Yavneh Ensemble Concert 'America, Amerike'

America, Amerike: Jewish Music throughout America's History

Monday, May 12, 2008
7:30 p.m.
Tiferet Bet Israel
1920 Skippack Pike
Blue Bell, PA 19422

Monday, May 19, 2008
7:30 p.m.
The Ethical Society Building
19 South Rittenhouse Square
Philadelphia, PA

The Yavneh Ensemble , conducted by Robert A.M. Ross, and with a special guest appearance by Hazzan Howard K. Glantz, will present music of the Jewish experience in America, including:
• Sephardic chants from colonial synagogues
• The 1897 Union Hymnal and its role in the formation of Jewish Americans
• The great wave of Eastern European immigration in its varied musical manifestations: Yiddish theater, Yiddish radio and the clash of the old country with the new in a special choral presentation of Sholom Secunda's Chazonim Oyf Probe.
• The American synagogue finds its distinctive voice in the 20th century and beyond.

Tickets are $36, 18, and $9 for students, and may be ordered online at http://www.yavnehensemble.org, or reserved at 215-849-4129.

Nashirah in Philly

Nashirah, the Jewish Chorale of Philadelphia is having a concert March 30 at 3:00 P.M. at Congregation Rodeph Shalom, 615 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA. The name of the concert is "Im Tir'zu: If You Will It". Further information, a contact telephone number and directions are available at Nashira website: www.nashirah.org.

Yavneh Ensemble Concert

Yavneh Ensemble Concert
The 49 Days: Music of the Omer Season
Sunday, June 3, 2007, at 7:30 p.m.
Congregation Adath Jeshurun
7763 Old York Road, Elkins Park, PA
Tickets: $36 preferred seating, $12 general admission, $8 student
Order tickets online at http://www.yavnehensemble.org
or e-mail tickets@yavnehensemble.org
or call 215-849-4129

The Yavneh Ensemble, conducted by Robert A.M. Ross, will present music associated with the holy days and observances before, during, and after counting of the Omer, including music for Passover, Yom HaShoah, Yom HaAzma-ut, Lag ba'Omer, Yom Yerushalayim, and Shavuot, plus May Day. Featured composers include Charles Davidson, Yehezkel Braun, Gerald Cohen, and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Soloists will include Hazzan Howard Glantz of Adath Jeshurun and soprano Ilana Davidson. Of special interest is Naomi and Ruth, a lovely cantata for women’s voices, by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. The work will be performed in Italian. The Yavneh Ensemble, founded in 2006, is a chorus of professional and experienced amateur singers. Its mission is to present historic works of Jewish choral music and showcase newer works as well.

Schola Cantorum on Hudson Explores Judeo-Christian Choral Music Sacred Bridge

Three mid-March Choral Concerts in Caldwell, Jersey City and Manhattan will light up a sacred bridge.
Schola Cantorum on Hudson, the critically acclaimed 30-voice choral ensemble based in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area, will perform choral music highlighting the Judeo-Christian heritage with its 12th Ethnic Celebration Series Concert in three venues. Entitled Sacred Bridge, this second concert program of Schola's season will first be performed at Caldwell College on Bloomfield Avenue in Caldwell, New Jersey, on Sunday, March 11, 2007 at 4 pm, reprised on Sunday, March 18, at 4 pm, at Historic Holy Rosary Church, 344 Sixth Street, between Monmouth and Brunswick Streets in Jersey City. The third concert will be performed at St. Malachy's Church, The Actors' Chapel, 239 West 49th Street (between Broadway and Eighth Avenue) in New York City, Monday, March 19 at 7:30 pm.

The ensemble, under the artistic direction of Dr. Deborah Simpkin King, will sing works that exemplify the Judeo-Christian “bridge” by composers such as Barber, Thompson, Rossi, Di Lasso, Mendelssohn, Lewandowski and Braun.

Tickets for all performances are $20 for general admission, $15 for seniors and students. Advance tickets and season subscriptions may be purchased at a reduced price online at www.scholaonhudson.org, by phone at (201) 918-3011, or by email at scholatix@gmail.com.

Organizations, educational institutions, and groups interested in purchasing a block of ten or more tickets receive a special group rate. Please email SCHGroupSales@gmail.com for more information.

Additional information regarding this concert or the ensemble and its activities can be obtained online at www.scholaonhudson.org or by calling 201-918-3009.

Catch Metropolitan Klezmer Before the Holidays

Metropolitan Klezmer octet on the cusp of the holidays (awe-appropriate...) Recharged traditionals, soulful originals, retro surprises! Full details follow:

Thursday, September 14
7:00pm @ JCC Metrowest, West Orange NJ - free!

Tuesday, September 19
7:30pm @ Mo Pitkin's - Judeo/Latino cuisine!
34 Avenue A (East Village) NYC

www.mopitkins.com
www.jccmetrowest.org
www.metropolitanklezmer.com
www.cdbaby.com/metklez3

Two early evening Metropolitan Klezmer shows this month:
• Thursday, September 14
Leon & Toby Cooperman JCC, Ross Family Campus, West Orange NJ
7:00 pm FREE concert, open to the public!
760 Northfield Avenue - West Orange
Sponsored by the Jewish Service for the Developmentally Disabled / WAE Center (Wellness, Arts and Enrichment Center), the second concert in their World Music Series.
For more information or to request a listening device call Elaine Schenkel, WAE Center Program Coordinator, at 973-325-1494 x 16.
Full eight-piece band!
www.jccmetrowest.org

