Rechter and Shlomo Gronich. Nomi’s first CD, consisting of her original songs, is “Kumi Ori” (Arise Shine).S he gives voice and performance workshops in schools and to choirs throughout Israel, and is a vocal coach to high schools students from prestigious arts schools throughout Israel. Her New Album is : “My Brothers I Seek” with The Shir-El Choir of Ulpanat Lehava Kedumim.…
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Tal, Michal

Israeli. Pianist. As one of Israel’s leading pianists, she has served since 2004, as the vice-director of the Givatayim Conservatory. Michal teaches, coaches and lectures at the Thelma Yelin High School for the Arts, the Jerusalem Music Center and the Tel Aviv Academy of Music. For many years she has promoted musical education in Israel. Michal Tal enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician and as a devoted performer of new music.
Coming from a musical family, Michal started her piano lessons at the age of five. At the age of 16 she performed as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. She studied at The Tel Aviv Academy of Music, and from 1983-1988 at Indiana University, and also in New York at The Juilliard School, and SUNY at Stony Brook with Richard Goode, Leon Fleischer, Richard Goode and Gilbert Kalish.…
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Swados, Elizabeth

Composer, playwright, orchestrator, director, and author of 6 children’s books and over directed over 30 plays. Born February 5, 1951 in Buffalo, NY. She went to Bennington College studying classical music. In the 1960s she was an activist playing folk music at political events and in coffeehouses. Winner of 3 Obie Awards and 5 Tony Award nominations. She won Outer Critics Circle Awards, a PEN Citation, and an Anne Frank National Foundation for Jewish Culture award. She also received a Ford Foundation Fellowship, a Guggenheim, a Covenant and a Spielberg grant. Composed music for the American Repertory Theatre including The Merchant of Venice, The Good Woman of Setzuanand Jacques and His Master. She wrote some Broadway shows, incidental music for film and television productions.…
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Streisand, Barbara

Superstar of American pop music, film, music director, Broadway actress, comedian and activist. Ms. Streisand’s official website contains extensive biographical information and chronological lists of her films, awards, career and a discography. The Streisand Foundation page lists recipients of grants. Ms. Streisand is surpassed only by Elvis Presley in the number of Gold Albums sold. Blessed with the incredible voice, she remains one of my favorite singers and one of the greatest voices of the century.
http://www.barbrastreisand.com/

Strauss, Deborah

Highly regarded klezmer violinist. Also accordionist and vocalist. Studied at violin, Rutgers University. Ethnomusicology, University of Chicago. Member, Klezmer Conservatory Band. Strauss/Warschauer Duo. Leads workshops and classes in the United States and Canada as well as Europe. Faculty, KlezKamp and KlezKanada. Amsterdam International Yiddish Festival and other major Jewish music festivals in Europe and and North America. Discography includes: Josh Waletzky’s Crossing the Shadows, (2002); Sweet Home Bukovina Oriente Musik, (RIEN CD 13, 1998); Klezmer Music A Marriage of Heaven and Earth Ellipsis Arts (CD4090, 1996); Kapelye On the Air Shanachie(LC 5762, 1995); The Singing Waltz (Omega OCD 3027, 1996); Deborah also appears on two Klezmer Conservatory Band CDs: Dance Me to the End of Love (Rounder 11661-3169-2, 2000) and A Taste of Paradise(Rounder 11661-3189-2, 2003).…
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Stettner, Ellen

American. Cantor. Opera singer. She served as the first cantor of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue of New York City and held the post for 21 years. Cantor Stettner is on the faculty of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, School of Sacred Music, and currently is a member of the Joint Cantorial Placement Commission and Vice President of the American Conference of Cantors. Cantor Stettner has performed extensively throughout the country with the Santa Fe Opera, the New York Opera Ensemble, the New England Chamber Opera and the Princeton Opera. She won the prestigious National Arts and Letters Vocal Competition in Carnegie Hall and, as a result, was the featured soloist in a performance of Mozart arias with the American Symphony Orchestra. In addition, she was in documentaries produced by the BBC and the French National Television.…
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Stern-Wolfe, Mimi

