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CD Releases

Songs in the Key of Hanukkah

Created and produced by composer and multi-instrumentalist Erran Baron Cohen, the CD is a collection of songs that “brings the ancient music of Hanukkah kicking and screaming straight into the 21st Century” …” the songs combine klezmer, reggae, electronica, hip hop, tango, pop and other genres, all fluently woven into something uniquely Baron Cohen’s. The album contains five reinterpretations of classic favorites as well as five original tunes created exclusively for this project, all sung in English, Hebrew or Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish).” Featuring Jules Brookes in new English texts, some songs on the album performed by some world-class Jewish singers, including Israeli superstar Idan Raichel, world-music diva Yasmin Levy and New York City-based rapper Y-Love. For more info:
http://newlinerecords.com/hanukkah/info.html

Uncategorized

Yiddish Summer Weimar

Yiddish Summer Weimar will have an extensive array of programming in Yiddish music in the summer of 2015

For more information, visit their website at:
http://www.yiddishsummer.eu/

Workshop Weeks (Workshopwochen)
From July 18 to August 9, Yiddish summer Weimar: offers beginner through advanced workshops in Yiddish instrumental music (klezmer), vocal music, dance, language, and more, taught by some of today’s leading artists. With participants of all ages and from all around the world, Yiddish Summer workshops touch the mind, heart, soul, and body. You won’t believe how much you can learn in an atmosphere that is so open and supportive! It’s no wonder that many of today’s most creative and successful Yiddish music projects have roots in Yiddish Summer Weimar. Concerts, jam sessions in outdoor cafés, Yiddish dance events, and more contribute to the justly famous “Yiddish Summer Weimar” atmosphere during the Workshop Weeks.…
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Artists Bands & Performers, Biographies, Women in Jewish Music

Rudinow nee Leviash, Ruth

The following article was supplied by her daughter, Naomi Rudinow Cohen.

Ruth Leviash was born in Odessa, Russia, July 24, 1890. She studied at the Imperial Conservatory in Odessa, graduating in 1917. She married Moshe Rudinow, (who also graduated in the same class,) on February 28, 1917. In 1919, they left Russia and toured though Europe, reaching Palestine in 1920, where they joined the First Palestine Opera Company. Moshe and Ruth sang in operas and concerts throughout Palestine until 1927, when she and her husband sailed to the United States. Their son, Jacob was born in Odessa in August 1919, and their daughter, Naomi was born in Tel Aviv in July 1925. Both reside in California. Ruth lived with Moshe, (Cantor of Temple Emmanuel,) in New York until 1948, when he retired and they moved to Oakland, California to be closer to the children.…
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Artists Bands & Performers, Biographies, Women in Jewish Music

Reisenberg, Nadia

Born 14 July 1904, in Vilna, Lithuania, Nadia Reisenberg moved with her family to St. Petersburg in 1915 where she studied piano at the Conservatory under Leonid Nikolaiev. After the Russian revolution, the family moved, going from Vilna, where Nadia played in the Gelios Theatre accompanying movies, to Poland where she concertized with the Warsaw Philharmonic, to Germany. The Reisenberg s came to America in 1922. Under the helpful largesse of Isaac Sherman, Nadia gave private recitals and began to build a reputation.

With less than one year of study with Alexander Lambert in New York, she gave her American debut on 17 December 1922, playing the Polish Fantasy by Ignace Paderewski, with the composer at the performance in the Century Theatre. With sterling reviews by the press, the young Miss Reisenberg began to receive invitations for more recitals.…
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Artists Bands & Performers, Biographies, Women in Jewish Music

Pelleg, Ada

“Israeli born. Received her B.A. in Piano Performance from the Chicago Music College and M.A. in Composition from Indiana School of Music in Bloomington, both degrees with Distinction. While a student she received the First Prize in the Molly Margolis Piano Competition in Chicago, as well as numerous scholarships and Distinctions. Among her teachers were Prof. Ludmila Lazar (Piano) and Prof. Fred Fox (Composition) Ms. Pelleg studied conducting with Henry Mazer, Associate conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Pelleg was awarded a conducting fellowship to the Aspen Music Festival, a scholarship to study with Frederick Prauznitz at Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hoplkins University in Baltimore, and a fellowship to a special master class with Max Rudolph at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In addition, she participated in Master Classes with Sergiu Celibidacce in The Munich Philharmonic and Ghenadi Rhozdesvensky in Sienna.…
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Artists Bands & Performers, Biographies, Women in Jewish Music

Kammen, Shira

American. Vielle player. Born in 1961, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Degree in music from UC Berkeley. Studied vielle with Margriet Tindemans. Member for many years of Ensemble Alcatraz, Project Ars Nova, and Medieval Strings, and has also worked with Sequentia, Hesperion XX, the Boston Camerata, and the King s Noyse. She has performed and taught in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Israel, Morocco and Japan. Shira happily collaborated with singer/storyteller John Fleagle for fifteen years, and performs now with several new groups, including the medieval ensemble Fortune s Wheel, the new music group Ephemeros, the world music cover band Panacea, and also Trouz Bras, a band devoted to the dance music of Celtic Brittany. She is also the founder of Class V Music, an ensemble dedicated to performance on river rafting trips, and has performed and taught on the Colorado and Rogue rivers.…
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Artists Bands & Performers

Adama

Music group based in the Bay area, California, with Achi Ben Shalom – Group’s leader. Singer, guitarist, arranger, and the leader of the band; Jan Padover – World class middle eastern multi-percussionist; Michael Gill – Keyboard player doubling on clarinet; Jeremy Cohen – Bass guitarist; Daniel Hoffman – Popular bay area violinist and recording artist. Styles include Klezmer, Ladino, Israeli, Yiddish, Hassidic, and contemporary American-Jewish songs.
www.achibenshalom.com

Children, WHERE: USA_NY

2009 FESTIVAL CONCERTS OPENING JUNE 29 @ USDAN CENTER

Metropolitan Klezmer plus…. much more.

METROPOLITAN KLEZMER opens series on JUNE 29,
Cellist Edward Arron Also Featured.

Usdan Center For the Creative and Performing Arts (www.usdan.com), now
entering its 42nd season and declared a ‘Best O’f class or camp for 2009 by
TimeOutNY/Kids, NY Metro Parents and Long Island Press, will open its series
of Festival Concerts, private educational performances for its students, on
Monday June 29 at the Center¹s 200-acre woodland campus. These will be in
addition to many special workshops that will offer by the visiting artists
for Usdan students. The Center¹s 2009 season runs from June 29 to August 14.
Usdan is located at 185 Colonial Springs Road, in Huntington, Long Island.

