Yearly Archives: 2017

Concerts, Front Page, WHERE: USA_NY

A Yiddish Liederabend — An Evening of Yiddish Song

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13 | 7:30PM 
6:30pm Pre-Concert Lecture by Neil W. Levin – 7:30pm Concert

All Jewish Music Forum Programs are Free and Open to the Public
To Reserve Seats

An elegant as well as nostalgic program devoted to treasures of Yiddish song and the poetry that has inspired this musical expression in all its variety of style. Presented in the intimate chamber music setting of a traditional classical Liederabend (song evening) appropriate to the immediacy of this cherished genre, the recital will feature four of its leading interpreters: Ida Rae Cahana,Elizabeth Shammash, Raphael Frieder, Simon Spiro, and a cameo appearance by Robert Paul Abelson, together with world renowned virtuoso pianist Yehudi Wyner.…
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Biographies, Front Page, Obits, Women in Jewish Music

Tzipora Jochsberger, Z”L, died at 96 in Jerusalem

The Jewish music world mourns the passing of music educator Tzipora Jochsberger in Jerusalem on Oct. 28 at the age of 96. (1920-2017) Dr. Jochsberger led the New Jerusalem Conservatory and Academy of Music.   Jochsberger was Director of The Hebrew Arts School (now known as Kaufman Music Center) in New York until her retirement in 1985. Jochsberger may be best known to many as the creator and executive producer  of The Israel Music Heritage Project, a 10-volume video series exploring  the music and culture of Jewish communities around the world.

Hilda Jochsberger was born in Leutershausen, a small village of fewer than 2000 people near Ansbach, Germany on 27 December 1920. Her father was a cattle dealer. There were only a few Jewish families in that community.…
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Call for Participation, Classical or Jewish art music, Competitions/Special Events, Compositions & Works, Front Page

Composer Commission Opportunity

Kaplan Commissioning Project
Saint Mary’s University Concert Band

The ninth Helen and Sam Kaplan Foundation Commission for a new Concert Band composition written by a composer of Jewish heritage is outlined below. Any questions prior to application submission should be directed to Dr. Janet Heukeshoven, Director of Bands, at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. jheukesh@smumn.edu

Amount of Commission:

• $7,000.00 plus travel/expense allowance for a campus residency at the premier of the composition.

Description of the Composition:

• The work will be scored for standard full Concert Band instrumentation, appropriate difficulty level for advanced high school bands and small college ensembles.

• Length of composition: approximately 5-8 minutes in length.

• The composition must be based on Jewish melodic or thematic material, either folk or religious sources.…
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Concerts, Front Page, WHERE: USA_NY

…BESIDE the GOLDEN DOOR

“…BESIDE the GOLDEN DOOR”

Annual Concert for a Bold Spiritual Community of Resistance and Love

Sunday, May 21, 2017, 4 PM
130 W 30, NYC

The Emma Lazarus powerful 1883 sonnet, “The New Colossus,” inscribed on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, has served as a beacon of welcome and hope to generations of immigrants who came to our shores seeking refuge and freedom. We can revel in the chamber music, songs, liturgical settings, choral music and works for Yiddish theater created by immigrant composers, Bela Bartok, Ernest Bloch, Kurt Weill, Sholom Secunda, Irving Berlin, Miguel del Aguila, and Regina Spektor,

performed by

Elana Arian, violin/singer, Ivan Barenboim, clarinet, Adria Benjamin, viola, Tomoko Fujita, cello, John Riddle, tenor, Beth Robin, piano, Joyce Rosenzweig, pianist/conductor, Amanda Seigel, soprano, Sebu Sirinian, violin, Lisa Tipton, violin, Sally Wilfert, singer, Cantor Steve Zeidenberg, singer, and the CBST Community Chorus.

…
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Uncategorized

Joodse Wereldmuziek Centraal bij Amsterdams Festival!

