Eyal Bitton's CD High Holiday Memories

A new CD, High Holiday Memories: Timeless Moroccan & Sephardi Classics, has been released by Eyal Bitton. Bitton is a composer lyricist and musical director. He contributed lyrics for the musical of Mordecai Richler's The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and has written for such musicals as King David, Moses, Freedom: The Moses & MartinLurther King Jr. Musical Tribute. Bitton is Musical Director at Toronto's Beth Tikvah Synagogue. He has conducted choirs for the Spanish & Portugues Synagogue (Canada's first congregation), Adath Israel Poale Zedek, Jewish Peoples and Peretz Schools, La Chorale Kinor and others. For more information about the CD, visit: www.eyalbitton.com

Spirit of Sepharad: From Casbah to Caliphate

World premiere
June 25, 2008 at 7pm at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
http://www.mjhnyc.org/index.htm
Written & conceived by Gerard Edery
Directed by Henning Rübsam

A soul-stirring musical journey, "Spirit of Sepharad: From Casbah to Caliphate" traces the unique migration of Sephardic music from medieval Spain, across North Africa, to the Middle East. Combining music, dance and illuminating projections, this dynamic mixed-media performance brings to life all the rich cultural strains that influenced Sephardic/Mizrahi Jews. Featuring an array of virtuoso musicians from multiple disciplines, the program includes songs of secular and liturgical origin, spanning many centuries to the present and many continents from Ancient Persia (present day Afghanistan and Iran), Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Greece, Syria, Turkey, The Balkans, Jerusalem and Kurdistan (then, as now, part of Iran, Turkey and Iraq). The musical story of a rich cultural heritage that synthesizes diverse influences, "Spirit of Sepharad" is a celebration of the Sephardic/Mizrahi experience that invites the possibility of coexistence, tolerance, respect and peace among all peoples.

Gerard Edery (vocals, guitar, saz) master of Sephardic song, winner of the Sephardic Musical Heritage Award

Amir Vahab (vocals, saz, percussion) Iranian master vocalist of Persian sacred and folk music

Glen Velez (percussion) Three-time Grammy Award winning master drummer and composer

Ara Dinkjan (oud) Aremenian virtuoso who is considered one of the top oud players in the world

Barbara Martinez (dancer, vocals, narrator) Flamenco star dancer, singer and actress

Meg Okura (violin, erhu) highly acclaimed world music, classical and world chamber jazz virtuoso

Directions Subway: 4/5 to Bowling Green, walk west along Battery Place. W/R to Whitehall Street, walk west along Battery Place. 1 to South Ferry, walk north along Battery Park/State Street, turn left and walk west on Battery Place. J/M/Z to Broad Street, walk one block west to Broadway, and then south to the corner of Battery Place and Bowling Green. Walk west on Battery Place. Bus: M1 to Battery Park. M6 to Battery Park. M9 to Battery Park City, stops in front of Museum. M15 to Battery Park City. M20 to Battery Park City, stops in front of Museum.

Asefa on Leonard Lopate Show

Feb. 29: WNYC 93.9FM - Leonard Lopate Show, 12p-1p Along with Kay Turner, head of the Brooklyn Arts Council and fellow musicians from the upcoming Brooklyn Arab Music Festival, Samuel Thomas of Asefa will be a guest on the Leonard Lopate Show, discussing Asefa and discussing the role of Arab music in the Sephardic community in Brooklyn.

Sephardic Music webliography

A webpage that lists all sorts of other websites with some aspect of Sephardic music, being sort of a webliography on Sephardic Music. http://www.sephardic-music.net/

Ramon Tasat in Concert in NY

Hazzan Dr. Ramon Tasat in Concert
Sunday, May 20th 2007
7:00 pm
Congregation Ansche Chesed
251 West 100 street (corner West End Avenue)
New York, NY 10025
212-865-0600
Tickets $20. in advance $25. At the door Children under 13 Free
Tickets on line www.ramontasat.eventbrite.com

Hear the echoes of faraway lands that hosted Sephardic Jews for centuries and enjoy a kaleidoscopic array of musical styles in a thoughtful exploration of the age-old liturgical texts as well as joyous and moving Ladino folk songs exploring eternal themes of love and life.

The Washington Post calls "Argentine guitarist-cantor Ramon Tasat and Russian pianist-cantor Natasha J. Hirschhorn international leaders in the field of Jewish religious music". Don't miss their rare joined New York appearance accompanied by the harmonious sounds of Community Chorus Shirei Chesed and virtuoso instrumental ensemble Fiesta Sefarad.

Born in Buenos Aires, Cantor Dr. Ram?n Tasat learned Ladino, the language of the Sephardic people, at his grandmother's knee; his style reflects the rich history and drama of this extraordinary culture. Trained in five different countries, he received a doctorate in voice performance from the University of Texas at Austin. His doctoral dissertation is entitled The Cantillations and Religious Poems of the Jews of Tangier, Morocco.

Cantor Tasat has toured Europe with world-renowned Dr. Robert Shaw and has participated in international festivals on both sides of the Atlantic. He has appeared in numerous opera productions including "Le Nozze di Figaro", "AIl Impressario", and "La Traviata" and has drawn worldwide critical as well as audience acclaim.

His most notable appearances include the Kennedy Center Concert Hall; the Israeli Embassy; the Jewish Music Festival of Berkeley, California; Saint Cre, France; Siena, Italy; Helsinki, Finland; Barcelona, Spain; and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival.

Dr. Tasat has been the recipient of numerous awards including First Place at the Montpelier Cultural Arts Centers Recital Competition and a National Endowment of the Arts Grant. Dr. Tasat's lectures, workshops, and programs range from "The Music of Modern Israel" to "Echoes of Sepharad."

Ramon's numerous recordings include Fiesta Sefarad, Trees cry for rain, Teshuva, Kantikas di amor i vida. He has published several music books on Jewish subjects.

S'huenyos De Espana: An Evening of Ladino Music

East Midwood Jewish Center's Club Oasis presents S'huenyos De Espana: An Evening of Ladino Music on Saturday, November 18, 2006 at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $25 (gen. adm.), $20 (students/seniors), $free (12/ under).
Tickets can be purchased 24/7 online at http:// www.brownpapertickets.com/event/8447
or by phone at 800-838-3006 (reference event #8447).

This night will feature Cantor Sam Levine (vocals & guitar), Marjorie Sanua (vocals), Ben Lapidus (tres, cuatro, guitar), Jeremy Brown (violin, mandolin), and Ira Epstein (percussion). Refreshments will be available.
Ladino, derived from Hebrew and Spanish, can be thought of as a Sephardic analogue to Yiddish (a conflation of Hebrew and German) and is currently spoken by about 150,000 people, primarily in Israel, Turkey and Greece.
For more details on our event, the performers, and the language, please see: http://www.emjc.org/2006/11/an_evening_of_ladino_music.html
East Midwood Jewish Center
1625 Ocean Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11230
718/338.3800
www.emjc.org

By train: Q to Avenue J or Avenue M.
By bus: B49 or B9 to Avenue L & Ocean Avenue.
By car: from the Belt- exit 11N to Flatbush Avenue, left on Avenue L,
right on Ocean Avenue. From the Brooklyn Bridge: Left on Tillary Street, right on Flatbush Avenue. Pass through roundabout, staying on Flatbush Avenue. Right on Ocean Avenue. We are between Avenues K & L.

