Reuben Jewish Jazz Duo

The Reuben Jewish Jazz Duo is Nehama and Shimon Reuben, husband and wife professionals in Jewish music, for harp & piano. They perform traditional Jewish music, liturgical, and new compositions. They have produced several albums between 1997 and the present, and travel throughout Europe to play in festivals. They appeared in Prague at the Jewish Music Festival in summer of 2000 and on national French TV for the 2000 millenium celebrations. Shimon recently recorded a new double album CD piano jazz solo "Yom Yeroushalayim Blues", 25 compositions Nehama composed for harp solo and just published "Rhapsodia Ivria for harp" by Editions Combre - Paris. CDs are for sale at www.fnac.com
shimon-reuben.jimdo.com
nehama-reuben.jimdo.com

Michael WInograd's Infection @ GSW Spaghetti Dinner!!

Event: Michael WInograd's Infection @ GSW Spaghetti Dinner
What: Dinner Party
Host: The Organization For Unfunded Culture
Start Time: Tuesday, December 30 at 7:30pm
End Time: Tuesday, December 30 at 11:05pm
Where: Judson Church
55 Washington Square South, NYC
GREAT SMALL WORKS
end-of-the-year
SPAGHETTI DINNER bash!
Tuesday, December 30th, 7:30pm
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South, NYC
including...
MICHAEL WINOGRAD'S INFECTION - skeleton mambo with a twist!
Michael Winograd, Jessica Lurie, Petr Cancura, Jeremy Udden - reeds
Joe Moffet, Frank London - trumpets
Dan Blacksberg - trombone
Patrick Farrell - accordion
Avi Fox-Rosen - guitar
Jorge Roeder - bass
Jon Singer - xylophone, percussion
Jason Nazary, Kenny Wollesen - percussion
Kristin Slipp - vox

FLIGHT - a shadow theater piece depicting the journey of a person displaced - shadows created & performed by Erik Ruin, with assistance from Leslie Rogers & live violin score by Katt Hernandez

a GREAT SMALL WORKS Festival of Lights Shadow Show

special new year sonic massages performed by WOLLESONIC

and, excerpts from Bread & Puppet Theater's
DIRT CHEAP OPERA, after Bertolt Brecht

Spiro Ark's TZAVTA Hosts Steve Homes & Monica Acosta

Event: Steve Homes & Monica Acosta
"Sephardic Love Songs"
What: Concert
Host: Spiro Ark's TZAVTA
Start Time: Sunday, January 25 at 7:30pm
End Time: Sunday, January 25 at 9:30pm
Where: The Spiro Ark Centre

Flamenco guitarist Steve Homes, percussionist Ulises Diaz and singer Monica Acosta will be performing some beautiful Sephardic Love Songs.
This concert is the third in a series of four over the coming months (to March 2009). Each concert will focus on a specific theme.
3. Sephardic Love songs
Sunday 25th January 2009 7:30 p.m.
4. Sephardic Wedding songs
Songs about Weddings and Mothers in law
Sunday 8th March 2009 7:30 p.m.
All concerts will take place at The Spiro Ark Centre
Tube: Marylebone
Tickets £12/£10 conc-members
More info:
www.spiroark.org
www.monicaacosta.com

A Match Made on the Bowery

Event: A Match Made on the Bowery
"Yiddish Princess and The Avi Fox-Rosen Band live at BPC"

What: Performance
Host: The Organization For Unfunded Culture
Start Time: Saturday, January 3 at 7:00pm
End Time: Saturday, January 3 at 9:30pm
Where: Bowery Poetry Club

a mere $10
presented by The Organization For Unfunded Culture (OFUC)
YIDDISH PRINCESS
Looking to reconcile your love of 80s power pop with your love of traditional Yiddish music? Your search is over. Behold, Yiddish Princess in all its Yiddish belting, guitar wailing, synthed out glory. Yiddish Princess is: Sarah Mina Gordon, vocals; Michael Winograd, synths; Avi Fox-Rosen, guitar; Jon Singer, drums; Yoshie Fruchter, guitar; Ari Folman Cohen, bass.

THE AVI FOX ROSEN BAND
Absurdist Rock Cabaret. Whisper to wail singing accompanied by screaming accordion, junk yard razor blade guitar playing, cantankerous marimba, grooves that make your backside weep. Various friends take the stage and escort you through a universe populated by hot girls on bikes, religious fundamentalists who worship themselves, 10 foot monkeys in heels, and renegade criminal bankers. Sound familiar ?

Chamber Music at Rodeph Sholom Classical Jazz Concert

NY Premier of “Excursions and Impressions for flute, clarinet, cello and Jazz Trio” by Ted Rosenthal
Saturday, January 31st, at 1PM
The concerts are free.
Please rsvp to enjoy a light lunch before the concert.
Phone 646 -454-3039 or email chambermusic@crsnyc.org.
Congregation Rodeph Sholom, 7 West 83rd Street, NYC can be reached by bus or subway. Take the B or C train, or the M86 bus to 86th Street and Central Park West and walk three blocks south.
Chamber Music at Rodeph Sholom reprises their classical/Jazz crossover ensemble with the New York Premiere of pianist/composer Ted Rosenthal’s new chamber jazz composition, Excursions and Impressions for flute, clarinet, cello and Jazz Trio, on Saturday, January 31st, at 1pm in Schnurmacher Chapel. The guest ensemble, Ted Rosenthal, piano, Susan Rotholz, flute, Alan Kay, clarinet, Eliot Bailen, cello and Artistic Director, Thomson Kneeland, bass, and Eric Halvorson, drums, will play nueva tango works by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1922) and Pablo Ziegler (1944-), a song selection by George Gershwin (1898-1937), and Ted Rosenthal (1959-) “jazzing up the classics.” Rosenthal, the recipient of three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and 1st-prize winner of the 2nd Thelonius Monk Piano Competition, regularly performs and records new treatments and “derangements” of great American standards, jazz tunes and classical themes, as well as his own original compositions. He is the pianist of choice for such top jazz vocalists as Anne Hampton Callaway, Helen Merrill, and Mark Murphey. Chamber Music at Rodeph Sholom is presented to bring both the best of the chamber music repertory to the community and to explore the Jewish heritage in music.

