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).…
CONTINUE READING >
GREG WALL’S ‘LATER PROPHETS’ 
Mendelssohn is have a good year in 2009. Last month in New York, the Museum of Jewish Heritage held concerts of some “new” Mendelssohn works… newly rehearsed after some 100 years. This Saturday Feb 21, 2009, the Austin Civic Orchestra will perform “Fantasy and Variations for Two Pianos and Orchestra on the Gypsy March from Weber’s ‘Preziosa’ ” by Felix Mendelssohn. This will be the first time this piece has been heard since 1833. The manuscript piece, never published, and first performed by Ignaz Moscheles and Felix Mendelssohn was set aside and later owned by Anton Rubinstein. After he donated it, it was lost in the archive of the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia for over a hundred years. Southwestern University professor J. Michael Cooper and Jonathan Bellman of the University of Northern Colorado, have painstakingly reconstructed the work.… 
Ellen S. Whitaker, a guitar teacher in North Carolina, has created an excellent book of guitar arrangements of Jewish favorite melodies. The book is intended for intermediate to advanced guitar players, with a few easier pieces. It includes a key to the guitar notation used in the work, the texts to the songs in transliteration, occasionally in Hebrew text, with English and an annotation about the meaning of the song along with performance notes about each piece. The guitar music, both solos and duets are presented in a separate section, which is an excellent arrangement of the book for learning and performance. The end of the collection includes an appendix explaining the Jewish modes, a second appendix linking each piece with the mode used, a glossary of each of the musical terms, a bibliography and discography.… 
Shoshana Damari, with a completely distinctive voice, and a career as one of Israel’s favorite singers, died on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 at a hospital in Israel from pneumonia. She was 83. Damari was called by Haaretz newspaper as the “Queen of Israeli Song” , others the “diva of popular song”. Damari was born in Yemen, in the city of Damar, migrating with her family to Israel in 1924. She was a child prodigy and sang at many functions in her community. As a young teenager, she went to seek her career in Tel Aviv, landing a job at the Li-La-Lo Theater and becoming a permanent cast member. One of her solo numbers was by Shlomo Wilenski, called “Kalaniot” (Anemones) and it became her signature song.… 
A terrific picture by Jean Fruth of Cookie Segelstein, klezmer violinist, graces the front cover of Hadassah Magazine this month with a feature article on traditional klezmer music, written by George Robinson. There are lots of photos including Cookie, Josh Horowitz, Stu Brotman, Andy Statman, Alicia Svigals, Pete Rushefsky, Joel Rubin, Michael Winograd, Yale Strom, and others. George does a good job of explaining the branch of klezmer that focuses on traditional folk and how it differs from other groups. Cookie, Josh and Stu have a group called Veretzki Pass, which is an amazing group, especially to hear in person. It might be noted, as his article touches on the topic of sources, that we owe a debt of gratitude to klezmer musicians such as Josh Horowitz and Bob Cohen for years and years of dedicated research in Europe on recovering as much authentic music as possible.…