Artists Bands & Performers, Biographies, Women in Jewish Music

Silver, Julie

American. Singer. Songwriter. Julie Silver was raised in Newton, Massachusetts. By 18, she was leading song sessions throughout the Reform Jewish movement, and playing coffeehouses in and around Boston. She was graduated from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts and was selected by her senior class to deliver the commencement address and sing an original song at Graduation in May, 1988. After college, Silver landed a job as an on-air personality at WMJX, Magic 106.7 in Boston, a contemporary music radio station. She started as a weekend DJ, and quickly became the host of  Bedtime Magic, a top show of the Boston radio market. It was a natural fit for Silver who combined comic timing with a silky-smooth speaking voice.

Silver moved to Santa Monica in June 1994 to continue writing and recording.…
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Artists Bands & Performers, Choral Music Groups and Organizations

Adash Women’s Choir

https://youtube.com/watch?v=5NDJcgZe1JA

A women’s choir located in Republic of Czech that sings exclusively Hebrew music. The choir started as part of a Hebrew class at Ostrava University by Dr. Tomáa Novotný. Later it grew into a performance group. The Adash website has samples of music and discography. Two of their CDs are devoted to Hebrew songs, but they sing liturgical pieces and Yiddish and Russian lanugage songs on their other two CDs which include many solos for folk music as well as choral work. The CDs are Adash & Barbora Baranová, Jewish Songs II, Jewish Songs, , and Hebrew through Songs. The site also includes videos through YouTube.
http://www1.osu.cz/adash/index-eng.php…
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Places to study Jewish Music: Schools

Hebrew College. Jewish Music Institute (JMI)& Cantor-Educator Program.

“Designed to prepare cantors who are educator-scholars as well as spiritual leaders, Hebrew College’s Cantor-Educator Program combines coursework leading to both a Master of Jewish Education (MJEd) and Cantorial Ordination within a transdenominational setting.” Hebrew College’s program started as an accredited school with Masters and Doctoral programs in Judaic Studies and Education and 10 years ago opened the Jewish Music Institute where both para-professional and professional cantor-educators are trained. The first graduating class of Hazzanim was 2006. The Jewish Music Institute (JMI) supports “educators, cantorial soloists and other interested students” to “engage the world of Jewish music through the academic courses and certificate programs. Courses range from a historical survey of Jewish music to cantorial recitatives for the Sabbath and High Holidays, from Ashkenazic prayer chant to Yiddish and Klezmer music performance styles.” In addition to materials for the study of Jewish education and general Jewish studies, the Gann Library of Hebrew College, now houses the New England division of the American Jewish Historical Society.…
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Concerts

Fishel Bresler’s Klezmer Hassidic Ensemble

This year Fishel Bresler’s Klezmer Hassidic Ensemble will be performing
Sat night, December 25th 2010, 7:30 PM
at Congregation Ohawe Shalom in Pawtucket, RI
671 East Ave, corner of Glenwood

Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for children under b-mitzvah
Lively & Moving Music, world class musicians, a comfortable environment, a little humor thrown in.
Refreshments for sale. Plenty free parking.

Fishel Bresler plays clarinet, flute, mandolin & harmonica; Shelley Katsh
plays keyboard & accordian. They are joined by Beth Bahia Cohen on Strings
and Bob Rakalam Moses employing both traditional & creative forms of percussion.

Choral, WHERE: USA_NewEngland

Song is the Pen of the Soul—An Interfaith Interchange

Song is the Pen of the Soul—An Interfaith Interchange
Sunday, November 15
Wilson Chapel
Andover Newton Theological School
3:30–5:45 p.m.
Free and open to the public
Seating is limited – please register now.

Dr. Joshua Jacobson and the Zamir Chorale of Boston
Reverend Burns Stanfield and the Andover Newton Community Choir
Commentary by Rabbi Daniel Lehmann and Priscilla Deck

Please join the Zamir Chorlae and the Andover Newton Community Choir for a rousing performance, discussion and sing-along of inspiring music from Jewish and Christian faith traditions. Rabbi Daniel Lehmann will discuss the Jewish spiritual music tradition, illustrated by the Zamir Chorale of Boston under the direction of Dr. Joshua Jacobson; the program will feature selections of Hassidic music and works by Louis Lewandowski, Shlomo Carlebach and Ernest Bloch.…
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Klezmer, WHERE: USA_NY

Sy Kushner Jewish Music Ensemble

Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at the Sixth Street Community Synagogue in NYC
events from 6:00pm until 11:00pm
Wednesday, Mar 21 at 08:00 PM – The Sy Kushner Jewish Music Ensemble East Village Klezmer Series
.6 – 7:30PM Klezmer Workshop led by special guest, Bassist Brian Glassman!! $25
8 – 9:15PM The Sy Kushner Jewish Music Ensemble $15 (includes a drink)
9:30 – 11PM Klezmer Jam Session, led by Aaron Alexander and guests

Full evening pass $35 (includes Workshop or Yiddish Class, Concert, Jam Session & one drink!)

The Sy Kushner Jewish Music Ensemble
featuring Sy Kushner (accordion), Aaron Kushner (alto sax), Jeremy Brown (violin,) and Marty Confurius (bass) and special guest Ken Maltz on clarinet

Competitions/Special Events

Jewish Music Competition – 28-31 October 2010

Competition ’10: register until July 1st

Amsterdam’s IJMF will once again host the world’s only Jewish Music
Competition: October 28-31, 2010. Information is online at
www.ijmf.org
http://www.ijmf.org/?utm_content=pinnolis@jmwc.org&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Text%20Version%20-%20Link%202&utm_campaign=Jewish%20Music%20Competition%3A%20register%20till%20July%201stcontent –
and registration is open until July 1st. The selected ensembles will
be announced in August. Pass it on to your favorite Jewish music
ensemble: this is an opportunity not to be missed!

Showcase for Presenters What’s the best way to get the attention
of Jewish music presenters in Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, Toronto, Utrecht, and
Washington DC? Join our competition and present yourself to the
growing list of festivals that will be scouting our 24 selected
ensembles via our site and/or in person at the competition:
and more presenters are affiliating every week!…
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Cantorial Organizations

Hebrew College. Jewish Music Institute (JMI)& Cantor-Educator Program.

“Designed to prepare cantors who are educator-scholars as well as spiritual leaders, Hebrew College’s Cantor-Educator Program combines coursework leading to both a Master of Jewish Education (MJEd) and Cantorial Ordination within a transdenominational setting.” Hebrew College’s program started as an accredited school with Masters and Doctoral programs in Judaic Studies and Education and 10 years ago opened the Jewish Music Institute where both para-professional and professional cantor-educators are trained. The first graduating class of Hazzanim was 2006. The Jewish Music Institute (JMI) supports “educators, cantorial soloists and other interested students” to “engage the world of Jewish music through the academic courses and certificate programs. Courses range from a historical survey of Jewish music to cantorial recitatives for the Sabbath and High Holidays, from Ashkenazic prayer chant to Yiddish and Klezmer music performance styles.” In addition to materials for the study of Jewish education and general Jewish studies, the Gann Library of Hebrew College, now houses the New England division of the American Jewish Historical Society.…
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Book and Score Reviews

The Book of Klezmer: The History, The Music, The Folklore

By Yale Strom

Yale Strom has written a book with enormous effort that supplies the reader with good access to extensive quotations by klezmer musicians, translations of previous scholarly works into English, 3 superb appendices, a bibliography, a very nice discography and an index. The purpose of the book is to give an overall history of klezmer music, with its growth in Eastern Europe and a look at the current scene and it’s meaning today.