Winter Happenings in London

Klezmer Workshop
Sunday 21 December 2008
12 - 1pm
London Klezmer Session
1 - 4pm
The Cross Kings, 126 York Way, N1

A festive version of the London klezmer session, which is once a month on a Sunday afternoon. Bring an instrument and a tune, or just come to shmooze & booze. The pub does great food and has comfy sofas, too... Info and tunes are at http://www.ilanacravitz.com/jams.html.
Next date: Sunday 18 January.
Workshop £5; Jam £1.


NEW London Klezmer Orchestra
Monday 19 January 2008
7.30 - 9.30pm
Inn on the Green, 3 Thorpe Close,
Ladbroke Grove, London W10 5XL

Join the Klezmer Orchestra that meets every couple of weeks in Ladbroke Grove. From trad klezmer to eclectic doyne-ish - you get to choose the repertoire and help arrange the music.
Info: William Millis: e-mail:williamillis@hotmail.com; 020 8969 7019
Sessions £4 each
From Ladbroke Grove tube: cross over & walk under the motorway to your left-then turn right into Thorpe Close. Look for a balcony & come upstairs. Buses: 7, 15, 23, 52, 295 & 452.

Sunday 25 January 2009
Doors open 7.15pm. First dance at 7.45pm

Hopkele!

Klezmer dance with live band
Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regents Park Road, London NW1 7AY
Dancing! Doughnuts! Live klezmer!! The popular klezmer keilidh returns for its third annual jamboree. Guy Schalom leads and teaches Yiddish dances, with Ilana Cravitz on fiddle and the Hopkele House Band: Ros Hawley (clarinet), Yair Schleider (accordion), and Paul Moylan (bass). See the Hopkele Productions Homepage: http://www.ilanacravitz.com/hopkele.htm
Tickets £12 full price; £10 concs and advance booking. Online booking with e-tickets is at http://www.ilanacravitz.com/shop.html, or you can book by post via 0771 494 5971.
http://www.ilanacravitz.com/hopkele.htm

"KLEZMERQUERQUE"

"KLEZMERQUERQUE" --Albuquerque, New Mexico's annual Klezmer music and dance festival celebrates its seventh year over Presidents Day weekend February 12-15, 2009.

Known as "The Southwest's Celebration of Klezmer Music and Dance", KLEZMERQUERQUE 2009 will present a weekend of concerts, dance parties, classes and workshops featuring the world-renowned klezmer duo Deborah Strauss and Jeff Warschauer, the renowned dancer, choreographer, dance scholar and historian Judith Brin Ingber, as well as many local artists. 'Klezmer' is the music and dance of the Jewish people of Eastern Europe which is currently enjoying a revival in world music as well as in popular music and culture. The annual festival will take place over Presidents Day Weekend from February 12-15 (Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon) at Albuquerque's Congregation Nahalat Shalom which is located on 3606 Rio Grande Blvd. NW (between Candelaria & Griegos).

The 20-piece intergenerational Nahalat Shalom Community Klezmer band will be celebrating the release of its first full length CD and the band will be playing on Friday and Saturday evenings for Klezmer dances led by Nahalat Shalom's Yiddish dance troupe "Rikud". The Rebbe's Orkestra, the popular Albuquerque-based klezmer and Judaic ensemble will also perform on Friday and Saturday evenings.

The festival begins on Thursday evening, February 12th featuring a "hands-on" workshop led by Strauss and Warschauer that will prepare participants, singers & musicians to lead a joyous musical Shabbat service in an old Eastern European style on the following evening (Friday, February 13th). Price for this class includes admission to the Friday service, performances and dance party. The Friday evening service, performances and dance party will also feature a vegetarian potluck dinner, and some Sephardic wedding dances taught and led by dance artist Judith Brin Ingber.

For detailed information about class times, prices, tickets & registration:
Beth Cohen, Klezmerquerque coordinator (505) 243-6276
<mailto:cohenedmunds@netzero.net> and/or
Congregation Nahalat Shalom: http://www.nahalatshalom.org/ (505) 343-8227 On Saturday, February 14th there will be 2 klezmer music classes taught by Strauss and Warschauer: "Shabbos, Music and Yiddish" in the morning - all ages, levels, and backgrounds welcome and "Making Your Instrument Sing In Yiddish: A Klezmer Workshop for Everyone" in the afternoon. Brin Ingber will teach a Yiddish dance class in the morning featuring The Under and Over dance, The Rebbe Eilimelech dance and Kei Tzemerakdim. At noon there will be a catered lunch and lecture featuring a powerpoint presentation by Brin Ingber on general Jewish dance, the presentation will be followed by a question and answer period.

Saturday evening will feature two dance performances by Brin Ingber "The Argument"- a dance that tells the emotional story of Sarah and Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac, the dance will be accompanied by the chanting of the story by Brin Ingber's sister Rabbi Deborah Brin, who is also the Rabbi of Congregation Nahalat Shalom. Brin Ingber will also perform "Roles Not Taken" - a dance commentary on being Jewish. Saturday evening culminates with a Strauss/Warschauer Duo concert, "Dem Fideles Neshome" (The Fiddle's Soul) and dance party. Brin Ingber will also lead the 3 dances that she taught in her morning class.