SOUNDS OF BAGHDAD: A MUSICAL JOURNEY WITH YAIR DALAL

Yair Dalal:
WHEN: Saturday, November 4, 2006 at 7:30 PM
WHERE: Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York City
SUGGESTED DONATION: $20
INFORMATION AND RESERVATIONS: 917-606-8200
A unique performance in the four-day program
Back to Babylon: 2600 Years of Jewish Life in Iraq, November 2-5, 2006,
Exploring the venerable and multifaceted culture of Iraqi Jewry
www.americansephardifederation.org<

During the first half of the 20th century, Jews were virtually the only instrumentalists in the Iraqi musical scene. All the musicians from Iraq who attended the first Arabic music congress in Cairo in 1932 were Jewish (but one). With the exile of the Jewish community in the 1950's, many famous Iraqi Jewish musicians immigrated to Israel.

Their legacy is still strong today, both in the preservation of the traditional Iraqi Maqam, and in its influence on contemporary Israeli music.

Yair Dalal's musical program retraces the steps of the great Babylonian musical heritage thorough the sacred songs rooted in the Iraqi Jewish tradition. It will include traditional Sabbath Zemirot, pieces from the Shevahot repertoire (songs of praise performed at communal gatherings), and instrumental classics by Iraqi-Jewish composers like Salah and Daud al-Kuwaiti.

Born in 1955, composer, violinist and oud player Yair Dalal is one of the most prolific Israeli ethnic musicians today. Over the last decade he released nine albums, covering wide and varied cultural territories. His work reflects the strong affinity he has for the desert and its habitants. Dalal's family came to Israel from Baghdad and he has included a host of Iraqi traditional musical sources in his work.
Whether performing on his own, or with his Alol ensemble, Dalal creates new Middle Eastern music by interweaving the traditions of Iraqi and Jewish Arabic music with a range of influences originating from such diverse cultural milieus as the Balkans and India. Dalal is one of a handful of artists who preserve and sustain the Babylonian musical heritage of the wonderful Jewish Iraqi musicians who emigrated from Iraq to Israel in the 1950s, from whom he learned much of his craft. During the past years, Dalal has collaborated with top musicians from all over the globe, from different disciplines, including celebrated western classical conductor Maestro Zubin Mehta, Jordi Savall and Hesperion XXI, L.Shankar, Hamza el Din, Michel Bismuth, Ken Zuckerman, Armand Aamar, Shlomo Mintz, Maurice el Medioni and Mustafa Raza, Cihar Askin, Ensemble Kaboul, Adel Salameh, The Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Kamerata Jerusalem Orchestra, and more. He participates and lectures in the Keshet Elyon Violin workshops, ISME - Music Education, European Network for Traditional Music and Dance, Mendocino Middle East Music Camp, and the Mediterranean Musical Dialogue in Israel. www.yairdalal.com

Alhambra at Temple Shearith Israel in NYC

Saturday, Oct. 28, 2006
7:30pm
Temple Shearith Israel
8 West 70th Street
Suggested contribution is $15 at the door.

ALHAMBRA plays the rhythmic and hauntingly beautiful Sephardic music of the Middle East, which melds the words and melodies of 15th century Spain, filtered through Turkey, Greece, the Balkans and Arabic lands.

ALHAMBRA was founded in 1981 by its director and lead singer Dr Isabelle Ganz, who is a professor of music, a cantorial soloist, a conductor, and an international performer and recording artist. She is joined by five other equally skilled professionals for whom Judeo-Spanish music is a special love. Haig Manoukian is considered one of the world's finest players of the oud - the fretless ancestor of our modern lute. Michael Hess, heard throughout New York playing klezmer music, performs on violin, riq (tambourine), kanun (trapezoidal zither) and nay (bamboo flute). Cantor Daniel Pincus is a lyric tenor whose repertoire extends to Bach, Schubert, and Salamone Rossi. Peter Basil Bogdanos is an exceptional percussionist who performs and records, playing a broad repertoire ranging from pop, jazz, R&B, to Middle-Eastern and Flamenco. Joseph Deninzon, who has been called the Jimmy Hendrix of the Violin, elicits extraordinary sounds from both electric and acoustic violins.

ALHAMBRA has recorded many CDs and cassettes, which will be available for sale at the performance.

FestiLadino in Rishon Letzion

This year's FestiLadino is being held on Hol Homed Sukkot, Oct 11, 2006 in Rishon Letzion, Israel. It promises to be a great lineup this year. Details can be seen on the Festival's website at: http://www.festiladino.org/index.php (Hebrew).

Sephardic concert at Merkin Hall

September 12, 2006. Sephardic concert "La Mar Enfortuna" performed by Elsyian Fields, Oren Bloedow and Jennifer Charles. Merkin Concert Hall, NYC, NY, USA, 8 p.m. Tickets - $25. For more info or to order tickets http://www.kaufman-center.org/tc/0607/lamar_091206.php

ELIYAHU SILLS & QADIM ENSEMBLE

Brookline, MA--Sunday, July 9, 2006
7:30 pm
Temple Beth Zion (TBZ),
1566 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA
Advance tickets: $10
At the door: $12
For more info please contact Noam at nsender@styr.com To purchase tickets in advance please call Eran at 617.216.4879 or email Eran_segev@yahoo.com

Traverse the deserts of the Middle East, the mountains of northern India, and the warm waters of the Mediterranean with Eliyahu Sills and his Qadim Ensemble. The group and their music bring ancient musical traditions to a contemporary audience, allowing for a musical dialogue between the different cultures. The group performs instrumental pieces as well as songs with words in Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Turkish, Farsi and Ladino.

Qadim is a word found both in Hebrew and Arabic meaning "ancient past" and "that which precedes" as well as "forward movement" and "that which will come." The band is aptly named as their ancient and timeless music bridges cultures from throughout the near east, such as Mizrakhi, Sephardic and Ashkenazi, with Arabic, Turkish, Persian and north Indian.

Eliyahu Sills is the founder of Qadim and plays the Nay (reed flute of the Middle East), Bansuri (bamboo flute of India), and vocals. He is joined by Rachel Valfer on vocals and Oud (Middle Eastern lute), and Jason Ranjit Parmer on Indian Tablas and frame drums from Turkey, Pakistan and Persia.

Chazzan Abraham Lopes Cardozo Dead at 92

Chazzan Abraham Lopes Cardozo z"l died February 21 at around 3am. He had been hospitalized for several days with breathing difficulties. Abraham Lopes Cardozo was born in Amsterdam, Holland on September 27, 1914. He was the great-grandson of the Chief Rabbi in Amsterdam and the son of the choir director of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue there. He came to his American post in 1946 and served Congregation Shearith Israel in New York for over 40 years. Cardozo's recordings from 1959 were recently rereleased in time for the celebration of the 350th anniversary of Jews in America, and reviewed by this website: http://www.jmwc.org/NewCDReviews/shearithisraelcds.html

He was a made a Knight in the Order of Orange Nassau by Queen Beatrix of Holland on June 7, 2000. Two years ago the Chazzan celebrated his 90th birthday in Amsterdam. A special tribute program was shown on Dutch television.

