Svigals-Rushefsky in "Mahler's World: Jewish Music in the Hapsburg Empire"

Klezmer violin superstar Alicia Svigals returns to the Maverick on July 14 at 8:00 p.m. with tsimblist Pete Rushefsky.

Ms. Svigals and Mr. Rushefsky brought down the house last summer at Maverick, and this year¹s concert is called "Mahler¹s World: Jewish Music in the Hapsburg Empire." The concert is part of Maverick¹s season-long celebration of the centenary of Gustav Mahler¹s arrival in America to lead the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic.

Classical concerts are Saturday evenings at 6:00 and Sunday afternoons at 3:00, with jazz, world music, and klezmer on selected Saturday nights at 8:00. Young people¹s concerts are Saturday mornings at 11:00.

The box office opens an hour before each concert; the hall opens half an hour before curtain time. Except for the last weekend of the season, ticket prices are $20 for adults and $5 for students. Books of ten tickets, to be used in any combination at any regular concert throughout the season, may be purchased at the box office for $150 or by writing to Maverick Concerts, P.O. Box 9, Woodstock, NY 12498. Children under 12 are admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Donors of $50 or more to the sustaining fund of the series may attend the season-closer Friends of Maverick Concert.

Tickets are general admission with no reserved seating, and a special ³rock bottom² area provides pay-what-you-can seating. The Maverick Concert Hall is accessible to persons with disabilities.

The Maverick Concert Hall is located on Maverick Road, near Woodstock, approximately one mile from the road¹s junctions with either Route 375 or Route 28. For additional information, visit www.maverickconcerts.org , call the Maverick¹s recorded message line at 845-679-8217, or send e-mail to maverickmuse@aol.com. Klezmer is the traditional, celebratory music of eastern European Jewry, played in the old world and the new at weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other simkhes, or happy occasions. Euphoric, ecstatic, and heart-wrenching, its beauty and high emotion have made it a worldwide phenomenon, as electrifying on the concert stage as it is joyful to dance to with family and friends. Klezmer music in this country has typically been jazzy brass bands led by clarinets, but earlier Eastern European klezmer ensembles were string bands led by violins accompanied by the tsimbl. A stringed instrument played like a xylophone, the tsimbl is played with mallets padded with cotton or leather. The multiple strings at each pitch give the tsimbl its rich and haunting sonority. It was a popular instrument in klezmer bands across Eastern Europe from the 1600's through the first decades of the twentieth century. The instrument is still quite popular in parts of Eastern Europe and Balkans and is often associated with Rom (gypsy) musicians. Gustav Mahler was a towering figure in the artistic and intellectual hotbed that was Vienna at the end of the 19th Century. Mahler used, in his symphonies and vocal works, music from both ³high² and ³low² culture to a degree unknown before this. He was born to Jewish parents in what is now the Czech Republic and, to a great extent, the klezmer music of eastern Europe was a root source of melodic and harmonic material for him. Violinist/composer Alicia Svigals, a founder of the Klezmatics and of the all-women band Mikveh, is considered by many to be the world's foremost klezmer fiddler. During the past decade, she almost singlehandedly revived klezmer fiddle playing, which came close to extinction in the last century; traditional klezmer violin style is now being played again by hundreds of her students, including most of today's best professional players. She taught and toured with violinist Itzhak Perlman, who recorded her compositions as duets with Ms. Svigals accompanied by the Klezmatics. Pete Rushefsky is a leading revivalist of the tsimbl. He is also executive director of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance, a New York not-for-profit dedicated to preserving and nurturing the performing arts traditions of immigrant and ethnic communities. He is a well-known performer and lecturer on klezmer and other traditional musics and has a number of published articles to his credit. Maverick Concerts, near Woodstock, New York, is the oldest continuous summer chamber music series in America. The Maverick Concert Hall was built by hand in 1916 in the pristine Catskill woodland, and now it is a multi-starred attraction on the National Register of Historic Places. Presenting concerts by nationally and internationally known performers at affordable prices, Maverick continues the vision of Hervey White, founder of the collaborative 101-year-old Maverick Art Colony.

