Yiddish 'Pirates of Penzance'

GET READY NYC! because on May 2, 2004 Zalmen Mlotek will conduct the New Yiddish Chorale in a Folksbiene Theatre presentation of Al Grand's Yiddish version of "The Pirates of Penzance" (a.k.a., DI YAM GAZLONIM) at Temple Shaaray Tefila, 250 East 79th Street (at Second Avenue), New York on Sunday, May 2, 2004 at 3:00PM. For ticket information and group sales please call the Folksbiene at (212) 213-2120... more info... This performance is being presented in honor of the legendary actor, folk-singer, and Yiddish music icon Theodore Bikel in celebration of his 80th birthday. Mr. Bikel will be in attendance. For additional information please visit this website: www.folksbiene.org/readspecial.htm#pirates

Hasidic Cappella

Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, CA
Sunday, March 21
at 4:00pm
The Moscow Male Jewish Choir, "Hasidic Cappella"
General admission seats are only $25 ($18 for seniors and students). Premier seating and entrance to the champagne reception with the artists are only $45. For more information and tickets, call the Canyon Club 818-879-5016. administration@adatelohim.com
DEFINITELY NOT YOUR GRANDPARENTS' CHOIR

Making their Southern California debut, the Moscow Male Jewish Choir, "Hasidic Cappella" will perform at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, Sunday, March 21st at 4:00pm. This extraordinary group of highly educated musicians, known for their vast range of musical styles, has been delighting audiences throughout Russia and Europe since their inception in 1991. Thanks to Cantor Peter Halpern and Temple Adat Elohim, audiences in Southern California will get their first chance to hear their engaging group.

Among the Choir's repertoire are compositions of world classics and songs of peoples of the world. Their range is enormous, expertly performing pees of classical Jewish liturgy to humorous American folk. They've even been known to toss in Temptations-like dance movements. It is this mix of seriousness and reverence that has captivated audience world-wide.

Consisting of all professional musicians, the Choir seeks to revitalize Jewish choral music, based on both the deep roots of ancient tradition and contemporary culture. They are particularly dedicated to giving a second chance to music from the 19th century from Eastern Europe and Western Russia that has been inaccessible since the 1917 revolution.

Well known throughout Russia and Europe, especially for their honored annual appearances at the Great Hall of the Moscow Tchaykowskiy Conservatory, Hasidic Cappella's appearances in Southern California is definitely not to be missed. General admission seats are only $25 ($18 for seniors and students). Premier seating and entrance to the champagne reception with the artists are only $45. For more information and tickets, call the Canyon Club 818-879-5016.

YIDDISH SING ALONG with JILLIAN TALLMER

--San Francisco--
Sunday, March 14 2-4 PM Songs of Work, Protest, and Celebration
Sing Along at the Jewish Community Library
1835 Ellis St, San Francisco, between Scott and Pierce
Tel. (415) 567-3327
(Free parking is available in a structure marked JCHS on Pierce between Ellis and Eddy) FREE AND EVERYONE WELCOME!
SECOND SUNDAY OF THE MONTH
(EXCEPT MAY, FOURTH SUNDAY)
2-4 PM MUSIC ROOM, FIRST FLOOR

To enter the world of Yiddish songs--ironic, poignant, down-to-earth--is to feel their irresistible spirit. Whether you're new to them or already hooked, you are sure to leave inspired. Jillian will introduce a dozen new songs each afternoon, using transliterated songsheets. No previous familiarity is required. Participants may bring in favorite songs to share.
For her solo performances and Yiddish sing-alongs all over the Bay Area, Jillian "Yidl" Tallmer received the Yiddish Music Award of the Workmen's Circle in 2001. She directs her own women's chorus, the Loose Canons, in performances of intriguing songs from around the world. Jillian teaches English as a Second Language at the JCCSF.

MILWAUKEE JEWISH COMMUNITY CHORALE

"SING A NEW SONG"
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 29TH
3:00 in the afternoon
at
CONGREGATION SHALOM
7630 N. SANTA MONICA BL.

Featuring the Milwaukee Jewish Community Chorale; Cantors: Jerr Berkowitz, Davie Barash, Karen Berman, Ruth Berman-Harris, Mitchell Martin, Cantorial Soloists: Arlene Spanier, David Blumberg. Combined Children's Choir of Beth El Ner Tamid Synagogue, Congregation Beth Israel, Congregation Emanu-El(Milwaukee), Congregation Sinai, Congregation Shalom, and The Milwaukee Jewish Day School. Director Enid Bootzin. Accompanist Nancy Winston.
TICKETS: DONATION: $10.00 EACH; $7.00 FOR SENIORS
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TICKETS
CONTACT: DONNA NEUBAUER 414-354-5961 RED1NEUBS@sbcglobal.net