Joodse Wereldmuziek Centraal bij Amsterdams Festival!
20ste editie
International Jewish Music Festival
4 t/m 8 mei 2017

Hoogtepunten:

  • International Jewish Music Festival presenteert grote ster Shiri Maimon
  • 24 ensembles uit gehele wereld bij 5e IJMF concours 4-8 mei 2017
  • Internationaal beroemde jury selecteert winnaars
  • Speciaal Holocaust Memorial concert, 4 mei 2017, Uilenburger Sjoel
  • Volledig programma en tickets op www.ijmf.org
Kaartjes zijn al te koop!
Grand Finale 8 mei in DeLaMar theater met
Shiri MaimonTijdens de Grand Finale van het IJMF2017 concours, op 8 mei 2017, zullen de Hoofdprijs Prijs en de Publieksprijs, alsmede een aantal genre prijzen worden uitgereikt. Ook geeft de wereldberoemde Israëlische zangeres, televisiepresentator en actrice, Shiri Maimon, een eenmalig concert in de grote zaal van het DeLaMar Theater. Zij schitterde eerder bij het Eurovisie Song Festival, de MTV European Music Awards en tijdens vele tournees.
…
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Front Page, WHERE: USA_NY

‘When We Remembered Zion’: The New Budapest Orpheum Society Commemorates Yom HaShoah

‘When We Remembered Zion’: The New Budapest Orpheum Society Commemorates Yom HaShoah
Monday, April 24, 2017
Pre-concert talk at 6:30 pm by Dr. Philip V. Bohlman, Ludwig Rosenberger Distinguished Service Professor in Jewish History, University of Chicago
Concert at 7 PM

Drawing from repertories of Jewish song from the Holocaust gathered from the cabarets, camps, ghettos, theaters, and films New Budapest Orpheum Society bears witness to those murdered, those who resisted, and those who must not be forgotten. In this concert commemorating Yom HaShoah, the New Budapest Orpheum Society honors composers Hermann Leopoldi, Friedrich Hollander, Imré Kálmán,

Hans Eisler/Bertolt Brecht, and Erich Korngold, whose musical contributions trace
a path to the European Jewish past resounded once again.

Center for Jewish History | 15 West 16th Street | New York, NY 10011
This program is co-sponsored by the Leo Baeck Institute, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, and the American Jewish Historical Society.

…
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Choral, Front Page, WHERE: USA_NY, Women

Melodia Spring Concert Awakening the Spirit in NYC

Melodia’s spring concert Awakening the Spirit will feature the U.S. Premiere of John Rutter’s new work “Visions,” a powerful work that examines the spiritual, religious, and historic importance of Jerusalem as a symbol of “a utopian ideal of heavenly peace and seraphic bliss for redeemed humanity” in four movements.

The violin soloist performing this piece is the wonderful Areta Zhulla, an award-winning young artist who works and trains with Itzhak Perlman. I’ll enclose the details of the upcoming performances of this piece below, but please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’d like this information in a different format. Thanks so much for considering adding this event to your calendar.

PERFORMERS
Melodia Women’s Choir led by Cynthia Powell, Areta Zhulla (violin), Rita Costanzi (harp), and an all-female string quintet: Rachell Wong, Robyn Quinnett, violins; Stephanie Griffin, viola; Kate Dillingham, cello; and Kathyrn Stewart, bass.…
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Classical or Jewish art music, Front Page

Steal a Pencil for Me and More in NY

Wednesday, April 26, 2017, 7:30 p.m.

JTS will host a performance of excerpts and discussion of two important new operas: As One (music by Laura Kaminsky, libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed), following a transgender woman’s journey to self-acceptance. The other is Steal a Pencil for Me (music by H. L. Miller Cantorial School Assistant Professor Gerald Cohen, libretto by Deborah Brevoort), the story of a real-life couple who fell in love while imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps. Following the performance, the two composers, Laura Kaminsky and Gerald Cohen, will discuss their operas’ creation. Cantor Nancy Abramson, director of H. L. Miller Cantorial School, will moderate the discussion.

Tickets: $10

For Tickets: https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=8244&id=5114

JTS is located at 3080 Broadway, New York, NY 10027

All students with ID—as well as JTS alumni, faculty, students, and staff—may request up to two free tickets each.…
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Children, Choral, Front Page

HaZamir Event at the Met in NYC

 

HaZamir, the International Jewish High School Choir will have a concert on Sunday, Marcy 26, 2017 at the Metropolian Opera House in New York City, located at Broadway and 64th Street in Manhattan. The event takes place at 4pm and is a Gala Fundraiser for the group.

HaZamir is a network of 35 teen choral chapters across North America and Israel, involving over 400 teen singers in a highly structured music and education program. Through the medium of Jewish choral music, HaZamir, directed by Vivian Lazar, treats teens to a fun and nurturing community, inclusive of all levels of Jewish observance, geography, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. HaZamir builds an inclusive and positively identified community of young Jews and instills a lifelong commitment to Jewish culture, the Jewish people and the State of Israel. …
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Classical or Jewish art music, Front Page, Uncategorized

Triangle Fire an opera by Leonard Lehman in NYC

You may be interested in attending a performance of a new one-act opera, Triangle Fire, with music by Leonard Lehrman and a libretto by Ellen Frankel.  It’s being performed Saturday, March 25, 2017, at 8:00 pm – $10 suggested donation; no one turned away

at 8 PM
at New York University, Room 220, 32 Waverly Place (at the corner of University Place).