Yamaha is The Official Piano of Maverick Concerts; the C7 grand piano on the Maverick stage appears through the generosity of Yamaha Music Corporation of America.

Maverick Concerts, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, is supported by The Maverick Endowment Fund, Friends of Maverick, public and private foundations, local businesses, the Towns of Woodstock and Hurley, and by public funds from The New York State Council on The Arts, a state agency. The commissioning and performance of the chamber orchestra version of ³Final Alice² is supported by the New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

Molly Picon: Yiddish Star, American Star

Molly Picon: Yiddish Star, American Star
From June 26, 2007 through September 22, 2007
Vincent Astor Gallery
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts,
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Hours: Tues, Wed, Fri & Sat: 12 to 6; Thurs: 12 to 8
Learn more:
http://www.nypl.org/research/calendar/exhib/lpa/lpaexhibdesc.cfm?id=446
Look at the NYPL brochure on Molly Picon (pdf) http://www.nypl.org/research/calendar/imagesexhib/mollybro.pdf Molly Picon Exhibit Info:
http://www.nypl.org/research/calendar/exhib/lpa/lpaexhibdesc.cfm?id=446

Please see below for full details on the exhibition and related public programs.
For years she was the "sweetheart" of New York’s Lower East Side Yiddish-speaking community. Her shows, her sheet music, her records, her films, her radio programs, won her a special place in their hearts. Then, as she increasingly began appearing in more English language shows, television programs, and films, an even larger audience fell in love with her: the American public. Picon's changing career reflects the contributions immigrant cultures have made to our entertainment industry, our city, and our nation.

This exhibition, in cooperation with the Museum of the City of New York, includes more than two hundred photos, programs, posters, sheet music, records, radio scripts, set renderings, costumes and more. Just a sampling of some of the items on view: photos from Molly Picon’s 1923 New York Yiddish Theatre debut in the Jacob Kalich/Joseph Rumshinsky production Yankele; Picon’s costume from Yankele; photos and selected sheet music by Abraham Ellstein for the Joseph Green 1936 Yiddish film Yidl mitn fidl (Yidl with a Fiddle)and the 1938 Yiddish film Mamele; radio scripts from her 1941 series Nancy from Delancey; memorabilia from the Jerry Herman/Don Appell 1961 production of Milk and Honey, her 1960s appearances on the television show Car 54, Where are You? and the Norman Jewison film Fiddler on the Roof.

The exhibition is curated by Dr. Diane Cypkin, Professor of Media and Communication Arts at Pace University, and herself a performer who has appeared in many Yiddish and English language productions. The institutions' look at Yiddish culture in New York continues at the Museum of the City of New York with The Jewish Daily Forward: Embracing an Immigrant Community, April 22, 2007 - September 17, 2007

Yuval Ron with LA Jewish Symphony

See the Yuval Ron Ensemble performing with a FULL SYMPHONY and dancers in a spectacular production under the stars!
East meets West: A Special Concert of The Yuval Ron Ensemble with the LA Jewish Symphony

Conductor: Dr. Noreen Green

The Ensemble will perform (in the second half of the program only!) traditional songs of the Middle East and Andalusia with new symphonic arrangements by Yuval Ron plus Canciones Sefardi - a symphonic work by Yuval Ron based on Andalusi songs of Morocco and...... the first public performance of a symphonic medley from the Oscar winner film "West Bank Story".
featuring:

singers Maya Haddi and Barak Marshall, guitarist Kenton Youngstrom and dancers Maya Karasso and Melanie Kareem
Please note: the concert at the Ford will be taped for future broadcast on TV channel 36!
Location: Ford Ampitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd East, Los Angeles, CA 90068
Admission: $36, $25; Students and Children $12,
Buy Tickets To purchase tickets please call the Ford Box Office at 323-461-3673 or visit www.FordTheatres.org . Call Bunny Getz at 888-780-9345 for %15 discount for groups for 8 or more. Or, you can purchase tickets online at http://www.fordamphitheater.org On site parking is available for $5.
Please see the Ford Amphitheater website for more information on additional parking needs and other accommodations. More upcoming events of Yuval Ron:
Saturday, July 28, 2007, 7:30pm
Farmlab presents
World Premier of Yuval Ron's New Composition
MAYA - Variations for Earth Harp, woodwinds and electronics
featuring:
William Close on Earth Harp (a stunning hugh harp which will be wired down from the Spring Street bridge in Downtown LA)
Yeghish Manukyan on Woodwinds
with Images by David Lebrun from his new film "Breaking the Maya Code"
Event produced by Roxanne Steinberg
Location: Farmlab - 1745 N. Spring Street #4, Los Angeles, CA
90012 .
Admission: FREE - Reservations required to: info@farmlab.org
For more information: Phone: 323 226 1158 email: info@farmlab.org web: www.farmlab.org

Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity

Musicians should be aware of the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity. According to their mission statement, the Center is:
"A non-profit educational institution in both the United States and Israel, the Center functions as a global fellowship of creative and performing artists, scholars and benefactors committed to evolving the dynamic national Jewish culture envisioned by Zionist philosopher Ahad Ha'am. To preclude the fossilization of Jewish culture, the Center stimulates and facilitates the creation of serious new cultural works from a Jewish perspective and the dissemination of the resulting artistic expression in respected public venues, thereby broadening the horizons of Jewish culture and ensuring an ongoing Jewish contribution to universal civilization."
Lots of artists are participating in Israel and the US. For more information see:
http://www.jewishcreativity.org/home.htm

New Musical Next Spring at Theater J in DC

Playbill carries an article about a new Jewish musical scheduled for this season's Spring event in DC. Called David in Shadow and Light, it's based on the life of King David, with libretto by Yehuda Hyman, music by Daniel Hoffman, choreography by Peter DiMuro and the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and direction by Nick Olcott.The musical, commissioned by Theater J together with the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity, will be presented next Spring in May 6-June 22, 2008. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/109190.html

Marty Schwartz on streaming video

KlezmerShack reports that Marty Schwartz, collector for 30 years of old Yiddish recordings and Jewish music specialist, has a clip on KQED www.kqed.org/arts/places/spark/profile.jsp?id=17340

Podcast from TWISTING TRADITION: MUSIC, HISTORY AND CULTURAL CHANGE

Musicians Jewlia Eisenberg and Frank London chat with writer Josh Kun about Jewish music, and perform live from last April in LA. Hear Josh Kun ask the perenniel question about "what is Jewish music?" At least the Q is updated. Kun's list questions are worth hearing as well as the dicussion.

WATCH: http://nextbook.org/festivals/video.twistingtradition.html

LISTEN: http://audio.nextbook.org/2007lafestivalaudio/Twisting%20Tradition.mp3

http://nextbook.org/festivals/video.twistingtradition.html

Rebecca Teplow CD "Prayers" Deserves More

Remind me again...Rebecca Teplow in her 2004 CD "Prayers" has a great voice, nice arrangements.... now what else? Find out. http://cdbaby.com/cd/rebeccateplow

Who IS Yitzy Spinner?

A Chazzan in White Plains, NY, Yitzy Spinner is also the composer of hundreds of Jewish songs. He has a website at: http://yitzyspinner.com/About.html

Barbara in Berlin

Barbara Streisand sang to a sold out audience of 18,000 people in Berlin, Germany on Saturday, June 30. Streisand even spoke to the crowd in German, and received multiple standing ovations to her concert. Previously Streisand had not sung in European capitals other than London. Reuters reported on the event http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSL2776062320070630

Yiddish Summer Weimer

The largest Yiddish festival in Germany is taking place now, July 9, through August 9, 2007. The festival, in operation since the year 2000, invited musicians to teach Klezmer in several workshops to hundreds of interested fans or amateur-musicians. The slogan of this year;s Yiddish Summer Weimar is "Tradition an new Impulses". For that reason, many well-known artists from Germany, Argentina, USA, the Netherlands etc. will teach Klezmer as well as the crossover between Klezmer and Jazz or Tango. For more information, visit the website at:
http://yiddish-summer-weimar.de/