Sunday late morning, students will choose between a dance class with Brin Ingber or a music class with Strauss/Warschauer Duo "Making Your Instrument Sing In Yiddish: A Klezmer Workshop for Everyone, Part 2". Brin Ingber will teach dances from an East European Jewish wedding: Broyges Tanz, and a Sher as well as a review of the dances taught on Saturday.

For detailed information about class times, prices, tickets & registration:
Beth Cohen, Klezmerquerque coordinator (505) 243-6276
<mailto:cohenedmunds@netzero.net> and/or
Congregation Nahalat Shalom: http://www.nahalatshalom.org/ (505) 343-8227

Zamir Chorale of New York in Concert at Merkin Hall

Zamir Chorale in Concert
Matthew Lazar, Conductor

A joyous program of music celebrating the holiday, including the premiere of a new work by David Burger

Wednesday December 24, 7:30 pm
(the 4th night of Hanukkah)
Merkin Concert Hall
129 West 67th St
New York City
Tickets: $36 & $25
Call Box Office at 212-501-3330
or
Order Tickets Online

Open Sing
Join the chorus for an OPEN SING
with Matthew Lazar conductor
Special Guest Conductors
Natasha Hirschhorn
and Zalmen Mlotek
with Cantor Faith Steinsnyder
and Beth Robin at the piano
Thursday December 25
1 - 3 pm
The JCC in Manhattan
334 Amsterdam Ave
(at 76th St)
Music Rental:
$18 / Members $12
For Tickets
Call the JCC
at 646-505-5708

Celebrate with Radio Hannukah

Starting Dec. 21, 2008, JMWC readers are being offered a free online trial of Sirius channel 3, which is a station that requires a subscription. Those who are interested in this may try it, as they have a new series of shows specifically about the Jewish holiday.
go to www.xmradio.com/hanukkah Here's part of the show lineup: Join Neil Sedaka, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, David Broza, Leonard Nimoy, Rabbi Shmuley (from XM's Oprah & Friends channel), Janis Ian, The Hooters, Dave Koz, Matisyahu, Lisa Loeb, Barenaked Ladies and more for a celebration of Jewish music, culture and all things Hanukkah. It's on SIRIUS channel 3 and XM channel 38.
Click HERE for the schedule.
The trial starts Dec. 21st.

Free Synagogue of Flushing presents Judas Maccabaeus

As its Chanukkah gift to the community, the Free Synagogue of Flushing will present a special performance of Handel's Judas Maccabaeus on Friday, December 19, 8:15 PM.

The Bible-based musical masterwork, which tells the story of Chanukkah, is FREE and open to the public.

It will feature celebrated Cantor Steven Pearlston and the distinguished Free Synagogue choir. Robert Barrows will play the synagogue s historic pipe organ, which dates back to 1927, the only pipe organ at a synagogue in Queens. Jason Covey and Charles Grauman will be featured on trumpet. The program will be narrated by Rabbi Michael Weisser in the synagogue s magnificent sanctuary.

Handel s oratorio tells the story of Judas Maccabaeus, better known as Judah Maccabee, a fearless leader acclaimed as one of the greatest warriors in Jewish history. He led the Israelites in a string of victories during the Judean revolt against the Greco-Syrian empire. This is the fifth year Free Synagogue is presenting the concert.

Free Synagogue is located at 41-60 Kissena Boulevard (between Sanford and Main Street), Flushing, NY
Some free on-site parking available. Please call 718-961-0030 or visit www.freesynagogue.org for more information.
Pictured above (left to right) are the synagogue's choir and cantor: Robert Mobsy, Karen Grahn, Cantor Steven Pearlston, Jann Degnan, Carson Baker. (photo credit: Ellen Lengel)
While Handel's Messiah is a tradition around the Christmas holiday, it is not easy to find a performance of the composer's version of the story of Chanukkah. Until five years ago, there was little hope of catching a performance of Judas Maccabaeus during Chanukkah, Cantor Pearlston notes. Most synagogues do not have the resources to revive this great work. Five years ago, we changed that. We are hoping the practice of performing Handel s version of the story of Chanukkah catches on all over the country. In the meantime, the public is invited to hear the concert free of charge at Free Synagogue of Flushing. It is now part of our holiday tradition.

Free Synagogue is located at 41-60 Kissena Boulevard (between Sanford and Main Street), Flushing. Some free on-site parking available. Please call 718-961-0030 or visit www.freesynagogue.org for more information.

About Cantor Steven Pearlston
Steven Pearlston has been cantor of Free Synagogue of Flushing since 1973. In addition, he has spent eight summers affiliated with Opera Fort Collins as, variously, principal tenor, chorus master, or conductor. His other operatic venues include The Aspen Music Festival, Central City Opera, Opera Omaha, The Washington Civic Opera, and the Khan Theater in Jerusalem. He has been a solo performer at Alice Tully Hall in the works of J.S. Bach, and with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, where he also served for ten seasons as chorister. He has appeared as vocalist with the American Ballet Theater, the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, and the Joffrey Ballet. To his credit are several world premiere performances of compositions on Jewish themes at Merkin Concert Hall in New York, and at the 92nd Street YMHA Jewish Opera series.

He has toured the United States and Canada with the New York Vocal Arts Ensemble, and has appeared in operetta at the Coachlight Dinner Theater and the Darien Dinner Theater in Connecticut. For four seasons he was sent by the Lincoln Center Arts Program to high schools throughout New York City, in concerts designed to introduce classical music to teenagers. He has served on the music faculties of the State University of New York at New Paltz and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Manhattan, and has given master classes at Queensboro Community College.

He is the composer of a complete Shabbat Evening Service and arrangements of traditional liturgical melodies. His CD, The Synagogue Music of Frederick Piket, is distributed by the Union for Reform Judaism.

