April 15, 2008

CD "TWO FAITHS, ONE VOICE"

An Innovative CD, "TWO FAITHS, ONE VOICE," blending Sephardic and Eastern European folk traditions is being released in May. There will also be a March concert in Vilnius, Lithuania which will mark a world premiere.

Sefarad Records, a contemporary musical enterprise that produces recordings and concerts of ethnic folk music spanning many centuries and cultures, is releasing "Two Faiths, One Voice," an acoustic album that uncovers surprising synergies between Christian and Jewish musical traditions. Featuring singer and folklorist Maria Krupoves and the singer and virtuoso guitarist Gerard Edery, "Two Faiths, One Voice" world premieres in Eastern Europe (at the Bernardine Church in Vilnius, the site of many ecumenical concerts, on March 24) prior to its U.S. premiere and CD release which take place in New York at Drom, 85 Avenue A, on Tuesday May 27 at 8pm.

Tracing the nomadic wanderings of Sephardic music over the centuries -- from Medieval Spain to modern Eastern Europe -- "Two Faiths, One Voice" reveals multiple, deep-rooted parallels between Eastern-European (Jewish and Christian) and Middle-Eastern (Jewish and Arabic) musical faiths.

The product of a two-and-a-half-year collaboration between Edery, based in New York and the founder of Sefarad Records, and Krupoves, a specialist in Central and Eastern European folksongs, "Two Faiths, One Voice" is notable for its curatorial insight as well as its musical virtuosity. Edery, a master player in multiple languages and styles (he sings in fifteen languages and speaks four fluently), is renowned for assembling world music instrumentalists, dancers and folklorists in unique and highly acclaimed cross-cultural concerts and recordings. Krupoves, who is a professor at the Vilnius Yiddish Institute at Vilnius University in Lithuania, sings in twelve languages and dialects, and is fluent in seven. A woman of Christian heritage, she is a specialist of a wide array of Jewish music, singing in Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, and even Karaim (an off-shoot of Judaism from 8th century Babylon). She is credited with preserving important portions of Jewish folk tradition, particularly songs from isolated, so-called stateless Jewish communities.

Edery and Krupoves have performed in concert together in over a dozen major European and American cities. "Our upcoming 'Two Faiths, One Voice' concerts come at a particularly meaningful time," says Edery. "Incidents of anti-Semitism are a constant problem in the former Soviet Union. At the same time efforts to promote understanding through the arts are also gaining strength. We are deeply honored to premiere this concert in Vilnius, once a leading center of Jewish culture."

Interpreting songs in Ladino, Hebrew, Yiddish, Turkish, Galician-Portuguese, Tartar and Gypsy (among others), Krupoves and Edery revel in the shared stories, lyrics and melodies of people separated for centuries by ethnic and religious hatreds. "There are connections between the cultures and overlap, which prove the fluidity of oral and musical traditions," Edery observes. "Our art reminds us that the boundaries that often separate us can be easily and magically bridged." For more information visit www.sefaradrecords.com Posted by jmwc at April 15, 2008 02:35 PM