"The Dybbuk" in Newton

Jack Falk writes:
About 10 years ago I was drafted as music director for a puppet theater production of "The Dybbuk" here in Portland. (Since then I've worked on two other productions of the same play, leading me to speculate that while possession might not actually be 9/10 of the law, it was certainly approaching 9/10 of my musical activity.)
After all this time, "Between Two Worlds/The Dybbuk" has been remounted, and this time it's going on the road. In Boston, there are two performances: Sat 2/28 8 pm and Sun 2/29 2 pm at the Jewish Theatre of New England, Leventhal-Sidman JCC, 333 Nahanton Street, Newton. For ticket info: 617-965-5226 or Pgoldman@jccgb.org
-Here's a link to the article in playbill.com:
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/print/83609.html

Divahn on Tour

"This all-female ensemble infuse traditional songs with sophisticated harmonies using tabla, cello, rabel, doumbek, and vocals in Hebrew, Judeo-Spanish, Persian, Arabic, Aramaic and Turkish creating a beautiful lyricism through an intense rhythmic drive. Divahn, a word common to Hebrew, Persian, and Arabic, means a collection of songs or poetry. Through its music, Divahn seeks to underscore common ground shared between diverse Middle Eastern cultures and religions."
Thursday, March 4th, 8:00 pm
Stony Brook, New York
“My Heart is in the East”: A Celebration of Asian Jewish Cultures The Charles B. Wang Center at the front of Stony Brook University
Free for students from any school
$10 for all others
Event website: http://www.sunysb.edu/sb/wang/heart.shtml
www.divahn.com
more dates for Divahn...

Sunday, March 7th, 7:30 pm
New York, New York
Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life,
Rennert Hall
Barnard College, Columbia University
606 West 115th Street
$10 w/ CUID (Columbia students)
$15 for everyone else
For tickets contact Maia at 212-665-9695

Wednesday, April 21st
Washington, D.C.
Washington Jewish Music Festival
Festival website: www.dcjcc.org/arts/music/
tickets or brochure: Jessika--202.518.9400 x208 or jessika@dcjcc.org

"Ketubah" at the Houston Ballet

The San Francisco-based choreographer, Julia Adam, has created a ballet entitled "Ketubah" for the Houston Ballet which will have its world premiere tonight, February 26th at the Wortham Center in Houston. For more info...

Included are a mikvah scene and a joyous wedding celebration. The music is performed by "The Best Little Klezmer Band in Texas", led by violinist/vocalist Marcia Sterling. Isabelle Ganz is featured vocalist for a Russian song during the Mikvah scene. Performances are February 26, 28, 29 and March 5,6, & 7.
http://www.ci.houston.tx.us/cef/wortham/boxoffice.htm

CD "East & West"

Renowned Cantor and oud player, Aaron Bensoussan, has a new CD "East & West", a lively mix of Sephardic and Ashkenazic musical styles. One can order this recording at, www.sefaradrecords.com.

Songs by Alexander Zemlinsky

CD with Songs by Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942), PAN CLASSICs PC 10162 (February 2004)
Songs by ZEMLINSKY (1871-1942)
Hermine Haselb�ck, Mezzosopran/Mezzosoprano
Florian Henschel, Klavier/Piano
PAN CLASSICS (PC 10162)
www.panclassics.com

Samples on website www.hermine-haselboeck.com

3 Liederzyklen aus dem Nachlass (2 Lieder sind Welt-Ersteinspielungen), "Walzerges�nge" op.6, "Maeterlinck-Ges�nge" op.13/ Three posthumous song-cycles (2 songs are world first recordings)/ Waltz-Songs op. 6 / 3 cycles des chansons- �uvres posthumes (2 chansons sont premi�res enregistre-ments mondiales), Valses chant�es sur m�lodies toscanes op.6, Six m�lodies d�apr�s des po�mes de Maurice Maeterlinck op.13 Songs/chansons by ZEMLINSKY Lieder vonAlexander Zemlinsky Hermine Haselb�ckMezzosopran/Mezzosoprano Florian HenschelKlavier/Piano PAN CLASSICS (PC 10162)MP3 Audiosamples:www.hermine-haselboeck.com Die CD konnte Dank gro�z�giger Unterst�tzung des Alexander-Zemlinsky-Fonds bei der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien realisiert werden/
This CD could be realised by generous support of the Alexander Zemlinsky Foundation at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna/
Ce CD a �t� r�alis� avec le soutien de la Fondation Alexander Zemlinsky de la Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde de Vienne. Sieben Lieder 1889-90 aus dem Nachla� Seven posthumous songs/ Sept chansons- �uvres posthumes.