Strom spent several years researching the material, conducting interviews of klezmer musicians in America and Europe, and having materials translated into English. Over a twenty-year period, he made some fifty trips to Eastern Europe doing ethnographic research. Details supplied by photographic plates and the extensive quotations from his interviews abound in the book.

A highlight of special note in this book is Appendix 1, “Klezmer Zikhroynes in di Yizker Bikher,” (Klezmer remembrances in the Memorial Books).…
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Book and Score Reviews

Chanting the Hebrew Bible: The Complete Guide to the Art of Cantillation

By Joshua R. Jacobson

Precision. Thoroughness. Clarity. Devotion to Torah.

These are some of the thoughts that define my reaction to this new and excellent work by Joshua Jacobson, Professor of Music at Northeastern University in Boston, and Hebrew College in Newton, Massachusetts. This large guide may additionally properly be called a “handbook”, a “textbook” or a “teacher’s manual ” in the pursuit of learning to chant the Jewish holy texts with understanding and correctness. Accompanying the book is a CD with demonstrations of the te’amim chanted– featuring the pleasant voice of the author. An index to the sung examples is included in an appendix at the back of the book. This work can be used as a teaching tool or resource for professional or lay cantors, and other teachers of synagogue chant.…
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Concerts, Klezmer, WHERE: USA_NY

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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Competitions/Special Events, WHERE: Europe

Third International Jewish Music Competition

October 10-14, 2012 in Amsterdam!

Preparations for the Third International Jewish Music Competition are
in full swing. Mark you calendar and tell your friends to join us in
Amsterdam for the five-day festival, October 10-14, 2012. We’ll start
with a kickoff concert in the monumental Portuguese Synagogue (built
in 1675), followed by the three-day competition in the
elegant Compagnie Theater, with 24 ensembles from around the world.
To close, we’ll host a day of workshops with a Jewish cultural
marketplace, an open podium, and a closing concert with winners from
the competition.
Take a look at our website for all the details.

Visit us:
http://www.ijmf.org/

Friend us:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Jewish-Music-Festival-Amsterdam/164300605365?ref=ts

Watch us:
http://www.youtube.com/IJMFAmsterdam:
:
IJMF Newsletter June 18, 2012:
Click to view this email in a browser:
http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/536935/ecdf2d2057/1524001773/dd0f152f70/:
:
Who?…
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Concerts

Nechama Lifshitz to be Honored in Tel Aviv

An event in honor of the 85-th birthday of Nechama Lifshitz, a legend of Yiddish singing and a founder of the Artistic Yiddish Singing Workshop in Israel, will take place on 9/10/2012 7 PM at Beit Shalom Aleichem in Tel-Aviv. The new and old students of the master class directed by Nechama will sing in honor of her.

We invite you all to greet Nechama and wish her a freylekhn geburts-tog in every way you wish. All of your greetings will be read before Nechama and her family.
For any questions
concerning the event, please contact Diana Shapiro (diana.shapiro.adv@gmail.com).

Artists Bands & Performers, Biographies, Women in Jewish Music

Achishena, Tziona

Tziona Achishena Closeup

American-born Israeli. Tziona Achishena provided this autobiographical sketch: “Tziona’s Achishena’s rich and soulful voice weaves its way through her new disc, “Miriam’s Drum”, created in collaboration with percussionist Shani Ben Canar. The album features original melodies to ancient Hebrew prayers “received” through her intuitive musicianship, and enlivened by world class percussion, transcendent harmonies, and inspired vocal improvisation. The album’s release marks the culmination of years of musical and spiritual searching. Interestingly, this process began, not through music training, but through dance. From early childhood to her first years in college at Berkeley, Tziona spent much of her time in the dance studio, studying all the major western dance forms from Ballet to Modern dance. At home, however, she was singing; and experiencing through her voice the beginnings of a sense of the revelation of soul.…
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Clubs

Jewish Music Cafe features Bruce Parness Band

The Bruce Parness Band
in Concert
at
The Jewish Music Cafe
Thursday July 7th 8:30pm
Following the Weekly
‘Rav Nachman of Breslov Likutei Moharan Class’
at 7:30pm
Join in on a night of Torah and Music!
Jewish Music Cafe | 401 9th street Park Slope Brooklyn NY 11215
$5 suggested donation
Cash bar – beer and wine
Complementary bourekas

Classical or Jewish art music, Concerts, WHERE: USA_NY

Rodeph Sholom Chamber Music Features Music of Schulhoff, Mendelssohn and Ginastera

New York City’s Congregation Rodeph Sholom
Presents Free Chamber Music Concerts for the Community
in Schnurmacher Chapel

On March 24th at 1 pm, Congregation Rodeph Sholom Chamber Music
Series will present its second concert featuring world class
musicians in the congenial and intimate setting of the Schnurmacher
Chapel. Guest artists Susan Rotholz, flute, Mayuki Fukuhara and
Andrea Schultz, violins, Sarah Adams, viola, and Eliot Bailen, cello
and Artistic Director, will perform works by Felix Mendelssohn
(1809-1847), Ervin Schulhoff (1894-1942), and Alberto Ginastera
(1916-1983). The free concert is open to the public at Congregation
Rodeph Sholom, 7 West 83rd Street, New York. For more information,
call 212 362-8800, x1337 or email eleder@rodephsholom.org.
The March 24th program features flute and string quartets in works
ranging from the 19th century Classic-Romantic tradition of
Mendelssohn to the Schoenberg influenced 20th century Expressionistic
music.…
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Articles, call for papers

CALL FOR PAPERS: JEWISH CULTURAL STUDIES­PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

Inaugural volume in book series on Jewish Cultural Studies, edited by Simon J. Bronner, Distinguished University Professor, The Pennsylvania State University, USA

Publisher: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, Oxford, UK

Format and Guidelines: 8,000-word essays in English, prepared electronically
in Word, following Oxford Guide to Style (humanistic style with endnotes)
Deadline: May 1, 2006

Contact: Professor Simon J. Bronner, School of Humanities, The Pennsylvania
State University, 777 West Harrisburg Pike, Middletown, PA 17057-4898, USA,
sbronner@psu.edu

Cantorial, WHERE: Europe

ECA Budapest Cantors Convention

Booking is now officially open for the ECA Budapest Cantors Convention
July 2014: Thursday 10 – Monday 14th.
Guest teachers: Asher Hainovitz and Yaakov Motzen
Subject the High Holydays

Convention includes Shabbat Services in the Hungarian tradition, a concert by world class cantors and an evening for young talent to perform. It also includes a Tour of Jewish Budapest and a personal tour of the Dohány Street Synagogue on Sunday afternoon.