Chazzan Abraham Lopes Cardozo
From the Finding Aid at the American Sephardic Federation, Center for Jewish History Created by Randall C. Belinfante

"Abraham Lopes Cardozo was born in Amsterdam, Holland on September 27, 1914. As the great-grandson of the Chief Rabbi of the Sephardim in Amsterdam (who preached the last sermon in Portuguese, and who was later decorated by the King of Holland), and as the son of Joseph Lopes Cardozo, leader of the boy's choir of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, it was fitting that he read his first Haftorah at the age of seven in that same synagogue. He attended Seminary Ets Haim in Amsterdam , and became active in Hagomel, a congregational youth society. In 1939 he was appointed by Queen Wilhemina to be rabbi of the Sephardic congregation in Paramaribo, capital of Surinam. On vacation in New York in 1945 he visited Congregation Shearith Israel in NYC and he liked it. It was mutual, for he was invited by the Congregation to become the Assistant Hazzan there in 1946, a position he held for forty years. In 1987, he released a book and accompanying cassette tapes entitled: Sephardic Songs of Praise. On June 7, 2000, he was knighted by Queen Beatrix of Holland. "

http://www.cjh.org/academic/findingaids/asf/ncprc/LopesCardozoFamily.html

ALHAMBRA at the Cornelia Street Cafe

ALHAMBRA, a group performing Sephardic music, will be at the Cornelia Street Cafe from 8:30 to 11:00 PM
Thursday 16 March 2006
29 Cornelia Street between 4th & Bleeckerjust west of Sixth Avenue
Admission: $10.

ALHAMBRA plays the rhythmic and hauntingly beautiful Sephardic music of the Middle East, which melds the words and melodies of 15th century Spain, filtered through Turkey, Greece, the Balkans and Arabic lands. ALHAMBRA was founded in 1981 by its director and lead singer Dr Isabelle Ganz who is a professor of music, a cantorial soloist, a conductor, and an international performer and recording artist. She is joined by four other equally skilled professionals for whom Sephardic music is a special love. Haig Manoukian is considered one of the world’s finest players of the oud – the fretless ancestor of our modern lute. Michael Hess, heard throughout New York playing klezmer music, performs on violin, kanun (trapezoidal zither), riq (tambourine) and nay (bamboo flute). Cantor Daniel Pincus is a tenor whose repertoire extends to Bach, Schubert, and Salamone Rossi. Peter Basil Bogdanos is a percussionist who performs and records, playing a broad repertoire ranging from pop, jazz, R&B, to Middle-Eastern and Flamenco.

Duo46 perform Aires de Sefarad in San Rafael

Violinist Beth Ilana Schneider-Gould and guitarist Dr. Matt Gould, better known as Duo46,will perform "Aires de Sefarad" by award winning compsoer Jorge Liderman on Saturday ,February 4, 2006 at the Osher Marin JCC in San Rafael California .The 46 Sephardic song cycle, about an hour of of music, is based on 500 year old Jewish folk Music from the Mediterranean. The concert will begin at 8:00pm with remarks by the composer. For tickets call (415) 444-8000 or visit http://www.marinjcc.org/ For information about the artists ,visit website http://www.duo46.com

Samy Elmaghribi records liturgy of Sepharad

Samy Elmaghribi sings music of Andalus, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria as well as Sephardi liturgy. He has a series of liturgical CDs out includuing Shabbat, Psalms and Yamim Noraim. The website is in French. http://www.samyelmaghribi.com/

The Jewish Music Forum and The Center for Jewish History Lecture

The Jewish Music Forum and The Center for Jewish History
are pleased to present

Professor Mark Kligman
(Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion)

Friday, April 8, 10 AM
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street

"Beyond Yiddishland: New Studies from the Jewish Musical Mediterranean"

The music of Sephardi Jewish communities is a diverse and complex cultural phenomenon. Spanning the Mediterranean from the Western Sephardic communities of Spain and Portugal to North Africa, the Ottoman Empire and the Levant, the Sephardi world encompasses a vast geographic, cultural and linguistic space. This presentation will offer a broad overview of the development of academic scholarship on Western and Middle Eastern Sephardi musical traditions. Using extensive audio examples, Professor Kligman will demonstrate the stylistic and cultural diversity across Mediterranean Jewish communities, past and present. Guest Chair and Respondent for the event will be Professor Uri Sharvit of Bar-Ilan University.

This lecture is the fourth session in the New Perspectives on Music in Jewish Life seminar series of the Jewish Music Forum at the Center for Jewish History. Please RSVP to the American Society for Jewish Music at asjm@cjh.org or 212-294-8328. Interested individuals may also request a copy of Professor Kligman's paper in advance by contacting James Loeffler at JBL37@columbia.edu. The Jewish Music Forum is a new project of the American Society for Jewish Music, an affiliate of the American Jewish Historical Society at the Center for Jewish History. For more information, please see the website: www.jewishmusic-asjm.org

20th Annual Jewish Music Festival Berkeley California

March 19- April 3, 2005
The largest festival of Jewish music in the US celebrates its landmark anniversary in Berkeley, San Francisco and Marin. Highlights include members of Israel's East West Ensemble with the Omar Faruk Tekbilek Ensemble, Theodore Bikel with Hankus Netsky, the Klezmatics with Joshua Nelson, Community Music Day with an Instrument Petting Zoo, Hebrew hip-hop, and workshops for all ages; Judith Cohen, a leading scholar of Sephardic music, and Emil Zrihan, an extraordinary Israeli counter-tenor and cantor of the Moroccan tradition in a sneak preview of a new work with America's leading, San Francisco based new music string quartet.
Tickets and Info: 415-276-1511 or www.brjcc.org
15% discount for groups of 10 and more.
A project of the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center

Opening Night: Members of Israel's East West Ensemble and Omar Faruk Tekbilek & Ensemble A tour de force that brings together 14 top world music artists in an unforgettable blend of Jewish and Muslim mystical musical traditions and improvisation. Presented in association with the Consulate General of Israel

SATURDAY, 8:00 PM, March 19 - Wheeler Auditorium, UC Berkeley, Berkeley
Theo! with special guest Hankus Netsky Legendary, award-winning singer and actor Theodore Bikel, with the founder of the internationally acclaimed Klezmer Conservatory Band. Presented in association with Congregation Emanu-EL.

SUNDAY, 4:00 PM, MARCH 20, TEMPLE EMANU-EL, 2 Lake Street, San Francisco
From Fiddler on the Roof to Beatbox in the 'Hood: Music in Contemporary Jewish Culture A conversation with Theodore Bikel, Hankus Netsky, DJ SoCalled, and Jewlia Eisenberg, moderated by Professor Naomi Seidman. Presented in association with the Taube Center for Jewish Life, JCCSF

MONDAY, 7:30 PM, MARCH 21, JCCSF, 3200 California Street at Presidio St.,San Francisco
Purim Matinee with members of Shtreiml Classical klezmer with some of the hottest young musicians of Canada's Jewish music scene: Jason Rosenblatt(harmonica); Josh Dolgin (aka DJ SoCalled) accordion; Rachel Lemisch(trombone); Susan Watts, of the Hoffman klezmer dynasty (trumpet).