About Free Synagogue of Flushing
Founded in 1917, Free Synagogue stands proudly in one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the United States. As the oldest Reform Synagogue in Queens, it was built through the efforts of the Hebrew Woman s Aid Society of Flushing. The Free Synagogue movement is based on four principals: freedom of the pulpit for the rabbi; freedom of the pew - no reserved seating in the sanctuary; direct, full participation of the community; and dedication to the ideals of liberal democracy and commitment to the Jewish faith. The founders belief in commitment, freedom and equality of the sexes remain guiding principals today.

The synagogue itself is an architectural marvel. The neo-classical building, designed by Maurice Courland, features a massive portico supported by four ionic pillars topped by a pediment inscribed with the words of Isaiah, For mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.

In the magnificent sanctuary, dark green pilasters are graced with intricate gold-leaf filigree. Stained glass windows, crafted in Czechoslovakia, surround the sanctuary in rich radiant colors. A stained-glass dome designed around a Star of David is centered in the domed ceiling that covers the entire sanctuary.

Art of Jewish Music, à la Russe

Event: The Art of Jewish Music, à la Russe: A Centennial Celebration of the Society for Jewish Folk Music
Date: Thursday, December 18, 2008
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Price: General Admission, $15; Students, $10
Location: Hebrew College, Berenson Hall, 160 Herrick Road, Newton Centre, MA

Klára Móricz, Valentine Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Amherst College, explores the Russian origins of Jewish music as a serious art form and the relationship of this body of work to emerging 20th century Jewish nationalism and modernism. Musical illustrations performed by pianist Edwin Swanborn, tenor Elias Rosemberg and soprano Lynn Torgrove.

Details and online registration at hebrewcollege.edu/events. On December 18, 7:30 p.m., at Hebrew College, 160 Herrick Road, Klára Móricz will explore the Russian origins of Jewish music as a serious art form and the relationship of this body of work to emerging 20th century Jewish nationalism and modernism.

The Art of Jewish Music, à la Russe: A Centennial Celebration of the Society for Jewish Folk Music will be illustrated with live musical performances by pianist Edwin Swanborn, tenor Elias Rosemberg and soprano Lynn Torgove.

Tickets are $!5 for general admission; $10 for students.

How does music define a people? And how does a people define an art form—music—that embodies the essence of national, ethnic or religious identity?

This lecture-performance marks the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Society for Jewish Folk Music in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1908. The Society, which thrived in various forms, first in Russia and then in Vienna until the rise of Hitler, brought together the talents of Joseph Achron, Michail Gnesin, Alexander Krejn and others who—unlike their Western European counterparts—maintained a connection to the Jewish community while creating serious works of Jewish music for the concert stage.

Klára Móricz is the Valentine Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Amherst College and author of Jewish Identities: Nationalism, Racism, and Utopianism in Twentieth-Century Music (University of California Press, 2008).

For additional information and to register online, please visit hebrewcollege.edu/events.

Shandel Antelis, Aliza Dubin -- CD Release Parties

"Kol Isha" Concert (For Women Only) curated by the Rockin' Rebbetzin
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Doors 7pm Cover $12
Featuring a CD Release Parties of Shandel Antelis and Aliza Dubin

THE JEWISH MUSIC CAFE
401 9TH STREET
BETWEEN 6TH & 7TH AVE.
PARK SLOPE BROOKLYN
For MORE INFO & DIRECTIONS HTTP://WWW.JEWISHMUSICCAFE.COM

CUNY Hosts 'Beyond Boundaries' Dec 16

Beyond Boundaries: Klezmer Music in the 21st Century Looks at the State of the Art of Klezmer through Discussion and Performance

On December 16, the Center for Jewish Studies and the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center of the CUNY Graduate Center will present Beyond Boundaries: Klezmer Music in the 21st Century. Featuring distinguished klezmer performers, scholars, cultural commentators, and composers, the program includes an afternoon symposium with music (at 3:00 p.m.) and an evening concert (at 7:00 p.m.). This event is part of the Beyond Boundaries Series in Jewish Music, launched by the Center for Jewish Studies in Spring 2008. The series explores aspects of Jewish music from multiple perspectives—geographical, cultural, and musical. The Graduate Center is located at 365 Fifth Avenue between 34th and 35th Streets.

The afternoon symposium at 3:00 p.m. will consider the current state of klezmer music and its implications for the 21st century. Moderated by Dr. Marsha Dubrow, resident scholar in Jewish music at the Center for Jewish Studies, the symposium features noted klezmer experts Alicia Svigals, Hankus Netsky, Yale Strom, Joel Rubin, Eve Sicular, Seth Rogovoy, and composer Stephen Dankner. A series of presentations will be followed by eclectic conversations about klezmer as a world-music genre with a long history and an evolving future.



The evening concert at 7:00 p.m. will feature renowned klezmer ethnographer and performing artist Yale Strom and his band Hot Pstromi, joined by illustrious performers from the afternoon symposium. In addition, internationally-acclaimed cellist Matt Haimovitz will perform Stephen Dankner’s Klezmer Fantasy, a boundary-crossing, contemporary classical work that incorporates various klezmer elements, as well as a work by Strom (The Ram’s Daughter, arranged for cello and piano). Accompanying Haimovitz will be Geoffrey Burlson, a faculty member at Hunter College, CUNY and Princeton University.

Further information on the Graduate Center and its programs can be found at www.gc.cuny.edu Klezmer has a history of many centuries, but its revival in the late 20th century has inspired countless musicians to combine klezmer with various types of music including classical, jazz, hip-hop, reggae, and other pop genres. The panelists will explore the current klezmer scene, not only in America, but in Europe, Israel, and beyond, as they consider the prospects of klezmer for future generations of musicians and audiences.