Fees: full fee is £245 and for students it is £145. Some scholarships are available particularly for Eastern European delegates. There is a £15 discount on all bookings before 30 April.

This year the prices include (as well as breakfast and light lunches) Shabbat lunch and dinners on Thursday, Friday and Sunday for delegates. Accommodation is not included, but for early bookers there is a special discount price at the Convention Hotel: The Golden Park, which is near the synagogue.…
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Klezmer, WHERE: USA_NY

New York Klezmer Series: ALL NEW MUSIC

The New York Klezmer Series
at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue
Tuesday, March 12, 2013 7:30pm
Alicia Svigals’ evening of all new klezmer!
Location: 30 W. 68th St., New York, New York 10023
With Michael Winograd, clarinet; Patrick Farrell, accordion;
Don Godwin, tuba.
A whole evening of only all new klezmer tunes! With compositions by
Alicia Svigals, Michael Winograd, Patrick Farrell, Aaron Alexander,
Pete Rushefsky, Zev Feldman, and possibly more…like Joshua
Waletzky, Sarah Gordon, and maybe a surprise or two. Nothing old!
Nothing borrowed!

Steve Weintraub will be teaching the dance workshop before- learn to improvise with your body.

Book and Score Reviews

Irving Fine: An American Composer in His Time

By Phillip Ramey

This thoroughly researched biography, commissioned by Verna Fine, widow of the composer, is a highly readable entree not only to the life and works of Irving Fine, but to the history of the Brandeis University Department of Music. Irving Fine was a highly creative and innovative composer, and became the Walter W. Naumburg Professor of Music and Chairman of the School of Creative Arts at Brandeis. His inventive leadership of a newly formed Creative Arts Department would set the tone and course of study for the next 50 years. Fine had taught theory and music history at Harvard from 1939-50, when he joined the music faculty of Brandeis in Fall, 1950, as Lecturer in Music and Composer in Residence. Fine’s intellect led him to a style of “Stravinskian neoclassicism and romatically inflected serialism” that was to catch the imagination and close friendship of the American musical luminaries of the day, including Boston Symphony conductor Serge Koussevitzky, composers Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, and his Brandeis colleagues Harold Shapero and Arthur Berger.…
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Archive & Library News

Yiddish Translation Project Reported

The C & RL News, of the Association of College and Research Libraries Reports in the February 2013 issue that two archival repositories have a new innovative project to create translations from historic Yiddish newspapers and journals. The Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives at Cornell University and the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick in the UK are jointly digitizing more than 1500 pages from Yiddish newspapers and journals. These papers are from the 19th and early 20th centuries, and were originally written for working-class Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe.

The project will translate publications such as The Ladies’ Garment Worker. The project is looking for volunteers to translate the documents from Yiddish to English. People can help by participating in the project.…
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Concerts

Margot Leverett & Klezmer Mountain Boys

Margot Leverett & Klezmer Mountain Boys at The New York Klezmer Series
February 12, 2013
Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York
30 W. 68th St., New York, NY 10023

NY Klezmer Series:

4 – 5 Kidz Klezmer Band of New York
5:30 – 7 Klezmer Music Workshop
5:30 – 7 Yiddish Dance Class w/Steve Weintraub
7:30 – 8:45 Concert
8:45 – 9:30 Klezmer Jam Session

Klezmer clarinetist Margot Leverett joins forces with today’s stars of klezmer and bluegrass to explore the shared musical spirit of two genres literally worlds apart. Appalachian and southern fiddle tunes by Bill Monroe meet klezmer melodies from pre-war Russia and Eastern Europe, some newly discovered. The resulting medleys and improvisations are at once raw, funny, soulful and footstomping.

Workshops

free open house

The Workmen’s Circle Klezmer Ensemble will be holding a free open house on Tuesday,
October 28, 2008 at 7 PM.
Led by famed klezmer musician Jeff Warschauer
Play wonderful music while making new friends and having a great time!
Free Open house: Tuesday, October 28, from 7-9 PM
Seven paid sessions, Tuesdays at 7 PM: November 4, 11, 18 and 25, December 2, 9
and 16.
* Open to all instrumentalists who play and read music at at least an intermediate
level
* Study with an internationally recognized master instructor
* Learn tunes from the diverse klezmer tradition
* Develop tools for improvisation
Single session class fee: $30. Discount for Workmen’s Circle members and/or those
attending all seven sessions: $180
Sessions will take place at the Workmen’s Circle, 45 East 33 Street, Manhattan (between
Park and Madison).…
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News

Job Opening in New Orleans

Tulane University through Library Associates Companies (LAC) seeks a creative, dynamic Head of Music & Media Librarian to work within the Public Services Division at an academic library located in New Orleans, LA. Reporting to the Director of Public Services, the Head of the Music and Media Librarian will play a key role in the Library’s efforts to rebuild its world-class music collections, which were heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina. He or she will participate in committee service within the library and through professional activity help to advocate for the interests of librarians at Tulane and throughout the profession. The librarian may share reference duties with other librarians at a central Reference and Information Desk including some evening and weekend duty; and participate in the library’s instruction program.…
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FILM, Yiddish or Folk

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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Festivals

KlezCalifornia 2006 in Palo Alto

KlezCalifornia 2006 will take place this spring at the
Kehilla Jewish High School in Palo Alto. An exciting
program is planned in collaboration with The Albert L.
Schultz JCC. Program Highlights include:

SATURDAY NIGHT – 8:00 pm, April 29th – Concert and Dance Party

at Cubberley Auditiorium. VERETSKI PASS, world renowned klezmer band, will be featured.

SUNDAY – 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, April 30th – Classes and Workshops

in: Klezmer music, Yiddish dancing, Yiddish Literature, Folk Arts, as well as a children’s and teen program.