THURSDAY, 1:30, MARCH 24, BRJCC, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley
Family Concert with Gary Lapow The Bay Area's favorite children's performer brings his wit to new Jewish songs. "Gary's kids' stuff is great!" Whoopi Goldberg

SUNDAY, 11 AM, MARCH 27, BRJCC, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley
Community Music Day Visit the Instrument Petting Zoo, hear Hebrew hip-hop, and more! 15 interactive workshops and 9 performances for all ages, highlighting innovative Bay Area artists.

SUNDAY, 12:30-5:30 PM, MARCH 27, BRJCC, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley
Judith Cohen: Music in Sephardic and "Marrano" Life Song, story and commentary by a renowned Sephardic music scholar, with her daughter Tamar Cohen Adams. Decades of fieldwork in Spain and Portugal have provided Judith and Tamar with a rich body of rare and precious folklore and music.

MONDAY, 7:30 PM, MARCH 28, BRJCC, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley
Emil Zrihan with Surprise Special Guests San Francisco premiere of a stunning counter-tenor, an Israeli cantor of the Moroccan tradition, in a sneak preview of a new collaboration with America's premiere, San Francisco-based new music string quartet. Co-sponsored with the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.

THURSDAY, 8 PM, MARCH 31, JCCSF, San Francisco Emil Zrihan also appears 8:00 PM, Saturday, March 26, with Za'atar, the Bay Area's own Middle East Jewish music ensemble, followed by a Purim Party

SATURDAY, 8:00 pm, March 26, Osher Marin JCC, San RafaelFor tickets and information for this event only, call 415-444-8000.
Klezmatics with special guest Joshua Nelson The gutsy band that definesklezmer's edge, with a special guest artist who sings Black Jewish soul that recalls Mahalia Jackson in the West Coast premiere of their latest CD.

SUNDAY, 4:00 PM, APRIL 3, WHEELER AUDITORIUM, UC Berkeley
Finale Dance Party with members of the Klezmatics and Friends with internationally acclaimed meister of traditional Jewish dance, Steven Weintraub.

SUNDAY, 7:30 PM, APRIL 3, BRJCC, 1414 Walnut Street., Berkeley Tickets and Info: 415-276-1511 or www.brjcc.org
15% discount for groups of 10 and more.
A project of the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center

Duo 46 at Florida State University

Guitarist Matt Gould and violinist Beth Ilana Schneider, Duo 46 will be part of the annual Festival "7 Days of Opening Nights" at Florida State University Feb. 21-24. Highlights for this concert include the U.S. premieres of Jorge Liderman's Aires de Sefarad, a work comprised of 46 variations for violina nd guitar based on Sephardic music Spain, and Makam, a work influenced by traditional Turkish music by Karl Korte. The concert will take place at the Opperman Music Hall at Florida State University, Feb. 23 at 8pm. For information call 850-644-4774 or visit FSU at www.music.fsu.edu. For information about the artists and composers, vist Duo46 www.duo46.com

Hazzan Abraham Lopes Cardozo Celebrated 90th Birthday

(From Joods.nl, by Raya Lishansky, Translated by Irma Lopes Cardozo & Barry Mehler) http://www.joods.nl/archive/cultureel/muziek/JoodsNewsItem.2004-10-26.9494736971

With the Uilenburger Synagogue [in Amsterdam, Netherlands] bursting at the seams, Hazzan Abraham Lopes Cardozo celebrated his 90th Birthday in concert with Santo Servicio, the choir of the Esnoga. The 17 man strong Santo Servicio[1] opened the concert with Baruch Habba, under the driven leadership of their director-singer Barry Mehler resurrecting it like a Phoenix after 63 years of silence. ... Read about it....

Prior to the official opening of the concert, Hazzan Abraham Lopes Cardozo received congratulations and best wishes from many members of the audience. Under the melody of Baruch Habba, Hazzan Cardozo walked from the back of the Shul and joined the choir in full force. This was one of the many impressive moments of the evening. Lopes Cardozo sang in this choir from 1922 until 1939; first as a boy soprano and later on as a young adult until he received an appointment as cantor in Suriname in 1939.

Lopes Cardozo embodies the living memory of the musical culture of the pre-war Portuguese Jewish community. Throughout the evening he drew from his rich memory of fragments of synagogue music sometimes ushered with amusement from the audience, as he would say: “I know it by heart!” People in the hall softly hummed some of the well-known melodies.

In a conversation with Barry Mehler, Lopes Cardozo tells about Santo Servicio from before the war, a choir of volunteers, consisting of about 25 men and about 20 boys. Even famous singers like tenor Giacomo Aletrino were members of the choir. It was a touching moment when Hazzan Lopes Cardozo produced a small black leather-bound book. “In this book you can find the complete Seder Hazzanut of the Esnoga.” I copied the 140 pages from the original Seder Hazzanut when I went to the synagogue everyday with my father. This is a guide for the Hazzan for all services during the Jewish year; a kind of users-manual. You can find everything in it and I have added all the melodies of our tradition, so that I would not forget them. I knew that there was only a small chance that I would be able to get a job as Hazzan in Amsterdam. This little book traveled with me over the whole world, and now I am returning it home. Hazzan Lopes Cardozo presented this little book to Bram Palache, Parnas-member of the P.I.G. and one of the singers in the new Santo Servicio.

The evening’s program was musically filled with Santo Servicio and a male quartet. The traditional settings of Hallìl for the 1st and 2nd day Passover were again and again sung with a clear and strong voice by the Hazzan. The vocal highpoint of the evening was when the four soloists sang, "Mizmor l'David" a composition by Victor Schlesinger. This music had not been heard in Amsterdam for more than 60 years and was now made possible thanks to the cooperation of composer’s granddaughter Anna Schlesinger, who personally attended the concert.

The concert came to a close with a composition of L.A. Benavente, Shir Hamagnalot l'David Samachti. Afterwards there was a reception where the large audience was given the opportunity to raise a (non-alcoholic) glass to the health of Abraham Lopes Cardozo.

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[1] It was assumed for a long period of time that the sheet music of the vocal cultural heritage of the Amsterdam Portuguese liturgy as it was sung by Santo Servicio before the war and was lost. A few years ago, boxes with scores from the unique music from the Esnoga were discovered. A part of the scores has been inventoried, catalogued and ready to be (re-) used for services in the Esnoga. Santo Servicio was re-established in 2002 and has already sung multiple times during services in the Esnoga under the direction of Barry J. Mehler. The choir took part in the great "Three Cantors" concert that took place in 2003 in the Esnoga.

The Sultana Ensemble

Sunday, November 21, 2004. Centenniel Celebration Sunday, Family Sephardic Festival ? Celebrate 350, A Special Collaboration with Congregation Shearith Israel. The Jewish Museum, New York City, 1109 Fifth Avenue, NY, NY, 10126, tel: 212-423-3271 FAX: 212-423-3232. http://thejewishmuseum.org

All day, all ages. General admission to The Jewish Museum is free in honor of the Museum?s centennial.

Sunday, November 21, 2004. 2 p.m. Ages 3 and up.

Concert: The Sultana Ensemble. Yoel Ben-Simhon and The Sultana Ensemble blend Mediterranean music, flamenco, and other sounds into a fascinating experience for the whole family. Dancers and drummers will captivate the audience with their spirited moves and infectious beats! Tickets: $12 per person; $10 Jewish Museum family members, Jewish Museum, New York, NY.