Strom will also present brief film clips from his forthcoming documentary, A Great Day on Eldridge Street, about the gathering in 2007 of more than 100 klezmer musicians at the historic Eldridge Street Synagogue in Lower Manhattan to celebrate klezmer music-making and its rich history.

Bios of Symposium Participants:


Alicia Svigals -- one of the world’s leading klezmer fiddlers and a founder of the Grammy-winning Klezmatics. She has played with and written for violinist Itzhak Perlman, the Kronos Quartet, playwrights Tony Kushner and Eve Ensler, the late poet Allen Ginsburg, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, singer/songwriter Debbie Friedman, Hasidic superstars Avraham Fried, and many others. She has appeared on David Letterman, MTV, Good Morning America, PBS’s Great Performances, and on NPR’s Prairie Home Companion, Weekend Edition and New Sounds.

Dr. Hankus Netsky -- multi-instrumentalist, composer, and scholar, vice president for education at the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, and chair of the Contemporary Improvisation Department at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Netsky is a founder and director of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, an internationally renowned Yiddish music ensemble, and serves as research director of the Klezmer Conservatory Foundation, dedicated to the preservation and perpetuation of Yiddish and klezmer music traditions. He collaborated with violinist Itzhak Perlman on In the Fiddler’s House, a video, recording, and touring project which culminated in a PBS documentary and two EMI CD releases.

Yale Strom -- violinist, composer, filmmaker, writer, photographer, and playwright. Strom is a pioneer among revivalists in conducting extensive field research in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans among the Jewish and Rom communities. He is the author of The Book of Klezmer: The History, the Music, the Folklore (2002), The Absolutely Complete Klezmer Songbook (2006), and, most recently, his first children’s book, The Wedding that Saved a Town (2008), based upon a true klezmer story. His award-winning documentary films include The Last Klezmer, L’Chaim Comrade Stalin!, and Klezmer on Fish Street. Currently, Strom is artist-in-residence in the Jewish Studies Program at San Diego State University.

Dr. Joel Rubin -- internationally acclaimed performer of Jewish instrumental klezmer and Hasidic music. In addition to performances with traditional musicians such as the Epstein Brothers (USA) and Moshe Berlin (Israel), he founded and played clarinet with some of the most internationally respected klezmer ensembles, including the Joel Rubin Jewish Music Ensemble and Brave Old World. Rubin’s fifth solo album, Midnight Prayer, came out in 2007 on Traditional Crossroads. He has concertized throughout Europe, North America, and Asia and taught master classes and workshops at many universities including Yale and Syracuse, and for the Israeli and Berlin Ministries of Education. Rubin wrote the first full-length doctoral thesis on Jewish instrumental klezmer music (City University of London, 2001), as well as numerous books and articles on klezmer and Jewish music traditions.

Seth Rogovoy -- writer, award-winning critic, author, lecturer, teacher and radio commentator. Rogovoy is the author of The Essential Klezmer: A Music Lover’s Guide to Jewish Roots and Soul Music (2000) and editor-in-chief of Berkshire Living, an award-winning regional lifestyle and culture magazine. As a cultural journalist, Rogovoy served for nearly 20 years as a rock and jazz critic for the Berkshire Eagle and writes frequently for Jewish publications including the Forward, Hadassah Magazine and the Berkshire Jewish Voice. His cultural commentary can be heard on WAMC Northeast Public Radio Network.

Eve Sicular – drummer, bandleader and film scholar. Sicular founded Metropolitan Klezmer Octet in 1994 and the all-female Isle of Klezbos sextet in 1998. Her groups have appeared on CNN’s Worldbeat, PBS, NPR, and on multiple tours in Europe and North America. She has produced five internationally acclaimed CDs for both her bands. As a film scholar, she worked on MoMA’s series Bridge of Light: Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds, and subsequently curated the film and photo archive department at the Yivo Institute at the Center for Jewish History in New York City. Her writings have been published widely, including in the anthologies When Joseph Met Molly and Queer Jews and in the magazines Lilith, Mix and Davka.

Dr. Stephen Dankner -- composer and music commentator. Dankner received his D.M.A. from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Vincent Persichetti and Roger Sessions. He has composed nine symphonies, ten string quartets, and much more vocal, choral, choral chamber, and orchestral music. From 2004-2008, he was composer-in-residence with the Louisiana Philharmonic. With his Ninth Symphony premiere in March 2010, the orchestra will have premiered six of Dankner’s symphonies. He has had residences at Yaddo, the Millay Colony, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Dankner has received five commissions from the Albany Symphony including The Klezmer Fantasy, which he composed for cellist Matt Haimovitz in 2007.

Bios of Evening Concert Performers:
Cellist Matt Haimovitz made his debut in 1984 at the age of 13 as soloist with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic. At 17, he made his first recording with James Levine and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for Deutsche Grammophon. Haimovitz has since gone on to perform with such orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic with James Levine, the New York Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta, the English Chamber Orchestra with Daniel Barneboim, the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Slatkin, and the Cleveland Orchestra with Charles Dutoit. Born in Israel, Haimovitz has been honored with numerous awards and is the first cellist ever to receive the prestigious Premio Internazionale “Accademia Musicale Chigiana” (1999). He has recorded extensively for ten years as an exclusive artist with Deutsche Grammophone, and, since 2000, on Oxingale Records, the label he co-founded. Haimovitz has been featured in publications including Newsweek and the New Yorker, and has been the subject of full-length televised features on CBS’s Sunday Morning, PBS’s Salute to the Arts and Nova.