TEACHERS, ARTISTS and CLASSES to include:

– Josh Horowitz, Stu Brotman, Cookie Segelstein
(Veretski Pass)

– Steve Weintraub: Yiddish Dance Teacher

– Chayale Ash: Yiddish Theater Diva

– Youth Orchestra

– Master Classes for Instrumentalists

– Master Class for Singers

For more information visit www.klezcalifornia.org

Classical or Jewish art music, Competitions/Special Events, WHERE: USA_South

Varshavsky-Shapiro Piano Duo win Second Place in Miami

Israelis Stanislava Varshavsky and Diana Shapiro won Second place in Dec, 2005, at the 10th Dranoff International Two Piano Competition, held in Miami, Florida. Competing against the top piano duos in the world, the Israelis finished second with the pianists from Japan, Kuni Seo and Shin-ichiro Kato finishing first place Gold Medal. The Murray Dranoff Foundation was created in 1987 by Loretta Dranoff as a tribute to her late husband with whom she performed as an internationally recognized two piano team. The second prize, the Silver Medal comes with a $15,000 award. Another Israeli, Michael Tsalka from Tel Aviv finished 9th place with partner Katarzyna Marzec-Salwinski from Krakow, Poland.

Varshavski and Shapiro started playing together as a duo in 1998. In 2004 they won The Grand Prize at the 15th Piano Competition in Rome for duo piano and 1st prize for piano four hands.…
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Lectures

TREASURES OF THE YIVO SOUND ARCHIVES

TREASURES OF THE YIVO SOUND ARCHIVES
Instructor: Lorin Sklamberg
(Max and Frieda Weinstein Archives of Sound Recordings)
A fascinating survey of YIVO¹s audio holdings. Examples will include rare
commercial and private audio and video recordings of Yiddish folk, theater
and art songs, cantorial and klezmer music.
Class conducted in English.

3 Wednesdays, 7:00-8:30 P.M.
March 19-26, April 2
Tuition: $90 / $75 (YIVO members)

CLASSES ARE HELD AT YIVO:
Entrance at 15 West 16 Street (bet. 5th & 6th Aves.)

For further information and to register, please leave your name and contact
information at 212-294-6139.

Concerts, WHERE: USA_NY

“Common Chords II”: A Celebration of Muslim and Jewish Music

“Common Chords II”: A Celebration of Muslim and Jewish Music is a concert occuring
at Temple Beth Sholom (401 Roslyn Rd, Roslyn Heights, NY 11577) on Saturday night,
3/1/2008 at 7:30 pm (5:30 pm for Mincha/Ma’ariv, followed by a 6:30 pm Lite Bite
Middle Eastern Cafe). If you haven’t heard the music of Salman Ahmad of the musical
group Junoon & world leading klezmer artist Yale Strom, then you’re missing
something… You can get an idea about their styles by going to their respective web
sites: http://www.junoon.com/ and http://www.yalestrom.com/

If your kids and teens were not planning on attending this concert, have them listen
to the music on-line, I bet they’ll want to go!!! These performers are more often
at college campuses, central park, the UN General Assembly, and together they
combine sufi-rock with klezmer, jazz, and Sephardic motifs.…
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WHERE: USA_NY, Workshops

Workmen’s Circle Klezmer Ensemble Open House

The Workmen’s Circle Klezmer Ensemble will be holding a free open house on Tuesday,
January 15, 2008 at 7 PM.
Led by famed klezmer musician Jeff Warschauer
Free Open house: Tuesday, January 15, from 7-9 PM
Six paid sessions, Tuesdays at 7 PM: January 22 and 29, February 5, 12, 19 and 26
*Play wonderful music while making new friends and having a great time!

* Open to all instrumentalists who play and read music at at least an intermediate
level

* Study with an internationally recognized master instructor

* Learn tunes from the diverse klezmer tradition

* Develop tools for improvisation

Single session class fee: $30. Discount for Workmen’s Circle members and/or those
attending all six sessions: $150

Sessions will take place at the Workmen’s Circle, 45 East 33 Street, Manhattan (between
Park and Madison).…
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Workshops

Free Open House at Workmen’s Circle

The Workmen’s Circle Klezmer Ensemble will be holding a free open house on
Tuesday, October 23, at 7 PM.

Led by famed klezmer musician Jeff Warschauer
Free Open house: Tuesday, October 23, from 7-9 PM
Six paid sessions, Tuesdays at 7 PM: October 30, November 6, November 13,
November 20, November 27, December 11.
Please note that, due to Khanuke, there will be NO session on December 4.

* Open to all players of musicians who play and read music at at least an
intermediate level
* Study with an internationally recognized master instructor
* Learn tunes from the diverse klezmer tradition
* Develop tools for improvisation
* Guest instructors from the cutting edge of the contemporary klezmer scene

Single session class fee: $30. Discount for Workmen’s Circle members and/or
those attending all six sessions: $150
Sessions will take place at the Workmen’s Circle, 45 East 33 Street,
Manhattan (between Park and Madison).…
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Classical or Jewish art music

Jewish Composers may submit Peformance Requests

An open letter from the American Society for Jewish Music:

Dear Jewish music composer:

The American Society for Jewish Music would like to consider your music for performance at its annual concert at the Center for Jewish History in New York City on Monday, June 2nd, 2008. Your music will be given a first-class performance in a prominent New York venue. Please submit by November 16, 2007 one vocal work for one or two solo voices with keyboard or small chamber ensemble accompaniment. Pieces should be about 4-10 minutes long and well-crafted. (The majority of the committee has a preference for “Art Music.”) The piece should have some sort of Jewish musical, thematic or textual content, and the composer must be living or working in the U.S.…
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Classes & Courses

Music in Education Webinar: Eprhyme’s “Pride and Prejudice” and a Jewish View of Assimilation

An online webinar presenting class in Jewish music.
Go to: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/664752393 for complete details
Thursday, April 8, 2010 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM CDT
for Webinar Registration
the first of Lishmoa’s free Educators’ Webinars. As we prepare for Yom Hashoa, we will be presenting the lesson “Eprhyme’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and a Jewish View of Assimilation,” based on artist Eprhyme’s song “Pride and Prejudice.”

The lesson was written by Writer/Educator Danny Zeldin and is geared for High School students, although educators of all types are welcome to participate in the webinar. Rabbi Ethan Linden (Shir Chadash synagogue in New Orleans) will present the lesson and demonstrate how this powerful song can be used as a teaching tool in the classroom. We hope to be joined by Danny Zeldin as well as Eprhyme who will discuss the messages presented within his songs.…
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FILM, WHERE: Great Britain

The Sound and Light Cinematic Duo

The Sound and Light Cinematic Duo (Merlin Shepherd/ clarinet, bass clarinet and Polina
Shepherd / piano) are performing new and traditional Jewish music to accompany the Yuri
Morozov Jewish Film Archive (Kiev).
and as part of the UK Jewish Film Festival

17th October, London, the Screen on the Hill
14th November, Birmingham, Mac
18th November, Manchester, The Cornerhouse
28th November, Nottingham, Broadway Cinema
also as part of the Brighton Festival of Jewish Music

5th December, Brighton, Sallis Benny Theatre
for more information http://www.ukjewishfilmfestival.org.uk/

Choral, WHERE: The Catskills or Upstate NY, Workshops

THE NORTH AMERICAN JEWISH CHORAL FESTIVAL

The Premiere Jewish Choral Event

* Daily Community Sings conducted by some of the
greatest talents on the Jewish musical scene
* One-, two-, and three-day workshops with
leading clinicians
* Outstanding evening concerts
* Special presentations for listeners
* Instant ensembles for all singing participants
* Fun, friendship and learning

The 2005 Hallel V’Zimrah Award will be given
to GIL ALDEMA, noted Israeli arranger & composer and
winner of the 2000 Israel Prize, on Wednesday night,
July 13th.