MUSIC AND DANCE OF THE JEWISH WEDDING

at 92ND STREET Y TISCH CENTER FOR THE ARTS

MUSIC AND DANCE OF THE JEWISH WEDDING
Walter Zev Feldman, Artistic Director

Ashkenazi Wedding
(re-enactments of a traditional Ashkenazi wedding)

Featuring KHEVRISA
Wednesday, November 10, 8:00 pm, $25

Bukharan Wedding
Wednesday, December 8, 8:00 pm, $25

Moroccan Henna & Wedding
Tuesday, February 3, 8:00 pm, $2

FMI: 92y.org

Here's the full press release with lots of info:
NEW YORK, NY: October 19, 2004 – The 92nd Street Y presents three concerts featuring re-creations of the music and dance of three radically different Jewish wedding traditions: European Ashkenazic, Bukharan (originating in the area now known as Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) and Moroccan.

On Wednesday, November 10 at 8:00 p.m., the series kicks off with a re-enactment of a traditional Ashkenazi wedding, featuring music and dance that was a part of Jewish weddings in Eastern Europe throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The program bears only a passing relationship to the modern-day Ashkenazi wedding seen in Hasidic communities, which have preserved primarily the religious aspects of the wedding, but not the secular – and sometimes vaguely pagan – customs that were once common. The concert at the Y follows the course of the traditional Ashkenazi wedding ceremonies, which generally took place over several days leading up to the actual wedding. Observances began with meditative tunes for the morning of the wedding and concluded with joyful dancing for the ensuing celebration. The music is announced and punctuated throughout by the badkhn, the traditional master of ceremonies, who sets the requisite tone, ranging from dramatic to pious to humorous.

The program is performed by world-renowned traditional klezmer band Khevrisa: Zev Feldman, cimbalom (Eastern-European hammered dulcimer) and dancer; Michael Alpert, vocals, sekund violin and dancer; Steven Greenman, violin; and Stuart Brotman, double bass. Joining Khevrisa are guests Kurt Bjorling, clarinet; Deborah Strauss, violin; and dancers Joanne Borts, Hélène Domergue-Zilberberg and Steven Weintraub. Many of the members of Khevrisa and the gathered ensemble, notably Michael Alpert and Zev Feldman, learned the musical and dance traditions directly from those who carried it to America from the “old world.” They grew up and studied in post-Holocaust immigrant communities in the United States, where traditional Ashkenazic music and dance was practiced, preserved and handed down to the next generation.

The concert at the 92nd Street Y expands on material recorded on Khevrisa’s CD “European Klezmer Music” (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2000).

THE ASHKENAZI WEDDING:
FROM SOMBER PREPARATION TO JOYFUL DANCING


The concert begins with the music of the kale vechere (KAHL-uh VETCH-er-ay), the party for the bride and her friends held at the end of the Sabbath prior to the wedding. The mood of this gathering is somber, with sad songs of parting as the bride prepares to leave her family and friends for a new life with her husband. The same mood continues on the morning of the wedding, which is heralded with the dobriden, a dignified melody in 3/4 played by the violin and cimbalom. As the day progresses, the wedding band marches through the street, gathering guests to the wedding with khasene gehat (“they are married”), and close relatives are greeted upon arrival by tunes such as the mazeltov or by serious modal improvisations known as shteyger. The cathartic moment of the wedding ceremony is the bride’s lament, known as kale basetsn or kale baveynen (seating or bemoaning of the bride), where the badkhn paints a somber picture of the life of a married woman, singing prayer-like tunes in a minor key, while the violin and cimbalom “answer” with improvisations in different but complementary styles. The khupe marsh (canopy march) follows, a tune that leads guests to the wedding canopy, where the actual betrothal ceremony takes place. The concert features two versions of the khupe marsh – one composed by violinist Steven Greenman, and the second a tune played by the Lepianski family of cimbalists in Belarus. After the rabbi sings the wedding blessings and marries the couple, the groom traditionally breaks a glass to signify the end of the ceremony, and the somber mood is broken, switching instantaneously into festive shouts of mazeltov! (good luck!). This moment closes the first half of the concert.

The second half opens with the ritual music and dancing of the wedding feast, in which the fathers-in law, elder relatives, rabbi, and other honored guests dance to slow elaborate tunes. Among the most famous of these dances is the broygez tants (“dance of anger”) between the two mothers-in-law; in this mime-dance, one woman generally acts offended while the other attempts to mollify her, and the scene ends with a sholem tants (“dance of peace”), in which they become reconciled. Following these communal dances, music is performed for guests seated at tables. This music consists mostly of solos or duets by the violin and cimbalom or clarinet and bass, and served as a way to honor special guests at the wedding as well as an opportunity for the best klezmorim to showcase new tunes. The concert – and the wedding – then proceeds to dancing among the guests, the centerpiece of which is the sher, an elaborate mixed (male-and-female) contra-dance based on European court dancing of the 17th and 18th centuries, but identified strongly as a Jewish dance. The shers performed in the concert include the oldest example of the form that is known today, composed by the Moldavian fiddler Selig Lemisch in the mid-19th century, as well as a sher composed by Zev Feldman in 2000.

The sher reflects the longstanding tension in the Jewish wedding tradition between secular and religious elements. Artistic director Zev Feldman says, “this dance has been part of our folklore for 500 years, and the rabbis were condemning it for 500 years.” In the last 50 years – especially in the post-World-War-II Hasidic and orthodox communities – the tension between secular and even pagan customs once found in Jewish weddings have given way to more of a split between secular and religious traditions. In secular Jewish communities, the balance has shifted in the opposite direction, with many of the traditional wedding customs being largely eclipsed by primarily secular practices drawn from the surrounding culture.

This series was developed by Hanna Arie-Gaifman, director of the 92nd Street Y Tisch Center for the Arts, and ethnomusicologist Walter Zev Feldman, who serves as artistic director of the series.

JEWISH WEDDINGS: EXPLORING SEPHARDIC TRADITIONS
On Wednesday, December 8, at 8:00 p.m., the Jewish Weddings series continues with a Jewish wedding ceremony from the former BUHKARAN EMIRATE (today’s Uzbekistan and Tajikistan). The ceremonies combine Iranian and Turkish traditions and include singing, dancing, drumming and improvised verses in Tajik and Uzbek. The performance is led by Tofakhon Pinkhasova, the undisputed master among the current generation of sozandas. Sozandas are women considered to have almost shamanic powers; their lineage often goes back several generations Featured musicians include members of the ensemble Shashmaqam, a Bukharan instrumental group based in Queens.

On Thursday, February 3, at 8:00 p.m., the MOROCCAN HENNA & WEDDING takes center stage. The Charles Edry Ensemble, a leading Moroccan Jewish wedding ensemble based in Montreal, performs a program featuring music of the Judeo-Arabic tradition of Casablanca and other Moroccan cities. Songs of the Henna ceremony held for the bride prior to the wedding will be performed in addition to the instrumental, vocal and dance music of the wedding itself.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Khevrisa was founded in 1998 by Walter Zev Feldman and Steven Greenman, Khevrisa features two of the central figures of the Klezmer Revival—the vocalist, fiddler and dancer Michael Alpert and the bassist Stuart Brotman. Khevrisa performs klezmer music of 19th and early 20th century European klezmorim on the original klezmer instrumentation of violins, cimbalom and bass. Khevrisa’s repertoire also includes new compositions by Greenman and Feldman in traditional style. Khevrisa has performed at the Festival of Jewish Culture in Cracow, at the Pfingskonzerte in Ittingen, at the Concert Gebow in Amsterdam, the Vredenburg in Utrecht, and at Symphony Space in New York. Its CD European Klezmer Music was issued by Smithsonian Folkways in 2000.