Pianist Geoffrey Burlson has performed to wide acclaim throughout Europe and North America. He is equally active as a recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician and jazz performer. The New York Times has hailed Burleson’s solo performances as “vibrant and compelling,” praising his “rhythmic brio, projection of rhapsodic qualities, appropriate sense of spontaneity, and rich colorings.” Burlson made his New York City solo recital debut at Merkin Hall in 2000, sponsored by the League of Composers/ISCM. He has recorded the complete piano sonatas of Vincent Persichetti. Upcoming releases include Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, Roy Harris’s Complete Piano Works for Naxos, and Odd Couple, a program of American cello and piano works with cellist Matt Haimovitz, featuring the Barber and Carter sonatas, as well as pieces by David Sanford and Augusta Reed Thomas. Burlson teaches piano at Princeton University, and is assistant professor of music and director of piano studies at Hunter College, CUNY. (See bio for performer Yale Strom under symposium participants.)

The Graduate Center is devoted primarily to doctoral studies and awards most of the City University of New York’s Ph.D.s. An internationally recognized center for advanced studies and a national model for public doctoral education, the school offers more than thirty doctoral programs as well as a number of master’s programs. Many of its faculty members are among the world’s leading scholars in their respective fields, and its alumni hold major positions in industry and government, as well as in academia. The Graduate Center is also home to more than thirty interdisciplinary research centers and institutes focused on areas of compelling social, civic, cultural, and scientific concerns. Located in a landmark Fifth Avenue building, the Graduate Center has become a vital part of New York City’s intellectual and cultural life with its extensive array of public lectures, exhibitions, concerts, and theatrical events. Further information on the Graduate Center and its programs can be found at www.gc.cuny.edu

Jewish Music Forum Speaker Hasia Diner

The Jewish Music Forum
will host the next lecture in the 2008-2009 series:
December 12, 2008
10:30 am - 12:00 pm
"Engaging Ethnography and Institutionalization in Jewish Music."
This event is sponsored by the American Society for Jewish Music and the American Jewish Historical Society. All events are free and open to the public.

“American Jews, Music and the Memory of the Holocaust: 1945-1962”
Professor Hasia Diner, New York University Respondent: Cantor Bruce Ruben, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Center for Jewish History / Kovno Room
15 W. 16th Street (between 5th and 6th Aves., north side of the street)
New York, NY 10011

In the years from the end of World War II through the early 1960s American Jewry engaged in a massive, spontaneous, and multi-faceted project to remember the six million Jewish victims of the Nazi brutality. With no direction from any central body, they created multiple times, places, and texts by which to create a memorial culture. In that project music played an important part. From concerts to recordings, from singing at public gatherings, issuing songsters, and creating new liturgical works they took upon themselves the double chore of remembering the tragedy and attempting to invigorate Jewish life in America.

Hasia Diner is the Paul and Sylvia Steinberg Professor of American Jewish History at New York University and the Director of the Goldstein Goren Center for American Jewish History. A specialist in immigration and ethnic history, American Jewish history and the history of American women, she is the author of numerous published books, including In the Almost Promised Land: American Jews and Blacks, 1915-1935 (1977, reissued, 1995); Erin's Daughters in America: Irish Immigrant Women in the Nineteenth Century (1984); A Time for Gathering: The Second Migration, 1820-1880 (1992), the second volume in the Johns Hopkins University Press series, “The Jewish People in America”; and With Reverence and Awe: American Jews and the Myth of Silence After the Holocaust, 1945-1962, which will be published by New York University Press in spring 2009.

Bruce Ruben was awarded the diploma of hazzan from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1981. A year later he began a twenty-four year tenure at Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York City, where he ran several choirs, put on special music programs, composed numerous liturgical compositions, commissioned works by many other composers, and taught classes on Jewish history, liturgy, and music. He earned his Ph.D. in history from the CUNY Graduate Center in 1997 with a dissertation on the early American Reform rabbi Max Lilienthal. Beginning in July of 2006 Cantor Ruben became the director of the School of Sacred Music, the cantorial school of the Reform Movement.

Hadassah Magazine Features Klezmer

A terrific picture by Jean Fruth of Cookie Segelstein, klezmer violinist, graces the front cover of Hadassah Magazine this month with a feature article on traditional klezmer music, written by George Robinson. There are lots of photos including Cookie, Josh Horowitz, Stu Brotman, Andy Statman, Alicia Svigals, Pete Rushefsky, Joel Rubin, Michael Winograd, Yale Strom, and others. George does a good job of explaining the branch of klezmer that focuses on traditional folk and how it differs from other groups. Cookie, Josh and Stu have a group called Veretzki Pass, which is an amazing group, especially to hear in person. It might be noted, as his article touches on the topic of sources, that we owe a debt of gratitude to klezmer musicians such as Josh Horowitz and Bob Cohen for years and years of dedicated research in Europe on recovering as much authentic music as possible. Josh has also transcribed some of his findings in a book which was briefly reviewed on this site Sephardisches Liederbuch (The Sephardic Songbook): 51 Judenspanische Lieder (51 Judeo-Spanish Songs) back in 2002. [ http://www.jmwc.org/jmwc_bookandscore_reviews.html. ] George also gives a "must haves" listing for this style of klezmer music in the article. To find out even more details about recordings and klezmer music and the musicians in this Hadassah Magazine feature, visit the Klezmershack. http://www.klezmershack.com, the world's premiere website devoted to klezmer music with over 12 years of materials, commentary and reviews of recordings, listings of bands, articles and just about anything one would like to know about klezmer music.