LOCATION: Hudson Valley Resort & Spa
Kerhonkson, NY

Register Now!
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=akkqjjbab.0.exvbcabab.thn9h4aab.619&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zamirfdn.org

Classes & Courses

92nd Street Y offers classes on Mahler and Schoenberg

Beginning today, Sept. 18. Daniel Felsenfeld will lead a series of 12 sessions on Mahler and Schoenberg being offered by the 92nd Street Y School of Muisc. It examines two of the most important composers of the 20th century, both of whom happed to be born Jewish. Mahler’s work summed up the Romantic period and marked its closure; Schoenberg, following Mahler’s direction, created many of the musical techniques that define the 20th century. Both men converted in their lifetimes. Schoenberg returned later in life to Judaism. The class examines their works, their biographies and thei culture that surrounded them The course is taught by composer and music writer Daniel Felsenfeld. 2-3pm. Cost: $320.

Archive & Library News

Michael Lukin Catalogues the Dov Noy Collection at JNUL

Congratulations to flautist Michael Lukin on the completion of the Song Index to the Dov Noy Collection in the Jewish National University Library (JNUL) in Jerusalem. This event will be of world wide interest to those who love Yiddish and Hebrew songs. The project involved meticulous cataloging that allows a searcher to find individual songs within a large number of Yiddish and Hebrew song anthologies and other works in this collection. Each song is searchable in the vernacular including keyword, title and author (composer and lyricist) searching. In addition, the incipit of the song, that is, the opening lines, or in some cases, some line of the refrain which may be more identifying to the song, are included in the record. Searchers may try typing in their title or even just a word of the title (keyword) to find which volumes this song may be in.…
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Compositions & Works

NEW COMPOSITIONS SWAMP INAUGURAL FESTIVAL INVITATION by SHALSHELET

169 SUBMISSIONS FROM 5 COUNTRIES AND 19 U.S. STATES THRILL SHALSHELET BOARD
One year ago, the Chevy Chase, Maryland-based organization devoted to
finding and sharing new Jewish liturgical music didn?t even exist.
Today, it is relishing the task of selecting the best from among 169
pieces of music written by composers from 5 countries and 19 U.S.
states.

?We are absolutely thrilled,? said Dr. Norma Brooks, vice president
of Shalshelet: The Foundation for New Jewish Liturgical Music. ?A
festival highlighting new music for congregational singing was just
an idea, a dream. Where would the music come from? How would
composers find us? Well, they did, in a very big way,? she said,
pointing to a three-inch-thick stack of submitted sheet music and the
four accompanying review CDs.

WHERE: Great Britain

Something Jewish in UK

from London, England and
Leslie Bunder is now running a number of Jewish websites including SomethingJewish.co.uk and Jewish.net
She is launching a dedicated Jewish music site covering all types of Jewish music (of course where there are clearlyJewish influences and content withni them).
They are also broadcasting a weekly Jewish music show called the SomethingJewish Radio Show and have featured, played and interviewed people from The Klezmatics through to Jewish rapper Remedy Ross.

CD Releases

The World is a Narrow Bridge

Craig Taubman announced the seventh release in the award winning “Celebrate” Series. The CD features 14 songs that celebrate hope and healing. Comes with a companion book of 50 essays. Essays from writers including, Theodore Bikel, Sherri Mandell, Leonard Fein, Jacob Pressman, Harold Schulweiss, Kirk Douglas, William Cutter, Rachel Remen, Rodger Kamenetz, Naomi Levy, Amy Eilberg, Joel Ben Izzy, Wendy Mogel, Amichai Lau-Lavie, Balfour Brickner, Shira Milgrom, David Wolpe, and Jack Reimer. For a limited time, both the book and CD The World is a Narrow Bridge will be
available at the special pre-release price of $30 (plus shipping). To place
your order send an e-mail including your name, address, credit card number
and expiration date to Debbie@craignco.com . This special offer ends August 1, 2004.

Postions

Professional Position: Lectureship in Jewish Music at SOAS

SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES
University of London

Lectureship in Jewish Music
Department of Music
£26,486 – £39,093 p.a Inclusive of London Allowance
Vacancy No: 100097
Applications are invited for a Lectureship in Jewish Music based within the Department of
Music, Faculty of Arts and Humanities. The appointee will lecture on Jewish music to BA
and Master’s students, will contribute to the Department’s teaching in the field of
ethnomusicology, undertake normal administrative duties, supervise PhD students, and
contribute to the research activity of the Department. Applicants should have a relevant
PhD; those about to complete a PhD will also be considered. The post commences on
September 1st 2006.

Applicants who wish to discuss the position may contact the Head of Department, Dr David
Hughes (mailto:dh6@soas.ac.uk).…
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CD Releases

Laurie Sucher sings “Diaspora Dreams”

Laurie Sucher sings in the Chciago area as a seasoned cabaret, Yiddish singer and cantorial soloist. Laurie grew up in a Yiddish speaking home in New York, so she’s quite familiar with the language– and the songs on this CD show that familiarity.The CD is a mix of music recorded a few years ago live at Chicago’s Harold Washington Library Theater and studio takes. Also included on the collection are a number of Ladino Songs. The CD is available through CD Baby.

Artists Bands & Performers, Biographies

Kessler, Jack

American. Cantor. Jack Kessler was ordained as a Cantor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and went on to have a twenty-year career serving Conservative congregations. During that time he received a Master’s degree in voice from Boston Conservatory and pursued studies in composition in the graduate department of Brandeis University, where he worked with Arthur Berger and Harold Shapero, and Bethany Beardslee at Harvard. A lyric baritone, he has performed opera, oratorio, and premiered new works, in addition to his ongoing career as a singer of Hazzanut, the sacred cantorial art. Originally trained as an Ashkenazi Hazzan, his performance style and original compositions also embrace Sephardi and Mizrachi styles. Hazzan Kessler has lectured and taught master classes in Jewish music at New England Conservatory in Boston, the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York, and presented many concerts in an educational format.…
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Cantorial, FILM

Jacob Mendelson at viewing of Cantor’s Tale

Date: Friday, January 28, 2010
Time: 6PM – Erev Shabbat Services; 7:15PM – Film Viewing
Price: Free, open to the community
Contact: Cantor Rebecca Garfein,
cantorgarfein@crsnyc.org
RSVP: requested
Telephone Number: 646-454-3030
Website: www.rodephsholom.org
Artist/Speaker: Cantor Jacob Mendelson
Event Description: Cantor Jacob Mendelson will lend his magnificent voice and
neshama (soul) to Erev Shabbat Services, followed by a viewing of his award winning
film, A Cantor’s Tale, and a question and answer session. On Saturday, following
the 10AM Shabbat Service, Cantor Mendelson will demonstrate and discuss the styles
of Cantors from the Golden Age, introduce his family zemirot (songs) to the
congregation, and explain that the DNA for hazzanut is contained therein.

