new Jewish music blog

Arnie Davidson, a songwriter and Contemporary Jewish Music composer based with a Reform congregation near Hartford, CT, started a blog called JewMuse http://jewmuse.blogspot.com/ exploring the use of Contemp Jewish Music to encourage involvement in worship and to strengthen community.

Perfect Pitch Study

A study is being conducted by the University of California about perfect pitch. They are looking for volunteers of people with Askenazi J ewish Ancestry. If you are interested in helping them out, take a look at http://perfectpitch.ucsf.edu/ for full information.

Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival 2008

Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival 2008 presents
ISRAEL@60 May 21-June 1
http://www.pjmf.net

TICKETS for all events $20 general admission, $15 seniors, $10 students
MORE INFORMATION at www.pjmf.net
TICKETS available at www.proartstickets.org
(412) 394-3353

"ESTA in Concert"
Wednesday, May 21 7:30pm
Byham Theater, 101 6th St.

ESTA is a unique band from Israel with an innovative and original sound. ESTA's music combines the aromas of world music, the power of rock, and the spirit of jazz into a powerful, energetic new force that crosses genres, styles and borders. Proclaimed as "Israel's most original instrumental band", ESTA has toured prestigious festivals and venues throughout Europe, Israel and the U.S., including a special performance for President Clinton at a White House reception in honor of Israel's 50th Anniversary.

"Jerusalem of Gold"
Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival Orchestra
Children's Festival Chorus of Pittsburgh
Gila Goldstein, piano
Nurit Pacht, violin
Re'ut Ben-Ze'ev, soprano
Lucas Richman, conductor

Wednesday, May 28 7:30pm
Katz Theatre, JCC of Greater Pittsburgh 5738 Forbes Ave.

Three gifted Israeli soloists take center stage in our popular orchestral concert. Pianist Gila Goldstein, violinist Nurit Pacht, and soprano Re'ut Ben-Ze'ev join the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival Orchestra to perform works by prominent Israeli composers Paul Ben-Haim, Julius Chajes, and Noam Sheriff. And don't miss the Children's Festival Chorus perform a stirring rendition of Naomi Shemer's "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav". Lucas Richman conducts.

"Israeli Songs and Dances"
featuring Nurit Pacht, violin
Gilad Harel, clarinet
with Dennis O'Boyle, violin
*Marylene Gingras-Roy, viola
Aron Zelkowicz, cello
Luz Manriquez, piano

Sunday, June 1 7:30pm
Levy Hall, Rodef Shalom Congregation 4905 Fifth Ave.


From the early settlers of Palestine to the rising generation of young composers, Israel has produced an abundance of vital music over the past sixty years. Our celebration continues as violinist Nurit Pacht and clarinetist Gilad Harel join local artists in music by Jan Radzynski, Nizan Leibovich, Oded Zehavi, Jonathan Keren, and others, who evoke the folk traditions of their homeland by combining Arabic, Yemenite, Hebraic and spiritual elements.

The Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival is co-sponsored by the United Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and Rodef Shalom Congregation. The Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival is made possible in part by Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts, The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Heinz Endowments Small Arts Initiative.

http://www.pjmf.net

TICKETS for all events $20 general admission, $15 seniors, $10 students
MORE INFORMATION at www.pjmf.net
TICKETS available at www.proartstickets.org
(412) 394-3353

Music in Our Time 2008 at CJH

On Sunday, June 1 at 3 PM, at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th Street, NYC), the American Society for Jewish Music, in association with the American Jewish Historical Society and the Mannes College of Music of the New School, presents "Music in Our Time 2008," our annual concert of contemporary music.

As those of you who have attended the Society's previous concerts of contemporary music know, not only are these concerts an important part of the Society's mission, but they are filled with vital, committed performances of Jewish music by wonderful artists.

The program for "Music in Our Time 2008" consists of works by Paul Richards, Arkadie Kougell, Ofer Ben-Amots, Lionel Semiatin and Paul Schonfield.

For tickets, please contact the CJH Theater Box Office, phone: (917) 606-8200
email: boxoffice@cjh.org .

Ayelet Rose Gottlieb Sextet at Jazz Standard

Ayelet Rose Gottlieb Sextet¹s Debut at the Jazz Standard

"A commanding vocalist" -- New York Times

"The elegance in this music is juxtaposed against the rawness of its sensuality" -- Billboard

A.R.G. Sextet explores the balance between improvisation and the written page. Though using traditional jazz group instrumentation, the band challenges the assumed role of each of the instruments, particularly the voice. They recently recorded a new CD anticipated to be released in 2008, and will be playing a ³preview concert² at the world renowned Jazz Standard this June. The Sextet's repertoire features compositions and arrangements by Ayelet Rose Gottlieb. She uses her own lyrics as well as poetry by Rumi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. among others. Arrangements include tunes by Ornette Coleman and Bob Dylan.