If you're not a member of Hadassah and don't get the magazine at home, you can find out about subscription inquiries to get a copy at 800 664-5646 or look at the Hadassah website at http://www.hadassah.org

Tsedaka Live Bands in Paris

Dimanche 7 décembre à 19h.
Concert organisé par le Département jeunesse du Fsju.
Espace Rachi – 39, rue Broca Paris Vème.
Participation aux frais 15€ en pré-réservation et 20 € sur place.
Réservations au 01 43 31 82 50.

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Fishel Bresler's Klezmer & Hassidic Ensemble

Fishel Bresler's Klezmer & Hassidic Ensemble will perform their 18th annual concert on Wednesday December 24th - 7:30 PM at
Congregation Ohawe Shalom Coffee House
Pawtucket RI
671 East Ave in Pawtucket (corner of Glenwood, nr where Blackstone meets Hope St)
Doors open 7:00PM $10 adults, $7 children (under B-Mitzvah).
Special sponsor seating in the front rows $18 per seat
Funded in part by a grant from the RI State Council on the Arts

In honor of Chanukah, Latkes will be on sale, along with other snacks & beverages.
For questions 401 273-9814


photo credit Irving Schild ABOUT THE MUSICIANS

Fishel (Michael) Bresler (clarinet, flute, mandolin, harmonica) has studied Klezmer clarinet and mandolin with the contemporary master, Andy Statman, over the course of more than a decade. This study was partially supported by grants from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and the New England Foundation for the Arts. Besides the recent Folk Arts Fellowship, Mr. Bresler has also served as a Master Artist in three Klezmer apprenticeships, from RISCA & NEFA. In 1997 he replaced an ailing Andy Statman on the first half of a national tour with noted mandolinist David Grisman. In addition to performing, he currently does therapeutic music with multiply-handicapped children, and teaches music to both children & adults.

Shelley Katsh, MSW, (keyboard, accordion) is a Certified Music Therapist and social worker, currently on the staff of Jewish Family Service. She has played and sung with the famed Zamir Chorale, coauthored the book, The Music Within You, and has been the musical director of the Jewish Theater Ensemble, as well as Temple Emanuel's theater productions.

Bob Rakalam Moses (drums, percussion) has been described by jazz critic Nat Hentoff as " one of the grander imaginations in America's true classical music." Percussionist Bob Moses has played with Charles Mingus, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Erik Dolphy, Gary Burton & Larry Coryell, among others, in the course of a colorful 35-year career. He is currently on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music.

This year Bresler's music is funded in part by a *grant from the RI State Council on the Arts*; he was awarded their Folk Arts Fellowship Grant for 2008-2009. RISCA describes their fellowships as "highly competitive grants that encourage the creative development of artists by enabling them to set aside time to pursue their work and achieve specific career goals."

Fishel & his wife, who is his partner in the managing of his music, hope to use these funds to complete a CD.

For years Bresler has been collecting Jewish tunes passed down through families for generations, which are shared with him on visits to Brooklyn's religious communities. Now he hopes to be able to share them by CD & Mp3, as well as in concert.

One thing that makes Bresler's music unusual in the world of the klezmer revival, is his daily involvement in traditional Judaism as a spiritual path, which is the the original source of the music. He seeks to bring out the mystical depths in the melodies in each of his performances.

Light in the Darkness

Saturday, December 6, 2008, 7:30pm
Congregation Shaarie Torah
presents
Light in the Darkness
The Yuval Ron Ensemble in Concert
featuring:
Israeli-Yemenite vocalist Maya Haddi
and Israeli-Moroccan dancer Maya Karasso
An evening of devotional Hebrew music of the various ethnic Jewish communities of Israel and the diaspora.
A celebration of music, dance and story telling in honor of Hanukkah, Festival of Lights.
Location: Congregation Shaarie Torah - 550 S. Second Ave, Arcadia CA 91006
Admission: $25.00 for reserved seats $15.00 for general admission

For more information and reservations: (626) 445-0810 Please leave a message if no one answers or email office@shaareitorah.org or president@shaareitorah.org

Women's Cantors' Network 2009 Conference

Women Cantors' Network Conference will be held June 14-17, 2009 in Ridgefield, Ct.
For more info: http://www.womencantors.net/conferences.html

Concert-Lecture at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue

"He's Jewish? A musical exploration of Johann Strauss Jr., Anton Rubinstein, Louis Moreau Gottschalk and other 19th century composers."
Sunday, December 7, 1:30pm
Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, 30 W. 68th St.
A Concert / Lecture with renowned pianist Joseph Smith.
Come hear eloquent pianist Joseph Smith present an engaging and thought-provoking program of all Jewish composers.
For more information, contact us at 212-877-4050 or visit us at:
www.swfs.org The Synagogue is at 30 West 68th Street between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West. Directions:

By car from the north: Henry Hudson Parkway (South) to 79th Street. Take 79th Street to Broadway, 3 blocks. Turn right onto Broadway, go south to West 68th Street. Turn left for 2 blocks.

By car from the south: West Side Highway (North) to 72nd Street. Take 72nd Street to Columbus Avenue, 4 Blocks. Turn right onto Columbus for 4 blocks and turn left onto West 68th Street.

By subway, take the 1 or 9 train to 66th Street, the 2 or 3 train to 72nd Street, or the C or A train to 72nd Street.

By bus, take the M104 to West 68th Street and Broadway, the M7 or M11 to West 69th Street and Columbus Avenue, or the M10 to West 68th Street and Central Park West.

