May 06, 2004

TORONTO JEWISH FOLK CHOIR’S 78TH SPRING CONCERT

Choir with BEYOND THE PALE, SUNDAY, MAY 16
The Toronto Jewish Folk Choir adds the infectious klezmer sounds of Beyond the Pale to its 78th annual spring concert Sunday, May 16, 3 p.m. at Lawrence Park Collegiate, Lawrence Ave. W., two blocks east of Avenue Road (limited free parking at the school).
Tickets, $22 ($18 seniors and students; children under 12 free; group rates on request), are available at the door, or in advance from Jewish bookstores, or by calling 416-489-7681. More information is at http://www.winchevskycentre.org/choir.html and...

Now in his second year as conductor, Alexander Veprinsky directs the Choir, soloists and Beyond the Pale in an afternoon of memorable melody. Soloists are soprano Miriam Eskin, tenor Mark Fox and bass Herman Rombouts. Pianist is Lina Zemelman.
Highlight is the choral ballade Benyomin der driter (Benjamin the Third) by Max Helfman (1901-63), a musical adaptation of the classic novel by the “Grandfather of Yiddish Literature,” Mendele Moikher Sforim. Maestro Veprinsky has created an original orchestration for the musicians. TV personality Larry Solway will knit the sections together with narration in both English and Yiddish - his first venture into Yiddish narration.
Also on the program is an eclectic mix of songs on Jewish themes, in Yiddish, Hebrew, Judeo-Spanish, Russian and English.
The concert is dedicated to the memory of three people associated with the choir, who died in February 2004 – Canada’s music man Nicholas Goldschmidt, who showcased the Choir in three music festivals in recent years; long-time Toronto Symphony Orchestra cellist Robert Spergel, who arranged a spiritual the Choir performed in 2003; and Bella Shek, who was an ardent singer and executive member from her arrival in Canada in 1934 until into her 90s, and who died just short of her 103rd birthday.
Conductor Alexander Veprinsky graduated from the Mykola Lysenko Lviv State Conservatory in Ukraine in operatic and symphonic conducting. He is also a gifted pianist and arranger. Arriving in Canada in 1993, he became assistant conductor, and in 1995 musical director, of Toronto’s Shevchenko Ensemble and the driving force behind its School of Performing Arts, founded in 1996. He joined the Folk Choir in 2002.
The TJFC gratefully acknowledges the support of the Toronto Arts Council, the Ben and Hilda Katz Foundation, the Miransky Fund of the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto, and Brina Harris Posted by jmwc at May 6, 2004 12:20 PM | TrackBack