American. Pianist. Conductor. Graduate of Queens College, with a Master of Music in Piano and Conducting from the New England Conservatory. Board member of the American Society of Jewish music, and also member of the contemporary repertory committee of ASJM. Founder/director of Downtown Music Productions, a concert presenting organization with the Downtown Chamber and Opera Players. DMP has presented the works of hundreds of composers and has commissioned operas, chamber and vocal music, and theatrical and dance works. Over the 25 year history they have presented and performed many “Jewish Musical Currents” concerts, and have also released a CD “Composers of the Holocaust” (2001) that has been favorably reviewed in The Jewish Week,Aufbau and Jewish Currents. In 1989, she introduced the chamber works of Ervin Schulhoff at Emanuel Midtown Y Concert on 14 Street in a comprehensive concert series effort to introduce Schulhoff’s complete chamber and piano works to the public.…
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Shternshis, Anna

Yiddish historian and musicologist. born in Moscow, Russia. In 1996, completed M.A. in Russian and Jewish History and Archives at the Russian State University of Humanities and Project Judaica. In 1997, received a Yiddish teaching diploma from the Oxford Institute for Yiddish Studies. D.Phil., Oxford, 2000. Currently, Assistant Professor of Yiddish and Yiddish Literature at the University of Toronto. Teaches various undergraduate levels of Yiddish language, literature, and culture . Specializes in Yiddish culture. Presented several papers on Jewish song, including: “Yiddish songs in the Soviet Union.” Presentation at the conference “Modern Jewry and Arts”, Philadelphia, 2001 (organized by the Centre for Advanced Judaic Studies);”Singing about Stalin: Yiddish folk songs in the Soviet Union; Trying to transform the tradition: Jewish identity in the Soviet Union in the 1930s.” Series of lectures at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the University of Minneapolis, Minnesota, December 1999; “Yiddish Songs in the Soviet Union: the Reflection of Official Ideology in the Popular Culture of 1917 – 1941.” Presentation at a meeting of the American Association of Jewish Studies Conference in Boston, Dec.…
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Stein, Margot

American. Born on June 25, 1961. Rabbi. Singer. Composer. Graduated cum laude from Princeton University in 1983, and from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1997. Rabbi Margot Stein sings and composes with the musical groups MIRAJ and Shabbat Unplugged. Her first solo album, “Create out of Nothing”, was produced in 1991. She wrote music and lyrics for an award- winning musical play, Guarding the Garden, with book by David Schechter. Seen by over 20,000 people, this musical toured North American synagogues for 4 seasons. Margot produced a recording of the music from Guarding the Garden in 1993. With MIRAJ, she has produced two albums of original Jewish music, “A Moon Note/Emunot” and “Counting Angels in the Wilderness.” With Shabbat Unplugged, she served as producer for the recording of a CD to accompany “A Night of Questions: A Passover Haggadah” (Reconstructionist Press, 2000).…
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Staneslow, Sunita

Israeli harpist. Graduate of the Manhattan School of Music. Teaches and performs throughout Israel and frequently tours and gives master classes in US. She was named one of the top ten Jewish instrumentalists by Moment Magazine and she was a recipient of a 1998 McKnight Foundation Fellowship in recognition of her work with Jewish music. She was the principal harpist for the Jerusalem Symphony during the 1986-87 season and currently performs with the Ra anana Symphonette in Israel, the Jacob’s Ladder Folk Festival, and the Tel Aviv Irish Festival. In addition to solo performances Sunita also performs in a harp duo with harpist Tali Glaser who is the second harpist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Her other duo is with renowned clarinetist Mati. Sunita is a frequent guest with the Celtic Band,  Celtic Connection .…
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Spector, Johanna

Born in Lativa in April 23, 1915? 1920?. Ethnomusicologist. Came to the US in 1947 after losing her husband, parents and brother in the Holocaust. Earned a doctorate from HUC and master from Columbia University.Taught for two years at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Taught at Jewish Theological Seminary, starting in 1954 and continued there for over thirty years. Founded Department of Ethnomusicology in 1962 which specialized in the music of the Jews of Yemen, India and the Middle East. Collected an archive of thousands of recordings of Jews from very varied backgrounds. She produced numerous article and documentary films on the musics from these Jewish communities.

Smilow, Peri

American singer. Peri Smilow is singer/guitarist who performs synagogue and other religious music in a contemporary setting. She has also taken part in theFreedom Music Project, which features freedom music from the traditions of both Jews and Blacks. Peri Smilow, located in Boston, tries to repair relations between the two groups by putting activity and actions together. “Sign of the Dove Music” is Peri’s record label. To buy direct from Peri’s label: P.O. Box 3083 Cambridge MA. 02238
http://www.perismilow.com/