Barry Serota Z”l

Barry Serota
Z”l

Barry Serota, a practicing attorney and executive director of the Institute for Jewish Sound Recording, died suddenly November 16, 2009 on a plane flight between New York and Madrid on the way to Israel.

Serota, widely known for his deep knowledge of Jewish music, had produced more than 100 recordings of Jewish sacred and secular music. Serota’s output at the Institute, based in Chicago, included choral, instrumental, folk and art music. Serota was especially known a promoter of chazzanut. Starting in 1969, he issued many esoteric Jewish music recordings under the imprint of Musique Internationale.

Serota, an advisor to the Milken Foundation, worked on their large project of the Library of American Jewish Music, the recordings which were published under the Naxos label. He was also involved in the Foundation’s oral-history project, for which he interviewed many of the leading figures in Jewish music.

Serota earned degrees at Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary, and received a law degree from De Paul University of Chicago. He lectured widely, including numerous professional and academic organizations such as the Cantorial Council of America, HUC (Hebrew Union College), TACI (Tel Aviv Cantorial Institute), and the Museum of the Diaspora.

Serota is being buried in Chicago. He leaves behind his widow Yvonne and children.

Cantor Susan Wehle in Crash near Buffalo, New York

CNN reported that one of the victims of Continental Airlines Flight 3407 that crashed in Buffalo last Thursday was Cantor Susan Wehle. Brooklyn native Cantor Wehle was a cantor at Temple Beth Am in Williamsville, New York since November of 2002. She had also sung as a cantorial soloist at Temple Sinai in Amherst, New York. The cantor received her Cantorial Smicha from Aleph – the Movement for Jewish Renewal. Additionally she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre and in Judaic Studies, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Acting. She performed with theatre companies in Buffalo, Chicago and New York City. Her parents were Holocaust survivors. Cantor Wehle was 55. She had released a CD called "Songs of Hope and Healing." Temple Beth Am synagogue has established at guest book for those who wish to remember the cantor. http://www.bethambuffalo.org/GuestBook.html

Judith Wachs of Voice of the Turtle Dies at 70

We are saddened to report that Judith Wachs, the founder of the Voice of the Turtle, the music group devoted to Sephardic music, died in Cambridge, MA on October 9, 2008 of cancer. Starting out first with just one music volume she found at Harvard, Judith painstakingly researched and recreated songs that told the stories of the exile and survival of the Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in the 15th century. She interviewed elderly Sephardic people in Israel, and did research at the Jewish National Library in Jerusalem. Her Boston-based group of four, produced recordings such as Balkan Vistas--Spanish Dreams, From the Shores of the Golden Horn, The Sword of the Dove, Bridges of Song:Music of the Spanish Jews of Morocco, and Circle of Fire: A Hanukkah Concert Live! An obituary appeared in the Boston Globe. There is also an interview with Ms. Wachs at RootsWorld http://www.rootsworld.com/interview/vot.html

Jorge Liderman died in California

Jorge Liderman, a well-known composer, died at age 50 in California in February 3, 2008. Liderman, born in Argentina in 1957, went to Israel and received musical training at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. He came to the United States and studied at the University of Chicago. He worked at the music department of the University of California, Berkeley since 1989. Liderman became known as a composer of modern classical music, and also wrote many pieces on Jewish themes. A recording of of his composition of 46 Spanish songs "Aires de Sefarad" was recently reviewed by this author for the Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter. [Albany Records TROY829]. He had many works commissioned by major organizations such as the Israel Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and the London Sinfonetta.