1.Die schlanke Wasserlilie (Heinrich Heine)
2.Gute Nacht (Joseph Eichendorff)
3. Liebe und Fr�hling (Hoffmann von Fallersleben)
4. Ich sah mein eigen Angesicht (Theodor Vulpinus)
5. Lieben und Leben (Carl Pfleger) Welt- Ersteinspielung-world first recording- premi�r enregistrement mondial
6. In der Ferne (Robert Prutz)
7. Waldgespr�ch (Joseph Eichendorff)
Sechs Ges�nge nach Gedichten von Maurice Maeterlinck op.13 (1910/13)/ Six Songs to Poems by Maurice Maeterlinckop.13/Six m�lodies d�apr�s des po�mes de Maurice Maeterlinck op.13

1. Die drei Schwestern
2. Die M�dchen mit den verbundenen Augen
3. Lied der Jungfrau
4. Als ihr Geliebter schied
5. Und kehrt er einst heim
6. Sie kam zum Schlo� gegangen
Walzer Ges�nge nach toskanischen Liedern von Ferdinand Gregorovius op. 6 (1898-99)/ Waltz-Songs on Tuscan Folk Lyrics by Ferdinand Gregorovius op. 6 /Valses chant�es sur m�lodies toscanes de Ferdinand Gregorovius op.6

1. Liebe Schwalbe
2. Klagen ist der Mond gekommen
3. Fensterlein, nachts bist du zu
4. Ich gehe des Nachts
5. Blaues Sternlein
6. Briefchen schrieb ich
F�nf Lieder 1895-96 aus dem Nachla�/ Five posthumous songs/ Cinq chansons- �uvres posthumes

1. Orientalisches Sonett (Hans Grasberger)
2. S��e, s��e Sommernacht (Aissa Lynx)
3. Herbsten (Paul Wertheimer)
4. Nun schwillt der See so bang (Paul Wertheimer)
5. Der Tag wird k�hl (Paul Heyse) Welt-Ersteinspielung-world first recording- premi�r enregistrement mondial

Zwei Brettl-Lieder aus dem Nachla� (1901)/Two cabaret songs-posthumous /Deux chansons de cabaret-�uvres posthumes

1. In der Sonnengasse (Arno Holz)
2. Herr Bombardil (Rudolph Alexander Schr�der)

Kenny Karen

Kenny Karen is a singer/songwriter of notoriety with strong links to his Jewish heritage. He has composed such classics as "Jerusalem Is Mine," "Tateniu," "The Seed of Abraham" and "If the World Had Cried" to name a few. He has a new website...http://kennykaren.com/

SimplyTsfat

It's that time again! SimplyTsfat is going on tour Feb 14-29. If you have friends and family in... Springfield MA or HIghland Park, NJ (see below or the web site for details) please invite them to an experience!! SimplyTsfat @ Thursday, Feb 26th @7pm Springfield Jewish Community Center 1160 Dickinson Street Springfield, MA 01108 (413) 739-4715413) 739-4715 info@springfieldjcc.org

SimplyTsfat @ Motzei Shabbos Feb 28th @8pm Shabbaton and motzei Shabbos Concert Sponsored by Congregation Ahavas Achim Highland Park High School N. 5th Ave., Highland Park, NJ contact: 732-247-0532 email: info@ahavasachim.org www.ahavasachim.org
Also, we will have the Rebbe Nachman's Wisdom 2004 calendars available!!!

KLEZKANADA GROYSER KONCERT

AN EVENING OF KLEZMER MUSIC, SONG, AND COMEDY
TO BE HELD IN MONTREAL FOR FIRST TIME
February 29, 2004
The GROYSER KONCERT is coming to Montreal.
A popular feature of the KlezKanada Festival of Yiddish/Jewish Music and Culture held annually in the Laurentians, the GROYSER KONCERT is relocating to Montréal and the first concert will take place Sunday, February 29 at the Monument National Theatre, 1182 Boulevard Saint-Laurent. ...

Three internationally acclaimed groups will headline the program: New York-based Brave Old World , which has stood at the forefront of the Klezmer revival around-the-world for over two decades; Beyond the Pale, a Toronto group that has been winning raves across North America for its contemporary approach to traditional Klezmer music; and Montreal’s Shtreiml , just back from a successful European tour that won raves for its Klezmer, gypsy and jazz music.

Broadway singing star Joanne Borts and Yaela Hertz, violinist and concertmaster emerita of the McGill Chamber Orchestra, will also be featured. Michael Wex, the celebrated author, raconteur and itinerant teacher of Yiddish, will be the MC.

Jointly sponsored by KlezKanada, the YM-YWHA Montreal Jewish Community Centres and the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts, the GROYSER KONCERT signals the beginning of a collaborative relationship between the organizations, with the intent of creating a permanent base for Klezmer music in Montréal. Proceeds help support KlezKanada’s unique youth scholarship fund and the cultural programming of Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts.