Walter Zev Feldman is a leading researcher in both Ottoman Turkish and Jewish music, and a performer on the klezmer dulcimer, cimbal (tsimbl). During the mid-1970s he and Andy Statman studied with Dave Tarras and were two of the creators of the klezmer revival; at that time Feldman reintroduced the dulcimer cimbal into klezmer music with his classic LP Jewish Klezmer Music (1979). Today he performs on the cimbal with the group Khevrisa and elsewhere. Having grown up with traditional Ashkenazic, Greek and Armenian dance, during the 1970s he researched and taught Turkish folkdance. Today Feldman is a teacher and performer of Ashkenazic dance, leading workshops in the U.S., Canada, England,Germany and Israel. He regularly teaches at the Klezmer Wochen in Weimar and at KlezKanada.

Feldman is a fellow of the Center for Jewish Music Research at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and is a co-editor of the Medimuses Project for Modal Musics of the Mediterranean for the EnChordais School in Thessaloniki, Greece. He recently co-produced the CD Tanburi Isak with the Bezmara Ensemble of Istanbul for EnChordais. In 2003 he curated the concert series “The Revival of Klezmer and Yiddish Music in New York” at the CUNY Graduate Center. He is the artistic director of the current series “Music and Dance of the Jewish Wedding” at the 92nd Street Y. Next in the series is “Bukharan Wedding,” Wednesday, December 8, 2004 and the final program is the “Moroccan Henna & Wedding,” Thursday, February 3, 2005.

For complete biographies of the artists performing in this program, please contact Beverly Greenfield at bgreenfield@92y.org or 212-415-5452.

ABOUT THE 92ND STREET Y
Since its concert series began in 1934, what is now the 92nd Street Y Tisch Center for the Arts, endowed through the generous support of Joan and Preston Robert Tisch, has presented the world's most acclaimed classical musicians like Janos Starker, Emmanuel Pahud and the Tokyo String Quartet. The Center is also well known for its jazz series, curated by jazz great Dick Hyman, and its Lyrics & Lyricists series, the grandfather of the now popular American songbook series. The Center's legendary Unterberg Poetry Center (estab. 1939) presents the country’s oldest and most illustrious reading series and an extensive writing program that gives working adults the opportunity to learn from well-known, published authors. Outreach activities include a literacy program for new immigrants and workshops for high school students taught by some of the country’s leading writers.

The 92nd Street Y unites culture and community service in one multifaceted institution. Founded in 1874 by a group of visionary Jewish leaders, the Y is dedicated to enriching the lives of the 300,000 people of every race and faith who annually visit its three facilities – the well-known headquarters on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Makor, on the Upper West Side, and the Rockland County campgrounds. Visitors come to the 92nd Street Y to hear music of all kinds; to listen to writers read from their work; to explore Jewish culture; and to gain insight into the events and ideas of the day from public figures and experts in every field. Programs for children and adults help both groups navigate each stage of life, an extensive adult-education curriculum includes instruction by renowned authors and artists, and an unusual wellness initiative offers both a wide range of fitness activities and the opportunity to learn from the nation’s leading healthcare professionals. Committed to sharing its programs with all New Yorkers regardless of economic circumstance, the 92nd Street Y provides $1 million in scholarships every year and reaches out to 6,000 public school children with fully-subsidized arts programs. For more information, visit www.92Y.org/press.

ESNOGA, PAST AND PRESENT, THE REVIVAL OF SANTO SERVIÇO

Date: 24 October 2004
Time: 8pm
Place: Uilenburgerstraat Synagogue, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Price: ?25.00
Language: Dutch
Reservations: Email: pig-amsterdam@euronet.nl
Fax: 020-625-4680 (international: +31-20-625-4680)

In October 2003, a historic event in Amsterdam's Portuguese Synagogue took place. The pre-war synagogue choir, "Santo Serviço" was revived after 60 years of silence.

Hazzan Abraham Lopes Cardozo (former Chief-Cantor of New York's Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue), is the only living person who sang as an adult with this choir (from 1925 to 1939). It is an honor to welcome Hazzan Cardozo to Amsterdam on Sunday, 24 October 2004 in honor of his 90th birhtday where he will conduct an intimate soirée:

ESNOGA, PAST AND PRESENT, THE REVIVAL OF SANTO SERVIÇO

Hazzan Cardozo will lead us through his memories of singing with Santo Serviço for nearly fifteen years. Throughout the program examples of original works will be sung in the authentic pre-war settings. Directly following the program a light reception will be held in honor of Hazzan Cardozo's 90th Birthday.

NY Jewish Music & Heritage Festival Week

S A T A L L A
37 WEST 26TH ST NYC
2 1 2 - 5 7 6 - 1 1 5 5
satalla.com
Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Smadar
Sephardic Music
8pm

Admission $12
With lyrics in Greek, Spanish, Hebrew and Moroccan, SMADAR performs Moroccan Gypsy music with a unique Middle-Eastern sound. They will perform material from their brand-new release, "Smadar." Members of the band are: Smadar Levi (vocals); Uri Sharlin (piano, accordion); Harel Shachal (saxophone); Pedro Da Silva (sitar, Portuguese guitar); Emanuel Mann (bass); Tomer Tzur (drums), and Ramzi El-Idlibi (darbuka).

The Matt Temkin's Yiddish Jam Band Featuring Ashira
Jewish/Yiddish/Klezmer
10pm
Admission $12
Hip version of songs in English written by Jews, rocking versions of Yiddish songs written about Jews, and soulful versions of Hebrew songs written for Jews - all sung by the stunning voices of the female vocal trio ASHIRA (Arianne Slack, Laura Lenes, and Leah Moss), and backed by the swinging MATT TEMKIN'S YIDDISHE JAM BAND (Dan Cousin, musical director). Bringing together musical influences from all the 350 years that Jews have been residing in America, this is an experience that can be had only one way: in person and live!
Ashira

Wednesday, September 08, 2004
NY Jewish Music & Heritage Festival Week

DIVAHN
Middle Eastern and Sephardic Music
8pm

Admission $12
DIVAHN's Middle Eastern/Sephardic grooves were home-grown in Austin, Texas! This bold all-lady ensemble infuses traditional Jewish songs with sophisticated harmonies and funky arrangements. The group has engendered a national following with their riveting live shows including instruments such as tabla, cello, violin, didgeridoo, doumbek, and banjo and glowing vocals spanning Hebrew, Judeo-Spanish, Persian, Arabic, and Aramaic. Through their music, the group underscores common ground shared between diverse Middle Eastern cultures and religions. Join Divahn for a special performance at Satalla celebrating the 350th anniversary of Sephardic immigration to the U.S.
The Klez Dispensers
Klezmer: The Next Generation
10pm
Admission $12
Formed in 1998 and considered one of the best of the new generation of klezmer bands, the KLEZ DISPENSERS perform a diverse repertoire spanning traditional klezmer, a wide variety of jazz styles, and original compositions. They are currently a 7-piece band, comprised of Alex Kontorovich (clarinet); Ben Holmes (trumpet); Amy Zakar (violin); Audrey Betsy Wright (alto & tenor saxophone); Adrian Banner (piano); Julian Rosse (bass), and Gregg Mervine (drums).