Obits

Jack Gottlieb z”l

The American Society for Jewish Music sends out this sad announcement about the passing of Jack Gottlieb.
Dear Members and Friends:
It is with sadness that I share with you the news of Jack Gottlieb’s passing.

A prolific composer, especially of sacred songs and choral music for the synagogue, Jack worked actively on behalf of Jewish music and served as President of the ASJM for a number of years. Also a scholar and noted author, his acclaimed books, Funny, It Doesn’t Sound Jewish: How Yiddish Songs and Synagogue Melodies Influenced Tin Pan Alley, Broadway and Hollywood, and, most recently, his memoire Working with Bernstein, about his years as assistant to Leonard Bernstein, received rave reviews. A biography of Jack Gottlieb’s distinguished career is appended below.

As Jack wished for no public funeral, those in the New York area wishing to mark his passing are invited to attend the services at Congregation Emanu-El on March 11 and 12, 2011, which will be devoted to his music.…
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Concerts

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/

Concerts, Sephardic, Ladino or Mizrachi, WHERE: USA_NY, Women

The Jewish Women of Rebetika

Monday, June 20, 2011
7pm
Legendary Greek Jewish Singers of the ’20s. ’30s, & ’40s
Songs and Personal Histories of
Roza Eskenazi, Amalia Baka, Stella Haskil, and Victoria Hazan
featuring:
Carol Freeman – Vocals
Beth Bahia Cohen – Violin
Haig Manoukian – Oud

LOCATION: The JCC of Manhattan
334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St.
New York City
Information: 646-505-5708
www.jccmanhattan.org/multicultural
Admission $20, $15 members

Classical or Jewish art music, Concerts, WHERE: USA_South

Judith Shatin

Judith Shatin’s Chai Variations on Eliahu HaNavi
will be performed
by pianist Mary Kathleen Ernst
on 4/29/12 at 3:00 p.m. at the Roberts Music Center
4200 54th Ave S, Saint Petersburg, FL 33711
on the Eckerd College Recital Series
and
on 5/06/12 at 3:00 p.m. at the Crocker Art Museum
216 O Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.808.7000
in conjunction with the Judy Chicago Exhibition in Sacramento, CA.

Mary Kathleen Ernst website: www.marykathleenernst.com
My website: www.judithshatin.com

Program notes:

Chai Variations on Eliahu HaNavi was inspired by the folk song
Eliahu HaNavi (Elijah the Prophet), often sung during the closing
service of the Jewish Sabbath. The letters of Chai, which means
life or living in Hebrew, symbolically stand for the number 18;
hence, 18 variations. I decided to give the performer a choice
regarding the ordering of the variations as a reflection of my
sense of performance as a collaboration between performer and
composer (and, for that matter, listener).…
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CD Releases

Eternal Echoes features Itzhak Perlman and Yitzchak Helfgot

Itzhak Perlman’s new album, Eternal Echoes: Songs and Dances for the Soul,, featuring Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, is now available for sale. The album is a collection of beloved liturgical and traditional Jewish works in new arrangements backed by chamber orchestra and klezmer musicians. It’s in stores just in time for the high holidays and online. Perlman’s website has a description of the album:
http://www.itzhakperlman.com/news/

Artists Bands & Performers, Biographies, Women in Jewish Music

Milch-Sheriff, Ella

Nee Ella Milch. Born 1954 In Haifa, Israel. Composer. Singer, pianist. Milch-Sheriff started as a child prodigy, writing her first compositions by the age of 12. While serving in the Israeli army, she continued to write and sing her songs. After army service, she returned to studies in composition under Prof. Tzvi Avni at the Rubin Academy of Music at the Tel-Aviv University where she graudated in composition. She studied vocal studies with Prof. Tamar Rachum and Dafna Cohen-Licht. Her output consists of opera, orchestral, chamber and vocal and popular music. Her works have had numerous performances in Israel and abroad. She is composer of chamber works such as: Duo for flute & Cello (1976) with recent pieces that include “A Crown they shall give unto You” for voice and orchestra based on Ladino-Flamenco folk music (premiered January 2005); “Woman in Paths” for voice and piano (premiered 2005); and “Good Night, Sweet ladies” for 3 singers, actress and orchestra (premiered 2004).…
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Artists Bands & Performers, Biographies, Women in Jewish Music

Schonthal, Ruth

Born June 27, 1924, Hamburg, Germany. Composer and pianist. Studied in Berlin where she was the “youngest student ever accepted at the Stern Conservatory.” In 1935 her family began fleeing the Nazis, going first to Stockholm, where she studied at the Royal Academy of Music, and then Mexico City where she studied composition with Manuel M. Ponce. In 1946, Hindemith met her and invited her to study at Yale, where she earned a BA in 1950. She worked in several part-time jobs to support herself both by playing and teaching. In 1950s, moved to New York, composing a large number of works over 30 years including operas, orchestra pieces, lieder and chamber music and quite a few piano works. Her works include several with Jewish themes such as A Bird Flew Over Jerusalem.…
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Artists Bands & Performers, Biographies, Women in Jewish Music

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/

Artists Bands & Performers, Biographies, Women in Jewish Music

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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Artists Bands & Performers

Neshoma Orchestra

A sohisticated website introduces the Neshoma Orchestra of Cedarhurst, New York. Celebrating 20 years as a band performing “at weddings, dinners, Bar /Bat Mitzvahs, and organizational/corporate events worldwide,” the orchestra is an exemplar of the American Yeshivish and Modern Orthodox style of music. The group boasts a large number of instrumentalists and vocalists, although there are no individual bios on the website. Neshoma Orchestra has records with many top concert artists in the Jewish field. Michael Sojcher and Elly Zomick are the leaders of the group. Neshoma website audio clips include a choice of mp3 or Real Audio. The current website features their CD “A Heimishe Simcha,” with a mention about the upcoming album called “Neshoma @your Simcha”. Contact information includes their address: 420 Central Avenue Cedarhurst, NY 11516.…
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Classes & Courses, WHERE: Israel