Free Jewish Sheet Music

Free downloadable Jewish sheet music for Chanukah with melody line, Hebrew text, English translation & transliteration for singing with your family or congregation. Also good for sing-alongs. Great supplementation for Jewish homeschoolers & Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation, by Patricia Baumhoff
http://hebrewthroughsong.blogspot.com/

Zamir Sale of Recordings

Zamir Chorale is having a recordings sale.
Compact Discs: regularly $15, now $10
Cassettes: regularly $10, now $5
Ten-CD gift set: regularly $118, now $80
Now available as a DVD
Zamir: Jewish Voices Return to Poland only $15


Choose from the outstanding collection of performances by "America's foremost Jewish choral ensemble" -- (American Record Guide) including:
Lights: Music for Chanukah
Psalmsensation
Zamir: Greatest Hits
Seasons of Our Joy
Soul of the Sabbath
The Monster and the Nightingale
Jewish Composers in America
Click HERE to go directly to our website, which now features audio samples and video clips!

Jootsy Szaba & Simply Tsfat in Brooklyn Cafe

THE JEWISH MUSIC CAFE
401 9TH STREET
PARK SLOPE BROOKLYN
DIRECTIONS AT http://www.jewishmusiccafe.com

SATURDAY NIGHT December 6, 2008
EDEN A great pop Rock band that has a knack for writing and performing great melodic tunes that you're sure to be humming all week!

JOOTSY SZABA Ephraim Schwab a.k.a. the '7ft bass player' has put together a band of NY's top Musicians, you're sure to recognize some of them from weddings you've attended all over town. They'll be performing wonderful songs composed by Ephraim.
DOORS 8:30PM $12

SUNDAY December 7, 2008

The amazing SIMPLY TSFAT are on tour in the U.S.and will be at the cafe on Sunday. It'll be a real treat. Not to be missed!
DOORS 7PM $15

The Jewish Music Cafe serves fresh Pizza, Burekas, Chees plates, Real Cappuccino, Beer, Wine and more. Visit us at http://www.jewishmusiccafe.com

Metropolitan Klezmer in Dutchess County

Metropolitan Klezmer in concert at Poughkeepsie's JCC of Dutchess County,
this Saturday night, December 6th! 7:30pm, two sets.
110 South Grand Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
Pre-registration for $15 tickets, details below: 845-471-0430 (after Fri. noon, $20@ door)
http://www.jccdc.org
ISMAIL BUTERA - accordion; MELISSA FOGARTY - vocals; MICHAEL HESS - violin & ney flutes; DEBRA KREISBERG - clarinet & sax; EVE SICULAR - drums; and special guest GEORGE RUSH - bass & tuba.

Pre-registration ticket discount if you phone by noon Friday:? $15 p/person if pre-registered or $20 p/person at the door. Call the JCCDC at 845-471-0430. Tickets at the door are $20 p/person.

Songs in the Key of Hanukkah

Created and produced by composer and multi-instrumentalist Erran Baron Cohen, the CD is a collection of songs that "brings the ancient music of Hanukkah kicking and screaming straight into the 21st Century" ..." the songs combine klezmer, reggae, electronica, hip hop, tango, pop and other genres, all fluently woven into something uniquely Baron Cohen’s. The album contains five reinterpretations of classic favorites as well as five original tunes created exclusively for this project, all sung in English, Hebrew or Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish)." Featuring Jules Brookes in new English texts, some songs on the album performed by some world-class Jewish singers, including Israeli superstar Idan Raichel, world-music diva Yasmin Levy and New York City-based rapper Y-Love. For more info:
http://newlinerecords.com/hanukkah/info.html

Sephardic Music Festival in NYC

Starting with a preview concert that is sure to be great, The 4th Annual Sephardic Music Festival comes to New York this Dec. 21-28, for Chanuka 2008. The preview "showcase" is December 10, 2008.
Galeet Dardashti's “The Naming” feat. SYREN Dance Co., Electro Morocco, Diwon featuring Smadar & Samuel Thomas @ Public Assembly (formerly Galapagos)
70 North 6th St, Williamsburg, NY
Doors 7:30pm | $15 or only $13

Don't miss this opportunity to hear it all.

Info: http://www.sephardicmusicfestival.com/home.html

Hearing the Sacred

Hearing the Sacred: From the Middle Ages to the 21st Century
December 6, 2008 3:00pm - 4:00pm

Soprano Dominque Boucard and pianist Bernadette Hoke examine Chagall's artistic sphere of influence in Paris during the early 20th century, including Hebraic compositions of Ravel and Milhaud and vocal settings of Old Testament texts. For more Info: www.mobia.org 3:00PM to 4:00PM Museum of Biblical Art 1865 Broadway Manhattan, NY 10023 $8.00

Eleven Doors Open

Sue Horowitz, a singer and songwriter who lives in coastal Maine, has a new website. She has a new CD out called Eleven Doors Open. The website has clips, a bio and some info on the CD.
http://www.suehorowitz.com/index.php

Jewish Folk Songs Website

Batya Fonda has a website on Jewish Folksongs in English and Hebrew. She teaches and sings in the Tel Aviv area. Her website includes some texts, sound clips and some articles.

An Invitation to Piyut

There's a terrific website devoted to introducing the world of piyutim... to the world. The Piyut website explores historical and contemporary versions of piyut: the texts, the music, the history, and the various styles from different places in the world. There is a collection of piyutim and melodies which is also searchable. There is a list of melodies, articles, website radio, and lists of new recordings. There is also a section devoted to liturgical texts not always included with the traditional groupings of piyutim. Many of the tables are in Hebrew, but the site doesn't carry a full mirror in English of all the Hebrew pages. Let's say you want to hear "Ma Nishtana". You can get the text, and also hear it in the Egyptian, Kurdistani, Babylonian, Tunisian, Yemeni, Moroccan, and Ashkenazi styles. You can also get some information on the poets of the texts of the piyutim. This site, sponsored in part by Avi Chai, is an excellent site for anyone curious to learn more about the world of Jewish piyutim. (also spelled with 2 y's... Piyyutim, if you're going to Google or look it up on Wikipedia).
http://www.piyut.org.il/english/