June 9th, 7:30 & 9:30pm
www.jazzstandard.net

More Upcoming Events For Ayelet Rose Gottlieb

Israel @60 Festival, Washington DC, June 1st Ayelet will perform with Anat Fort (piano) and Rafi Malkiel (Trombone) at the Bohemian Caverns in Washington DC as part of the Israel @60 Festival. Ayelet Rose Gottlieb¹s Mayim Rabim represented Brooklyn at the Best of the Boroughs Festival.

"The stunning Gottlieb possesses a powerful voice, using it with authority, soaring over the beautifully voiced chorus of four."-- JazzTimes

"Powerfully straddles jazz, cantorial and the avant-garde... Mayim Rabim succeeds both musically and conceptually, one of the years finest vocal releases"-- All About Jazz

Jerusalem-born Ayelet Rose Gottlieb¹s song cycle is composed to erotic poetry from the biblical Song of Songs. Directed by Franny Silverman with video projections by Renate Aller, Mayim Rabim is a multi-sensory performance that reveals the complexity of a young woman caught in the great waters of love. The performance was chosen to represent Brooklyn in this year¹s Best of the Boroughs Festival.

Like Wildflowers, Suddenly

Like Wildflowers, Suddenly
On Creating a Musical Tribute to Israel
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
Hebrew College, Berenson Hall
$15 at the door
To register, Click here.
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001z-i2hewoZZ4kH5pX6sFnA5HpW2HGgKjmAwkahGFwtMFL8FxyaSflvZgrSkcU45O6U6LrOBL-PrYyIHpo7bahAWnVAtOem1Ax5I0CH1jWx1o5v-p9u3WPIJw_vlzuS--InLGL2Qe662KYOrTwuBwFZ2yrDtm5sdp6-IAdTmuKupY=
Cantor Charles Osborne
Cantor Aryeh Finklestein
Dr. Joshua Jacobson and the Zamir Chorale of Boston

Let it come
like wildflowers,
suddenly, because the field
must have it: wildpeace

So ends the poem "Wild Peace" by Yehuda Amichai. Those words were the starting point for composer Charles Osborne and librettist Aryeh Finklestein as they set out to create a musical tribute for Israel's 60th birthday. The result is Like Wildflowers, Suddenly, an oratorio encompassing three stages of Jewish history-biblical, the diaspora and the modern Jewish state of Israel.

In this special lecture-concert leading up to the composition's world premiere with the Zamir Chorale of Boston on June 1 at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, Mass., Osborne and Finklestein will be joined by the Zamir Chorale and founding director Joshua Jacobson to explore the inspiration for their work and the process of musical creation. Says Osborne, "The piece conveys three stages of the Jewish state: existence, non-existence and re-existence. It's an emotional expression of our relationship to the land."

Toronto Jewish Folk Choir Celebrates Yiddish and Israel's 60th

TORONTO JEWISH FOLK CHOIR CELEBRATES YIDDISH MUSIC & ISRAEL’S 60TH ANNIVERSARY IN ITS 82nd SPRING CONCERT JUNE 1

A Yiddish work celebrating the joy of playing the fiddle, and a salute in song to the State of Israel on its 60th anniversary highlight the 82nd annual spring concert of the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir. Canada’s oldest continuing choral body performs Sunday, June 1, 2008, 2 p.m. at the Leah Posluns Theatre, 4588 Bathurst St., Toronto.Alexander Veprinsky conducts the 30-voice Choir.

Tickets are $23; seniors and students, $19; children 12 and under, free. For information and ticket reservations, e-mail tjfolkchoir@sympatico.ca or call 416-636-0936 (evenings, weekends) or (416) 593-0750. Information is also available at www.winchevskycentre.org/institutions/choir.html.

Pianist is Lina Zemelman, with soloists Miriam Eskin, soprano; Artour Razgoev, tenor; David Weiss, baritone; and Herman Rombouts, bass. An instrumental ensemble is also featured.

The choir marks the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in a mélange of evocative tunes, mostly in Hebrew, along with the beloved Sephardic song Adio Querida, sung in Judeo-Spanish. Included is the heartfelt appeal Hand in Hand – A Song For Peace (Shir L’Shalom), a copy of which was found on Yitzchak Rabin the day he was assassinated.

Centrepiece is Oifn Fidl (On the Fiddle), by Russian-born, American-Jewish composer Vladimir Heifetz (1893-1970). The lively work is based on an autobiographical short story by the great Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916), about a boy’s passion for the violin, despite his father’s misgivings. In addition to David Weiss as baritone soloist, the performance features four teenaged musicians – violinists Lyrit Milgram and Eitan Postavsky, cellist Hannah Belvedere, and flutist Chris James – along with clarinetist Alexander Fedorovsky.

The orchestration is by Maestro Veprinsky, who has also arranged a Yiddish tango and some Yiddish favourites for the choir. An operatic chorus and French folksong complete the program.

The June 1 concert is presented with the assistance of the Toronto Arts Council and the Ben and Hilda Katz Charitable Foundation.

More information on the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir may be found at www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0003439