Thursday, September 09, 2004
The Village Klezmer Quintet
Old World Klezmer
8pm
NY Jewish Music & Heritage Festival Week
Admission $12
The youthful, vibrant sound of the VILLAGE KLEZMER QUINTET brings the Old World melodies and rhythms of the Eastern European Jews to today’s cafes, clubs, and celebrations all around NYC and beyond. Among the most seasoned musicians on the local scene, the band's members are: Jake Shulman-Ment (violin); Jeff Perlman (clarinet, bass clarinet); Ben Holmes (trumpet); Joey Weisenberg (mandolin, guitar), and Travis DiRuzza (bass).

Saturday, September 11, 2004
Sally Fingerett of The Four Bitchin' Babes
Musical Comedy - Jewish Festival Contemporary Musical Review
10pm

NY Jewish Music & Heritage Festival Week
Admission $15
"One of the best lyricists on the singer/songwriter circuit. Her song 'Home Is Where The Heart Is' ought to be required listening." THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE "A thoughtful, tuneful collection of keenly observed narratives, poignant ballads, giddy lovestruck odes." THE WASHINGTON POST
SALLY FINGERETT, a self-proclaimed "Mental Yentl," and founding member of the Funny Female Folkestra, The FOUR BITCHIN' BABES, performs selections from her one-woman show "Faces on the Wall." Take Joan Rivers & Nora Ephron, Bette Midler & Carol King, Victor Borge & Jackie Mason, put them all in a microwave, blow them up, realign their molecular structure, re-do the nose and - voila! - SALLY FINGERETT, one quirky Jewish Diva.

Sunday, September 12, 2004
Klezska
Klezmer/Ska Music
2pm
NY Jewish Music & Heritage Festival Week
Admission $12, Children Under 12 years of age $7
Maximum of $40 per family

Each member of KLEZSKA! a virtuoso in his or her own right, as a group they have created a totally original, powerful and perfect union of Klezmer with traditional Jamaican Ska and Reggae music. Just returning from their first Israeli tour, the band will perform their rocking repertoire, along with some new tunes that they have prepared for this special all-ages show.

Mikveh
featuring Alicia Svigals,Susan Watts, Nicki Parrott & Lauren Brody
The Women of Klezmer
5 pm

NY Jewish Music & Heritage Festival Week
Admission $12
Supergroup MIKVEH features the top women in Klezmer, including renowned Yiddish singer Adrienne Cooper, Klezmatics founder Alicia Svigals on fiddle, charismatic trumpeter Susan Watts of the Hoffman klezmer dynasty, ethnic accordion wizard Lauren Brody, and soulful bass player Catherine Popper. Together, they rock out with sizzling dance music and riveting Yiddish/English songs, both ancestral and brand new.

Monday, September 13, 2004
NY Jewish Music & Heritage Festival Week

An Evening of YIDDISH SOUL starring Joanne Borts w/
Howard Leshaw and the Golden Land Orchestra
Jewish Festival
7:30pm

Admission $12
One of this generation's Yiddish superstars, JOANNE BORTS has starred in "The Golden Land," "On Second Avenue" and "Those Were the Days"; has appeared on Broadway and in national tours of "Fiddler On the Roof" and "Hello Dolly," and has directed the hit revue "Kids & Yiddish." HOWARD LESHAW is a world-renowned band leader and woodwind vituoso. Yiddish Soul is a talent- and charisma-filled feast of favorites from theater, vaudeville, and cabaret.

Reuben Hoch & the Chassidic Jazz Project
Judeo-Cuban Jazz Fusion
9:30pm

Admission $12
Based out of Miami, THE CHASSIDIC JAZZ PROJECT is dedicated to bringing the music of the Jewish people to a larger audience by utilizing jazz as a vehicle for musical expression. Led by drummer and composer Reuben Hoch, the group includes jazz guitarist Tom Lippincott, violist Marie Randel, cellist Barbara Corcillo, Cuban saxophonist Felipe Lamoglia (Arturo Sandoval), bassist Ed Schuller (Joe Lovano), and percussionist Bobby Thomas Jr. This will be the group's debut N.Y. performance!

Tuesday, September 14, 2004
NY Jewish Music & Heritage Festival Week

Naftule's Dream
Avant-Jewish Jazz
8pm

Admission $12
After emerging in the 1990's as a major force in the Radical Jewish Music movement out of New York, NAFTULE'S DREAM continues to break new ground, to attract new fans and to amaze large and diverse audience worldwide with their unique blend of modern composition, freely improvised rock fusion and Jewish roots music. Weaving fiery improvisation into complex arrangements in a style reminiscent of Mingus, informed by Threadgil, the Boston-based band has created an instrumental music which has been called "startlingly original and audacious." (Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times)
Kleztraphobix
Contemporary Klezmer Music
10pm

Admission $12
While firmly entrenched in tradition, the KLEZTRAPHOBIX draw on the diverse musical experiences of the band's members to create a fresh, vibrant expression of the art of Klezmer. Their somewhat unusual instrumental lineup makes this group one of the most exciting bands on the contemporary Klezmer scene. Individually and collectively, they have played every type of music imaginable, from the NYC Opera to Funk to Big Band Swing to Bluegrass to Modern Jazz to Rock and Roll to Zydeco to Cantorial, and of course, Klezmer. They are committed to creating new Klezmer music, and often feature the original compositions of the members of the band. The Kleztraphobix are: Psachya Septimus (accordion); Rich Melnikoff (percussion); Ron Caswell (tuba); Michael Cohen (clarinet), and Jordan Hirsch (trumpet).

Sunday, September 19, 2004
Kapelye
Klezmer Music
5pm

Admission $12
The New York Times says: “Of the many klezmer bands, the one that comes closest to the ideal is Kapelye.” Kapelye, now in its 25th year of recording and touring worldwide, is one of the original bands responsible for the renewed interest in klezmer music. Kapelye’s popular appeal over the years has won it a brand new audience as teens and college age fans of alternative rock and folk music have found a kindred spirit in the band’s passionate, often highly spirited performances.
The Washington Post says: “Anyone would be hard pressed to keep his toes restrained while listening to the sounds of this talented ensemble.”
Kapelye’s fusion of Old World traditions with New World influences creates a unique brand of entertainment that reaches out to each member of the audience. An evening with Kapelye will be one that you will remember for a long time.
Netherlands Jewish Week says: “….a great success. A wildly enthusiastic audience called Kapelye back for three encores.”
Kapelye is made up of” Eric Berman, tuba/bass
Ken Maltz, clarinet
Peter Sokolow, keyboard/vocal