Patron tickets at $250 and Supporter tickets at $100 are available with partial tax receipts. General admission (Balcony seats) is $36 and tickets are on sale at the Saidye Bronfman Centre Box Office, 5170 Côte Ste-Catherine Road, or by telephone at (514) 739-7944.

MILKEN ARCHIVE OF AMERICAN JEWISH MUSIC NEW CD RELEASES

New Releases from Naxos: HERMAN BERLINSKI'S AVODAT SHABBAT (CD #8.559443) and
MARVIN DAVID LEVY'S MASADA (CD #8.559427)

================================================== HERMAN BERLINSKI'S AVODAT SHABBAT (CD #8.559443) "I don't think I can write a piece of music, no matter what I do and what I will try, that does not have the stamp of my Jewish existence," said Herman Berlinski during the recording session for his masterpiece AVODAT SHABBAT, one of only three complete Sabbath services ever written for soloists, chorus, and large orchestra. The eighty-nine-year-old Berlinski returned to his native Germany to attend the world-premiere recording of this major 20th-century sacred work, which he created during the course of many years in America. For more information, go to http://www.milkenarchive.org/cds/cds.taf?cdid=14

MARVIN DAVID LEVY (CD #8.559427) The legendary defense of the desert fortress Masada by a small band of Jewish Zealots against a massive Roman army inspires awe nearly 2,000 years after the historical occurrence. Marvin David Levy's dramatic retelling of the Masada story, originally written for the great operatic tenor and cantor Richard Tucker, here receives its world-premiere recording. Also recorded by the Milken Archive for the first time is Levy's haunting CANTO DE LOS MARRANOS, a dramatic scene for soprano (in four languages: English, Ladino, Hebrew, and Latin) that reveals the passions and conflicts of the 15th-century Spanish Jews who outwardly converted to Christianity while secretly practicing their Jewish beliefs "under penalty of death." For more information, go to http://www.milkenarchive.org/cds/cds.taf?cdid=13

Kavehoyz concert-series

As part of the monthly Kavehoyz concert-series, Temple Beth Elohim (the Garfield Temple), The Congress for Jewish Culture, with Yugntruf and the League for Yiddish invite you to an evening of Yiddish song with Janet Leuchter, Jeanette Lewicki, Shura Lipovsky (from Holland), Josh Waletsky, and Jeff Warschauer Special guest artists: Deborah Strauss and Jake Shulman-Ment. Thursday, February 26, 2004 8:00 PM Congregation Beth Elohim (Garfield Temple) 271 Garfield Place (8th Avenue and Garfield Place) Park Slope, Brooklyn .... more....

Directions: Take the 2-3 trains to Grand Army Plaza or the Q (? - I think it's now the B) to 7th Avenue. Admission: $5.00 - Refreshments served. For More Information: (212) 505-8040 Partial program support provided by the New York State Council of the Arts.

"Old World" Klezmer Concert

An evening with Alicia Svigals & Pete Rushefsky 8pm Saturday, February 28 $16 members / $18 nonmembers Open Center 83 Spring St., NYC (212) 219-2527 Before the big klezmer bands of New York arose with their brass and clarinets, there were the archetypical Jewish orchestras of the old world, led by the fiddle and borne aloft by the otherworldly sounds of the harp-like "tsimbl", or Jewish hammered dulcimer.....

The evening of Feb 28, the world's leading klezmer fiddler, the renowned Alicia Svigals, co-founder of the legendary Klezmatics, presents a program of these ancient and ecstatic Jewish melodies, accompanied by "tsimbler" Pete Rushefsky, one of the few musicians in the world to have mastered this traditional instrument. Join these two great figures in the revival and revitalization of "Old World" Jewish music a week before Purim for a musical communion with beloved ghosts from this Eastern European past. www.opencenter.org

"Di Tsvey" ("The Duo")

Steven Greenman, violin and Pete Rushefsky, tsimbl (cimbalom/hammered dulcimer) Thursday, March 4, 8:15 PM Ford Hall-- Whalen Center Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY Visiting guest recital by world-renowned klezmer violinist Steven Greenman and tsimbl (cimbalom / hammered dulcimer) player Pete Rushefsky playing a program of original and rarely heard klezmer pieces.