The opera, a Puffin Foundation commission, commemorates the fire that broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory on March 25, 1911, killing 146 garment workers, most of them young Jewish and Italian women, recently arrived from Europe.  It was one of the worst industrial accidents in American history.

For further information: www.tinyurl.com/TriangleFire-Opera

About the Creators
Composer: Leonard Lehrman‘s previous works include  A Requiem for Hiroshima (with Lee Baxandall), E.G.: A Musical Portrait of Emma Goldman (with Karen Ruoff Kramer), and Sacco and Vanzetti (with Marc Blitzstein).…
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Classes & Courses, Front Page, WHERE: Europe

Ensemble Lucidarium Summer Jewish Renaissance Music

Here’s some information about a tuition-free course Ensemble Lucidarium
will be giving in Venice this Summer. It’s an opportunity to make music and learn about the Italian cantorial tradition and Jewish Renaissance music while living in the city itself, and
will feature lectures various aspects of Venetian culture, an in-depth
guided visit to the Ghetto and Jewish Cemetery and a traditional Italian
Shabbat service.  There will be a workshop on old Jewish song, and you can
even try your hand at traditional Italian percussion…

“The Music of the Merchant:  Summer course in Venetian Renaissance and Italian Jewish Music”

July 24 – 30, 2017,

Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Isola San Giorgio Maggiore,
Venice, Italy.
Ensemble Lucidarium
Enrico Fink: Italian cantorial tradition, Jewish song, voice
Avery Gosfield: instrumental ensemble, Jewish song, recorder, pipe and tabor
Gloria Moretti: vocal ensemble, voice
Francis Biggi: instrumental ensemble, mixed ensemble, plucked strings
Massimiliano Dragoni: traditional and early percussion, hammer dulcimer

Workshops on: repertoire linked to carnival and the Commedia dell’Arte;
the reconstruction of Jewish song in the 16th century; the Italian Jewish
tradition.…
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Artists Bands & Performers, Front Page

Nefesh Mountain

Jewish Bluegrass.  Last week a nice article appeared in the Forward about Nefesh Mountain and other “Americana” styles of music mixing with Jewish music.  http://forward.com/schmooze/359812/the-unexpected-smash-success-of-jewish-bluegrass-music/

There’s lots more music out there. Here’s a great YouTube of Nefesh Mountain singing their own version “Hinei Ma Tov.”  Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXmb-rAJ1vc
Books, Cantillation / Nusach, Front Page, Uncategorized, WHERE: USA_NY

Rabbi Jeffrey Summit’s “Singing God’s Words” at Jewish Music Forum

On Monday, February 13, 2017 at 7pm, Rabbi Jeffrey A. Summit, Ph.D. will speak about his new book, Singing God’s Words: The Performance of Biblical Chant in Contemporary Judaism (Oxford University Press, 2016).

This book is the first in-depth study of the meaning and experience of chanting Torah among contemporary American Jews, describing how this ritual is shaped by such forces as digital technology, feminism and contemporary views of spirituality.

Rabbi Summit will be joined by discussants Dr. Mark Slobin, Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music Emeritus at Weleyan University and Cantor Richard Cohn, Director, Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

Center for Jewish History | 15 West 16th Street | New York, NY 10011

This program is co-sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society.

…
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Front Page, Lectures, WHERE: USA_NY

Graduate Seminar on Topics in Jewish Music at YIVO

Graduate Seminar on Topics in Jewish Music
Taught by Dr. Neil Levin, Visiting Professor-in-Residence

This eight session graduate seminar, YIVO’s first such seminar in music, will embrace an array of topics within the wider spectrum of Jewish Studies related to the music of Jewish experience or connection—secular-cultural as well as sacred-liturgical aspects—according to the interests and pursuits of the participants.

This seminar is open to graduate students within any department at all colleges, universities or conservatories. It is not restricted to those within music departments per se, but also open to those pursuing Jewish Studies in general—especially history, literature, theatre, liturgy, or other sub-fields of Jewish Studies—who may have special interest in related music in terms of context and interdisciplinary consideration.

With prior approval, undergraduate (college, university, or conservatory) students may also be permitted to participate—both those with an interest in a particular area of Jewishly-related music and those who may be pursuing related term papers or projects.…
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