Wednesday, January 15th at 7 PM
On January 15 at 7 PM at the Center for Jewish History, a concert
co-sponsored by YIVO, the American Society for Jewish Music, and the Center for
Tradition Music and Dance wlll celebrate the long-awaited, new CD release of
Two Worlds/Tsvey Veltn (Golden Horn Records) by the rising Yiddish
musician Benjy Fox-Rosen and his band.
Following the concert, there will be an artist talkback with Fox-Rosen,
master Yiddish musician Joshua Waletsky, Pete Rushefsky, Director of the
Center for Traditional Music and Dance, and Amanda Scherbenske, Executive
Director of ASJM’s Jewish Music Forum, a scholar of new Jewish music.
Tickets: $15 for General Admission; $10 – YIVO, ASJM, CTMD members,
students, and seniors. Box Office: _smarttix.com_
http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=twoD4D&ss=1 | 212.868.4444
Fox-Rosen’s ensemble includes a lineup of internationally accomplished,
genre-transcending musicians who have performed with such noted musicians as
Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Frank London, Ben Holmes, Alicia Svigals and
others. The band includes: Jason Nazary (drums), Avi Fox-Rosen (guitar,
banjo), Patrick Farrell (accordion), and Michael Winograd (clarinet).
This CD is a stunning new song cycle based on the poetry of master Yiddish
and Polish writer Mordechai Gebirtig (1877-1942). Combining traditional
and new music, Yiddish folk, theatre and cabaret music, Fox-Rosen
interprets Gebirtig’s poetry and searing depictions of Poland before and during
World War II with striking insight and brilliance. Mordechai Gebirtig’s work
captures the dynamic life of Polish Jewry before World War II.
Gebirtig’s first songs were songs for children, lullabies, and love songs.
A master poet, Gebirtig’s songs spread quickly even before they were
published, and were adopted by such leading Yiddish players such as Molly Picon.
When pogroms began in Poland, the poet’s songwriting turned dark: his
songs leading up to the Nazi occupation mourn the victims of riots, dream of
revenge, or simply express pain, as in S’tut vey or It Hurts.