STEVEN GREENMAN Violinist Recognized internationally as one of the finest practitioners of traditional East European Jewish Klezmer violin, Steven Greenman is a seasoned performer of "Klezmer" music as well as a serious composer of traditional Klezmer music, a teacher, musical arranger and lecturer. His current project, "The Dream of Stempenyu" involves a CD recording of his own original Jewish and Klezmer violin compositions, a series of concerts of the music and a future publication of the material. One of the first American born klezmer violinists to create a program and performance style based entirely on the repertoire of European Klezmer violin music, Steven co-founded the Khevrisa ensemble together with the cimbalist, Walter Zev Feldman in 1998. Steven has performed internationally with Khevrisa and other notable klezmer ensembles such as the Klezmatics, Budowitz, the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band and Kapelye. His own ensemble, the Steven Greenman Klezmer Ensemble is dedicated to performing his o! wn compositions and the transitional Jewish/Moldavian Klezmer repertoire. As a teacher of Klezmer music Steven received a grant to be the first recipient of the Louis E. Emsheimer Memorial Artist in Residence Program in Cleveland, Ohio (2002) for which he lead Klezmer workshops for classical string players and lectured on Klezmer music. He has taught Klezmer violin and led string ensembles at the KlezKanada festival, Living Traditions’ KlezKamp, and KlezFest London. Working with educators Mitchell Korn and Amy McClellan of the Cleveland Orchestra educational department’s "Learning Through Music" program Steven was selected as a "Teaching Artist" and developed a children’s program combining story telling and klezmer music. Steven has collaborated with New York dancer/choreographer David Dorfman and the Cleveland State Dance ensemble as musical director in Dorfman’s "Moving Histories", a modern dance piece dealing with Jewish identity, and performed with members of the Klezmatics in their 1997 performance of Tony Kushner’s adaptation of S. Ansky’s "Dybbuk." Steven has lectured and performed at the Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow, Poland and has been a regular performer with various ensembles at Toronto’s Ashkenaz-A Festival of New Yiddish Culture. In addition to his involvement with Klezmer music Steven is an accomplished performer of urban Gypsy violin styles, in particular, Hungarian "Nota", Romanian "Lautari" music and Slovak folk music. Steven has devoted his life to the study of these styles learning East-European violin style and ornamentation from professional Gypsy and folk musicians from Slovakia, Romania, the Ukraine and Hungary in addition to transcribing and arranging hundreds of tunes. As a concert soloist, Steven has been a regular guest soloist with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra performing his own arrangements of traditional East European Gypsy violin music. Steven will be featured on a forthcoming CD of urban Romanian Gypsy violin music together with the cimbalist, Alexander Fedoriouk. As a classical violinist Steven received both his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Violin Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music studying with Linda Sharon Cerone, Dr. Eugene Gratovich and the l! ate Bernhard Goldshmidt. Steven has also performed as a member of the Canton and Akron Symphony Orchestras and has participated in the National Repertory Orchestra, the National Orchestral Institute and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Steven is lead performer, producer and the composer of the music of his upcoming Klezmer violin CD project, "The Dream of Stempenyu". Together with Walter Zev Feldman, Steven co-produced and is featured on the recording Khevrisa-European Klezmer Music on the Smithsonian Folkways label. Steven is also featured on the following recordings: Budowitz’ "Mother Tongue"; as violinist and musical producer/arranger with Yiddish vocalist Lori Cahan-Simon with "Songs My Bubbe Should Have Taught Me" (Vol. 1) and lead violinist on "Vessel of Song-The Music of Mikhl Gelbart". In addition Steven has recorded with Alicia Svigals and with "The Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band". PETE RUSHEFSKY Tsimblist Pete Rushefsky (tsimbl) is a leading revivalist of the tsimbl, or Jewish hammered dulcimer. He performs with some of the finest practitioners of traditional Yiddish and klezmer music including Steven Greenman, Rebecca Kaplan, Joel Rubin and Alicia Svigals. He won much critical acclaim for his CD with violinist Elie Rosenblatt entitled "Tsimbl un Fidl: Klezmer Music for Hammered Dulcimer & Violin" (Hatikvah Music) and he appears with Michael Alpert and Deborah Strauss on Yiddish poet/songwriter Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman's CD "Af di gasn fun der shtot - On the Streets of the City" (Yiddishland Records). His upcoming Yiddishland Records release with Rebecca Kaplan is entitled "Oyf di vegelekh / On the Paths: Yiddish Songs with Tsimbl." Pete is also the author of a pioneering instructional book on adapting the American 5-string banjo for klezmer.

Autry National Center

Scenes of Worship: A Musical Celebration of Passover Sunday, March 21 6:30 p.m. Autry National Center 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA 90027

Celebrate Passover and Women’s History Month through music and song with performances by trained cantors and musicians. Cantors Alison Wissot, Judy Greenfeld, Beth Wasserman Rosenfeld, Mike Stein, and soloist Nancy Linder will present this once-in-a-lifetime event! Ari Perelmuter, a cantor from Temple Menorah in Redondo Beach, is the program’s musical director, and David Kamenir will provide the music. General admission is $8 for museum members, $18 for nonmembers. Special VIP tickets are $27 for museum members, $30 for nonmembers. VIP tickets include preferred seating at the show; a post-show wine, cheese, and dessert reception; and a 20% discount on the purchase of a museum membership. Space is limited! Call TicketWeb for reservations at 866.468.3399, or visit www.ticketweb.com. For information visit www.autry-museum.org or call 323.667.2000, ext. 354.