Sunday, September 26, 2004
Klezmerfest
Klezmer Music
5pm

Admission $12 Klezmerfest! celebrates the great tradition of Yiddish instrumental music-from the shtetls of the old country to the contemporary sounds of today's Lower East Side revival. Freylachs, bulgars, doynas and chassidls, along with old favorites from the days of Yiddish theater make for an enjoyable, heart warming and foot stomping evening of music for the whole family. Klezmerfest! has been delighting audiences for years at such venues as the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the Eldridge Street Project, the Knitting Factory, and synagogues and schools throughout the Northeast. Their latest CD is entitled "Party Music".
Klezmerfest! is well know for their award winning "Klez for Kidz program". The group is made up of leading players from the New York City scene: Greg Wall, clarinet (from Hasidic New Wave, Later Prophets, Neshama Carlebach, and other downtown projects); Jordan Hirsch, trumpet (of the famous Neshoma Orchestra); accordionist Zev Zions (you've seen him on Andy Statman's instructional video); bassist Brian Glassman (of Neshama Carlebach's band and Statman) and the masterful drummer Aaron Alexander (Hasidic New Wave, Klezmatics, Frank London's Klezmer Brass Band, Mazeltones). Let Klezmerfest bring you back to the days when klezmer was Jewish wedding music, and Jewish wedding music was............. PARTY MUSIC!

Flory Jagoda in Concert

Monday, June 14, at 7:00 at the Millard Auditorium at the U of Hartford. Free.
Contact: 860-768-4963
or lemcoff@hartford.edu

"Pearls and Rubies": An Evening of Yiddish and Ladino Song"

Features the Sephardic music ensemble ALHAMBRA with mezzo Isabelle Ganz, baritone Elliot Z. Levine, Cantor Rebecca Joy Fletcher of Hebrew Tabernacle Congregation and pianist Sylvia Kahan will present familiar and unfamiliar solos, duets and trios in Judeo-Espanol and Yiddish on Thursday June 10th at 7:30 p.m. at Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights, 551 Ft. Washington Avenue at 185th St. Tickets are $12/$7.50 for students. This event is part of the Washington Heights Arts Stroll program. It is made possible, in part, by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency. For more information, go to http://www.artistsuniteny.org/events/ArtsStroll2004.html

Ladino Music with Sarah Aroeste

Vocalist Sarah Aroeste and her band of some of the hottest musicians combine traditional Ladino Mediterranean music with contemporary rock, blues and jazz.
Center for Jewish History, NYC
Wednesday, June 2nd
7 PM
15 West 16th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
Complimentary for contributors to the Jack Calderon Memorial Fund for the Sephardic Arts
Tickets: $15 ($12 advance, seniors, students, and for members of ASF/SH and Shearith Israel)
To make reservations: Box Office (917) 606-8200
or for information, call (212) 294-8350
For more information: http://www.asfonline.org/
http://www.saraharoeste.com/
More...

Using traditional instruments, the band (Yoel Ben-Simhon, musical director, oud, piano, vocals; Alan Cohen, electric guitar; Emmanuel Mann, bass; Liron Peled, drums, percussion) brings a fresh new face to Ladino and Sephardic music. Aroeste was recently featured on NPR as a new up-and-coming artist and her unique musical sound has received rave reviews from both critics and ordinary listeners alike.

Presented by the American Sephardi Federation with Sephardic House and Congregation Shearith Israel.

The Gerard Edery Ensemble

The Gerard Edery Ensemble will be presenting "Treasures of Sephardic Song" this Thursday evening, May 20, at Congregation Rodeph Sholom (7 West 83rd St., New York). The performance will begin at 7:30 PM and ticket prices range from $36 for preferred seating, $18 for general admission and $12 for students and seniors. To reserve tickets or for more concert information please call 212-362-8800 x 8108.

I-TAL-YAH: SONGS FROM THE 'ISLAND OF THE DIVINE DEW'

The American Sephardi Federation with Sephardic House invites you to for I-TAL-YAH: SONGS FROM THE 'ISLAND OF THE DIVINE DEW' , AN ITALIAN JEWISH MUSICAL JOURNEY Curated by Francesco Spagnolo and Directed by Leon Hyman
Saturday, May 15, 2004, at 9:30 PM
Congregation Shearith Israel
70th Street and Central Park West
A concert of Italian Jewish musical pieces from the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, inspired by Baroque, operatic, choral and folk musical styles, and representing the richness of Italian Jewish cultural identity throughout the centuries.
For reservations, please call the American Sephardi Federation at 212-294-8350
Light Italian dessert specialties will be served after the concert.
More info...

The curator, musicologist Francesco Spagnolo, is the founder of Yuval, the Italian Center for the Study of Jewish Music. A former radio producer and host in Italy and a researcher for the Accademia di Santa Cecilia and the Jewish Music Research Center in Jerusalem, he has produced concerts, lectures, and theater event. In 2001 Mr. Spagnolo published the CD Italian Jewish Musical Traditions, based on field recordings from the 1950s, which opened a new field of research in Jewish ethnomusicology.

The program will include baroque pieces by Salomone Rossi, a Portuguese repertoire of Italian origins, and several holiday songs in Italian- Judeo dialects from different regions. Leon Hyman is a noted conductor whose career has encompassed the areas of orchestra, ballet, chorus, opera and theater. He has conducted operas in New York and Dallas, the Tokyo production of West Side Story (directed by Jerome Robbins) and other musicals. He has extensive experience conducting both large and small choral ensembles including 25 years as director of the Montclair State University Chorus. In New York, Mr. Hyman has been Choirmaster at Congregation Shearith Israel since 1955. He co-founded the New Philharmonic of New Jersey where he currently serves as music director and conductor.
Participation: $35 per person

Professor Jehoash Hirshberg at JTS

Professor Jehoash Hirshberg of The Hebrew University presents a lecture: "The Musical Heritage of the Karaite Jews of Egyptian origin in Israel - Liturgical and Paraliturgical Traditions and Performance" Thursday, February 12, 10:30 AM, at Kripke 406 Jewish Theological Seminary 3080 Broadway, New York Free and Open to the Public. All are invited.

Voices of Sepharad

Voices of Sepharad have been working together since 1990. They are based in Twin Cities, Minnesota...They have a new website... www.voicesofsepharad.com David Harris and Judith Ingber cofounded the group. Harris specializes in Sephardic music and the vocalist. Mick LaBriola (percussionist) ; Judith Brin Ingber (dancer, choreographer); David Burk (guitar, ‘ud, chumbush, bass) and David Rockne Stenshoel (violin) round out the group.

Folk Literature of the Sephardic Jews

Completely revised website, sponsored by UC DAVIS, far richer repository of transcriptions and mp3s...

The launch of the Folk Literature of the Sephardic Jews website, newly revised. You may access it at: http://www.sephardifolklit.org

Judith Cohen & Tamar Cohen Adams

à Montréal le 24-1-04, Chansons judéo-espagnoles et des régions crypto-juives du Portugal, du Moyen-Àge, de la diaspore sépharade.... Montreal on January 24, Judeo-Spanish songs, songs from Crypto-Jewish regions of Portugal, medieval songs, songs of the Sephardic diaspora... Saturday/samedi 24-1- 2004 , 20h Gelber Conference Centre, 1 Cummings Square, Montreal, Canada $3 /$5 information, (514) 345-2627 ext. 3017 http://www.jewishpubliclibrary.org/