Yiddish Song Workshop at Felicja Blumental Music Centre Tel Aviv

The Yiddish Song Workshop‚ under the direction of Nekhama Lifshitz‚ is now admitting new singers. For details please contact Regina (0547621628) or Udi (0542026242). The workshop was founded 12 years ago by Nekhama Lifshitz‚ queen of Yiddish song. The aims of the workshop are to preserve Eastern European culture in general and Yiddish language and song in particular. Weekly workshop lessons are conducted privately by pianist and coach Regina Dricker‚ Nekhama’s right hand for many years. The lessons include voice training and study of Yiddish language and culture through the songs. Every year the workshop presents a number of song evenings or shows based upon different themes. Some of the performances‚ such as the evening dedicated to the Holocaust‚ are held throughout the country. This past year‚ which was dedicated to Yiddish poet Itsik Manger‚ we put on performances of ”The Megilah” [The Purimspiel] as well as a concert of Manger’s poetry and songs.…
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Artists Bands & Performers

Trio Sefarad

A group dedicated to the revival and interpretation of Sephardi repertoire. Nora Usterman – soprano; Ernesto Wildbaum – violín; Ricardo Barceló – guitar. Since 1994, the Trio has successfully performed at international festivals and a great number of concerts in Spain and abroad. The website is both in English and Spanish. It includes performer bios, photos, events calendar and a little history.
http://www.arrakis.es/~wildbaum

Libraries and Archives with Jewish Music Collections

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. School of Sacred Music. Klau Library, Music Collections

The Klau Library at HUC-JIR in New York contains 130,000 volumes of Judaica, including collections supporting the cantorial school. The collection includes sounds recordings, sheet music, and microfilms. The School of Sacred Music cantorial collections are focused and specific. They include a significant number of vertical files of sheet music and printed scores of liturgical music. Access to these materials is limited and requests should be made ahead of arrival. Music reference and research materials are limited, and the general public in NYC would be better served obtaining access through the NYPL collections.

Libraries and Archives with Jewish Music Collections

Judah L.Magnes Museum and Blumenthal Library

Both the Western Jewish History Center and the Museum’s Blumenthal Library have collections relating to music. The Western Jewish History Center has: the Flora Jacobi Arnstein collection, which contains some material about the composer Frederick Jacobi; the Sigmund Anker collection (Anker was a violinist with the San Francisco philharmonic); the Daisy Cohn collection; the Regina Gans collection; the Solomon Goldman collection (which contains letters from Ernest Bloch); another small Ernest Bloch collection; the Jennie Harris collection (Jennie Harris was a songwriter); the Ellis Kohs collection; the Reuben Rinder collection (Rinder was a cantor of San Francisco’s Emanu-El, 1913-1959); the Bashe Rubenchik Rosenbloom collection; the Oscar Weil collection (Wiel was a composer of light opera and songs); and a very small Darius Milhaud collection, relating to his opera, David.”The library is a significant repository of Jewish music and recordings and played a key role in the revival of Klezmer music… The library also contains sheet music of songs and poems written in German ghettos and concentration camps during World War II.” Both the Center and the Blumenthal Library are open, Monday-Thursday, 11am-5pm, by appointment only.…
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Libraries and Archives with Jewish Music Collections

YIVO. Archives and Library Music Collection

YIVO holds one of the world’s largest collections of Eastern European Jewish sound recordings and Jewish sheet music. Materials must be consulted onsite. Researchers are requested to call for an appointment for access to the Archives. “This collection consists of published and unpublished works of Yiddish and Hebrew; art, folk, popular, and theater music; Holocaust songs; liturgical and Hasidic music; choral music; and instrumental compositions. It includes several thousand pieces of published sheet music by composers and arrangers such as Abraham Ellstein, Abraham Goldfaden, Pinchas Jassinowski, Alexander Olshanetzky, Joseph Rumshinsky, and Sholem Secunda. It also includes published and unpublished choral, folk, classical, popular, liturgical, Hasidic, and Holocaust-related music by many different composers; as well as programs, clippings, photographs, and other documents about Jewish music.” Outstanding collections of cantorial and choral synagogue music, folk music and theater music can be in the archives.…
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General Music Resources

Digital Resources for Musicology

“This website provides links to substantial open-access projects of use to musicians and musicologists. With a burgeoning number of digital resources available, remembering titles of sites and pathways to them can be difficult. Digital Resources in Musicology (DRM) is organized topically and provides a rapid search tool for specialties within heterogeneous collections. Neither the links nor their descriptions are exhaustive.”
http://drm.ccarh.org/

Cantors

Cantor Nathan Lam

Born in Los Angeles. Studied cantorial music under Allan Michelson. By age 16, he started leading services for High Holy Days. Cantor Lam holds an Honora Causa from the Jewish Theological Seminary. As the cantor at Midway Jewish Center in New York City, he began commissioning new musical works. In 1976, Cantor Lam assumed his post at Stephen S. Wise Temple. Cantor Nathan Lam has led Stephen S. Wise Temple for over 25 years, and heads the Academy for Jewish Religion s cantorial school. Brad Sherman honored Cantor Lam as having “performed in concerts across the world, appeared on television both nationally and internationally, performed opera and sung his vast Jewish repertoire in a multitude of public appearances. He has released a number of recordings, including `Legacy,’ which represents a landmark collaboration between the talents of the National Symphony of Israel and the kind of Jewish musical innovation exemplified by Cantor Lam, and other well known composers.…
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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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CD Releases

Daniel Greenwood New CD Released

Daniel Greenwood released a CD with Galpaz six years ago called Mayim Ad Nofesh and got a review from The Jerusalem Post. He has recently released a new CD with CDBaby called Onah Hashem. It is available on ITunes .There are a number of full songs on MySpace

www.myspace.com/jewishrockgreenwood

He has also recorded music with a composer and keyboardist from England named Scott Hill. Daniel recorded an Album with Scott on his Astranova Label called Ancient Future available on ITunes. He released another CD on CDBaby and ITunes called Return to Regalia and he has had over 35,000 plays of his songs on Spotify(Streaming Music Site) in Europe.His Artist name is JJ.(Since there is a popular band from Sweden called JJ people think this is their CD and listen.They seem to be enjoying the music).…
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Artists Bands & Performers, Choral Music Groups and Organizations

Hazamir Choir of Helsinki –Judiska Sangforeningen rf

The purpose of the Hazamir Helsinki Choir is to maintain and promote the Jewish musical tradition. Hazamir is a mixed voice choir, and has been since 1917. Singers come both from Helsinki’s Jewish congregation along with members of other music groups. Today, the choir s repertoire consists mainly of Hebrew and Yiddish language songs. Additionally, the choir sings songs in Finnish, Swedish, and, more recently, in Russian. A large part of the choir s Yiddish language repertoire is arranged for this choir and, therefore, unique. The Choir s long-time director, Eva Jacob, has made a number of arrangements for the choir, and also brought the Russian-Jewish tradition of choral singing into their repertoire. The Choir appears regularly and is active in a range of festivals and music events.…
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