Jerusalem Lyric Trio

The Jerusalem Lyric Trio is performing in Temple Israel Natick on March 21 Sun. 7:00 pm. The concert is featuring 4 outstanding works written for the Trio, 3 of them based on biblical texts, by Israeli, American and Canadian composers, including a world premiere. Contact Wendy Eisler-Kashy, Jerusalem Lyric Trio, for more information. www.jerusalemlyrictrio.com kashy@zahav.net.il

Alexandria Kleztet win Wammie Awards

At the State Theatre in Falls Church, Virginia, the Alexandria Kleztet won two Wammie Awards...

The Wammies are for the Washington Area Music Association. The group won the Wammie for “Best World Music Duo or Group,” and Seth Kibel also received an individual award for "Best World Music Instrumentalist" for Greater Washington. The Wammie awards are kind of like a regional version of the Grammy awards. They’re voted upon by the musicians and music industry professionals of the Greater Washington and Baltimore regions. To find out more, see the websites at www.kleztet.com and www.sethkibel.com

Klezmatics at Takoma

The Klezmatics are making a concert appearance for the Institute of Musical Traditions this coming Monday, February 23, 2004 at 8 pm. The concert will be held at the Historic Takoma Theatre at 6833 4th Street, NW, just outside of Washington DC – just one block from the Takoma Metro. Tickets are $14. For more information, go to imtfolk.org or call 301-754-3611.

Di Bostoner Klezmer

Dobe (Dena) Ressler, Brian Bender, and Terry Traub, play clarinet, accordion, trombone, melodica, fiddle, piano and...who knows what other instruments...they'll play a few of original numbers, too... There are two concerts coming up...

Sunday, February 29, Tonic brunch, 107 Norfolk St. (between Delancey and Rivington) New York City, 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. $10 for one set, $15 for both Sunday, March 14, National Yiddish Book Center, Amherst, MA 2 p.m. $5 For more info (directions, e.g.) please surf to www.yiddishmusic.com

Kol Zimra: Chant Leader's Training

Held at ELAT CHAYYIM in 99 Mill Hook Road, Accord, New York, starting August 2-8, 2004... If you are one of the many people who have been moved and transformed by Rabbi Shefa Gold's chanting practice and if you are a healer, teacher, artist or spiritual leader in your community, here is your chance to cultivate the inner qualities and learn the practical techniques that will enable you to bring that joy and meaning to others...not to mention the abundant blessings it will bring to your own spiritual life. Please feel free to pass this information on to others who might benefit from it.

UNDER ONE CANOPY

"Under One Canopy: Readings in Jewish Diversity" edited by Karen Primack is the subject of a Literary Reading Evening. UNDER ONE CANOPY also includes music lyrics which includes musical notes...

Sunday, February 29, 2004, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., a Literary Reading Evening will be held @ T'mol Shilshom bookstore Cafe (Kosher-Dairy) Restaurant, Rehov Yoel Solomon 5 (Near Zion Square), Nachlat Sheeva, Jerusalem, Tel. 02-623-2758 to celebrate publication of the new book (prose & poetry), "Under One Canopy: Readings in Jewish Diversity" edited by Karen Primack of "Kulanu". Out of 50 writers in this book, who participated in this 2002 Kulanu International Writing Competition, 10 writers live in Israel & will read! 1. Schulamith C. HaLevy 6. Hadassah W. Harr-Ell 2. Gloria Mound 7. Michael Freund 3. Yitzchak Kerem 8. Emma Kimor 4. Sue Tourkin-Komet 9. Gila Green 5. Loolwa Khazzoom 10. Ruth Fogelman

Shiru Shir seeking performers

Shiru Shir: The Jewish Community Choir of Flatbush, under the direction of Gregory Kushner, is seeking additional singers, male and female.

Shiru Shir sings a wide range of interesting music, including Israeli, liturgical, and renaissance music, Americana, and PDQ Bach. Kushner is a graduate of the Riga School of Music and is a professional musician, teacher, and choir leader. Solo vocal and instrumental performance opportunities are available. Sight singing is helpful but not required. Adults of all ages and college students are welcome. Shiru Shir meets each Tuesday night at the Yeshivah of Flatbush, which is easily accessible by subway from Brooklyn and Manhattan; street parking is available. For more information, contact Howard Wallick 718-469-7109 (hwallick@colbrookdev.com).

Di Fidl-Kapelye

The Workmen’s Circle is proud to present Di Fidl-Kapelye Dutch Strings, Hammers and Bows For their debut performance in the United States. With an introduction by violinist Deborah Strauss. Thursday, February 19, 2004, 7:00 PM.

The Workmen’s Circle 45 East 33rd Street (between Park and Madison Aves.) New York City Admission: $5 Di Fidl-Kapelye is a group of five young virtuoso musicians from Amsterdam who have formed an ensemble that is fresh and creative, yet thoroughly rooted in the best of the klezmer tradition. Playing on violins, cello, oud, cimbalom and double bass, they are a joy to behold! This is definitely an event not to be missed! For more information: deborahjstrauss@cs.com or 718 399-1302

Five-Week Klezmer Workshop with Jeff Warschauer

The Workmen's Circle announces Five-Week Klezmer Workshop with Jeff Warschauer Free Open House Tuesday, February 24 at 7:00 PM Five-week paid session starts the following Tuesday, March 2, and continues through March 30, 7:00 PM. Study with an internationally recognized master instructor Learn tunes from the diverse klezmer tradition Work in ensembles with other instrumentalists Develop tools for improvisation Guest instructors from the cutting edge of the contemporary klezmer scene More info...

Open to players of any instrument who play and read music at least an intermediate level Course Fee: Member: 5 week session $115; per session $25 Non-member: 5 week session $140; per session $30 For more information or registration call: 212-889-6800 x270

Moshikop at YaD Arts

A mesmerizing blend of acoustic and electronic sounds, along the lines of Morcheeba or the Gotan project, with a Middle Eastern slant!

--LONDON-- Monday 8 March: Costa Urbana at the Notting Hill Arts Club, 21 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3JQ Free before 8pm, £5 after, £3 concessions First 3 people to email maria@yadarts.com get in for free, next 10 on concession list Tuesday 16 March, 8:30pm Private showcase at Momo, Heddon St - Guests only. First 5 people who email maria@yadarts.com will be put on the exclusive guest list. Saturday 27March, 8.00pm Supporting Celloman at the Spitz, 109 Commercial St. Old Spitalfields Market. London. E1 6BG Tickets £12/£10 adv 2 free tickets to be given out to first two to email maria@yadarts.com YaD has entered 2004 with a whole host of things up our sleeves… Further to our successful Movement of the People series at the end of last year, we are planning to continue these events in 2004, bringing exciting acts from around the globe to a London stage. Watch for dates and line-up including Israel’s Idan Reichel, Gogol Bordello, Oi Va Voi, Frank London’s Klezmer Allstars and Victoria Hanna, plus theatre and art shows.

KLEZFEST ST. PETERSBURG 2004

The Center for Jewish Music of the Jewish Community Center of St. Petersburg is proud to announce "KlezFest St. Petersburg 2004," an international seminar on the traditional music of Eastern European Jewry, to be held June 12-16, 2004 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

"KlezFest St. Petersburg," now in its eighth year, is the oldest Klezmer seminar in Russia. The 2004 festival will include master-classes on Yiddish folk songs and Klezmer music, workshops on Yiddish folklore and Yiddish dance, lectures, concerts, and two excursions: "Jewish St. Petersburg" and "Rivers and Canals of St. Petersburg." The staff will include world-famous musicians -- the world's leading expert on Yiddish dance, violinist, accordion player, vocalist, and ethnomusicologist Michael Alpert from New York, the outstanding Klezmer clarinetist from Berlin, Christian Dawid, and others. "KlezFest St. Petersburg," dedicated to bringing Klezmer music and Yiddish culture back to the land of their birth, includes Jewish musicians from the vibrant centers of the Jewish renaissance throughout the former Soviet Union. This year again there is a special program for lovers of Yiddish music and culture from other parts of the globe. The festival is asking for a contribution of $550. This sum will include food and lodging in St. Petersburg for 5 days and the entire seminar program, including interpreters when needed, concerts and the two excursions. Participants will pay their own transportation to St. Petersburg. For more information, please contact the Jewish Community Center of St. Petersburg via fax at (+7-812) 314-5117, or e-mail . For advice on travel and visa arrangements, contact our American sponsor, the Jewish Community Development Fund in Russia and Ukraine, a project of the American Jewish World Service (New York), via telephone: (+1-212) 273-1642, or e-mail: . Join us at "KlezFest St. Petersburg" this summer! If you haven't been on the Neva River during White Nights with Russian klezmorim, you haven't lived!

Call for papers

The Eurovision Song Contest: Popular Music, Media, and Politics With the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest approaching, we invite submissions for a collection of essays dealing with this popular culture phenomenon from a wide range of historical, sociological, and theoretical perspectives...

Founded in 1956 as an annual televised event unifying Europe through music, Eurovision is widely celebrated by its fans and just as widely disparaged by its critics. The event is replete with contradictions and border-crossings of all kinds. A French minister of culture called it "a monument to drivel," while one contestant later became the Norwegian minister of culture. Voting patterns reveal deep-seated alliances and animosities (Turkey often votes for Germany's song, but never for Greece), while recent wins by Estonia and Latvia demonstrate the arrival of "new Europe." In 1979, Eurovision was held for the first time outside of Europe, in Jerusalem; twenty years later an Israeli transsexual's victory crossed the borders of gender identity as well. Significantly perhaps, Eurovision is one of Europe's largest and longest-running media productions that has never been broadcast in the United States. Specific historical, sociological, and theoretical perspectives might address the following: - How are changing aspects of "Europe" reflected in the Eurovision Song Contest since its founding in the post-war decade, or since Europe's post-Wall expansion? - Case studies on participating countries, performers, songs, musical styles, language choice, cultural references, voting results, critical reception - The notion of border-crossing: political, musical, linguistic, aesthetic, or otherwise - Theoretical approaches to media spectacle, popular music, nationality, performativity - Technologies of fan culture: television broadcasting, telephone voting, record collecting, Internet websites - Europop aesthetics: kitsch or camp, humor and parody, tribute bands - Comparable institutions: The San Remo Song Festival (founded in 1951), Intervision (the former East Bloc answer to Eurovision), World Pop Idol, etc. Please reply to both Ivan Raykoff (raykoffi@newschool.edu) and Robert Tobin (tobin@whitman.edu). Ivan Raykoff Prof. of Arts in Context (Music) Eugene Lang College/New School University 65 West 11th St. New York, NY 10011 Robert Tobin Prof. of Foreign Languages and Literature (German) Whitman College Walla Walla, WA 99362

GIGZ

Linda Yelnick runs an agency that books Jewish musicians and comedians. It's called GIGZ and operates from 520 South El Camino Real, Suite 320, San Mateo CA 94402. She is open to representing more artists. For more information.... Phone/Fax 650 692.1763 leahhaifa@usa.net http://gigz.yelnickusa.com Phone/Fax 650-692-1763 Email: leahhaifa@usa.net Website: http://gigz.yelnickusa.com Linda Yelnick is an agent for Jewish performers in the worlds of music and comedy. Her agency is GIGZ, based in California, which represents about eighteen performing artists in the United States, the UK and Israel. Linda was the only person to submit Proposals to the National Academy of Performing Arts and Sciences (NARAS) to establish a Jewish music category for its Grammy Awards. She currently sits on the Board of Governors of the San Francisco Chapter of the Recording Academy. Before finding her "spark," Linda had been in Jewish education for almost 20 years as both teacher and administrator. Linda knows how important it is to bring "gigz" to communities everywhere, those with both large and small Jewish populations.

Professor Jehoash Hirshberg at JTS

Professor Jehoash Hirshberg of The Hebrew University presents a lecture: "The Musical Heritage of the Karaite Jews of Egyptian origin in Israel - Liturgical and Paraliturgical Traditions and Performance" Thursday, February 12, 10:30 AM, at Kripke 406 Jewish Theological Seminary 3080 Broadway, New York Free and Open to the Public. All are invited.

ARSC-SAM Conference

Cleveland, Ohio March 10-14, 2004 Renaissance Cleveland Hotel http://www.arsc-audio.org/2004conference.html

“Composing in America”

Music in Gotham will hold a conference, "A Century of Composing in America: 1820-1920," on 17-19 November 2004. It begins on Wednesday evening, November 17, ...paper proposals requested...

Barbara Mackenzie writes: "Music in Gotham will be opening with a concert by the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. The program will be of special interest to conference attendees. Paper presentations will be on 18-19 November in Baisley Powell Elebash Hall at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The last event will be a concert of chamber music composed in the United States, given in Elebash Hall on Friday evening.. John Graziano and Adrienne Fried Block, directors of Music in Gotham, request paper proposals of 30 minutes each. There will, however, be one session of shorter papers. Conference topics will be devoted to works written in the United States, whether by native-born or resident immigrant composers. Special emphasis will be on music composed in or for New York City. We welcome papers on all musical genres. Also welcome are short recitals with commentary in lieu of papers. Three double-spaced copies of the proposal should be submitted by 1 March 2004. Length may be 500 words or less. Indicate whether yours is a 30-minute or a shorter paper. Include your audio-visual requirements. Please send papers either by mail to Music in Gotham, the Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10016-4309; or by email to . Music in Gotham is a constituent member of the Barry S. Brook Center for Research and Documentation, Graduate Center, the City University of New York. It is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, which has named it a "We the People" project. Supplementary funding has come from the Baisley Powell Elebash Endowment.