• Tuesday, September 19
Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction
7:30pm ~ one 75+ minute set, Upstairs at Mo's
34 Avenue A (btw East 2nd & 3rd Streets), NYC
Info: 212-777-5660
Decor: East Village shrine of mid-century eclectica Satisfaction: Full bar & menu, comidas a la Ratner's: Jewish/Latino cuisine $10 +one drink minimum. All ages welcome, zip code neighbor early bird deals. Full eight-piece band!
www.mopitkins.com

"With influences that range from old school Arabic music to Latin jazz to Motown, Metropolitan Klezmer interprets aged Yiddish favorites with a mixture of tradition and irreverence.... not only exuberantly eclectic but also very danceable. Expect an eccentric cultural lesson from these modern-day purveyors of time-honored traditions." - Jen Bachman, flavorpill.net

Mikveh in Philly

Mikveh, Philadelphia, PA, Saturday, October 28,2006, Mikveh at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia
www.tinangel.com
One reader of JMWC says: 'You're not goin' to get klezmer better'n this.'
'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 jazz bass phenomenon Nicki Parrott. Together, they rock out with sizzling dance music and riveting Yiddish/English songs, both ancestral and brand new. Directions: http://www.tinangel.com/directions.html

Cantor Sam Weiss and Shirona

An Evening of
Beautiful Jewish Music
featuring
Cantor Sam Weiss
and the beautiful singing of
Shirona
Saturday Night, October 23rd, 8:00 p.m.
~ FREE ADMISSION ~
REFRESHMENTS FOLLOWING CONCERT
Presented by The J.C.C.P. Adult Education Committee
Sponsored By The George Reiss Memorial Fund

Shirona, a gifted singer and songwriter, was born in New York, raised in Israel, and started performing at an early age. The 5-Star Jewish Week review of her debut recording, Judaic Love Songs, praised her lovely rich voice and described her original settings of texts from the Bible and Siddur as "tasteful and intelligent." http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/shirona

Directions to the Jewish Community Center of Paramus:
From GARDEN STATE PARKWAY exit 161: Take ROUTE 4 EAST about 1 mile just past Bergen Mall. Watch for a low sign indicating the FOREST AVE exit. Exit and bear right; at the end of the ramp turn right, crossing over Route 4. Proceed North on FOREST AVE for about 2.5 miles, to the fourth light. Turn RIGHT onto MIDLAND AVE for one long block. Parking lot is on the right.

From the GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE.
Follow the signs to ROUTE 4, and stay on Route 4 for about 6.5 miles. After the town of River Edge you will pass on your right "The Mall at IV". Watch for a low sign indicating the FOREST AVE exit (near a "Staples" sign). Exit and bear right at the end of the ramp, proceeding North on FOREST AVE for about 2 miles, to the third light. Turn RIGHT onto MIDLAND AVE for one long block. Parking lot is on the right.

Richard Lenatsky sings yiddish at Havorford College, PA

An Evening of Yiddish Song (Live!)
Tenor Richard Lenatsky returns to sing Yiddish songs, accompanied by Alexander (Sender) Botwinik and Marvin Weinberger.
Chase Auditorium
October 27, 2004 7:30PM
For more information, contact Public Relations at 610-896-1333 or jzoshak@haverford.edu

Lag B'Omer in Ithaca, NY

Ithaca: On Saturday, May 8th, promptly at 10 pm (after Shabbat), the Carriage House Caf� will present an evening of Jewish instrumental Klezmer music and Hasidic song as a part of the 'Crossing Borders' multi-cultural radio concert series, soon to be aired regularly on WVBR. Featured artists include Joel Rubin (clarinet, musical direction), Pete Rushefsky (tsimbl -- Eastern European Jewish hammered dulcimer), Rabbi Eli Silberstein (song and story) and The Cornell Klezmer Ensemble. The concert will be in honor of the Jewish festival of Lag Ba'Omer, which begins at sundown on that day. Lag Ba'Omer marks the 33rd day of the seven-week partial mourning period between the holidays of Pesach (Passover) and Shavuot, and is only day during this period where weddings, dancing and public performances of music are allowed to take place according to traditional Judaism.

Joel Rubin is currently a Mellon Humanities Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Music Department at Cornell University. For over two decades he has been one of the leading figures in the klezmer movement as performer, scholar, author and educator. Rubin directs the internationally acclaimed Joel Rubin Jewish Music Ensemble, and was a founder of Brave Old World. He has documented the music of traditional musicians such as the Epstein Brothers, recipients of the prestigious National Heritage Fellowship from the NEA in 1998, and Moshe Berlin, Israel's most prominent klezmer clarinetist, performing together with them. Rubin studied with Richard Stoltzman and Kalmen Opperman and holds a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from City University (London).
Rubin is joined by Pete Rushefsky of Syracuse and Rabbi Eli Silberstein of Ithaca in a performance of Eastern European klezmer music and hasidic nigunim. Rushefsky is a leading revivalist of the tsimbl. Rabbi Silberstein has played an integral role in Ithaca's spiritual life for over two decades, and is an acknowledged expert on hasidic nigunim. Also featured on the program will be the newly formed Cornell Klezmer Ensemble under Rubin's direction. The ensemble, made up of Cornell students, staff and faculty, Ithaca College students, and other members of the Ithaca community, will be performing music representing the New York and Philadelphia klezmer traditions, drawing on repertoire as it was performed there during the 1910s and 1920s.
The performance begins promptly at 10 PM (after sunset) and will be recorded for a future broadcast of "Crossing Borders", a multi-cultural concert series that will begin airing weekly in June on 93.5FM, WVBR. The series will take place at the newly renovated Carriage House Caf� and will eventually be broadcast live. Denice Karamardian is the host of the series. Radio personality Aron Gutman will co-host for the Klezmer presentation.
The Carriage House Caf� will officially open for business in September of 2004. The mission of the Caf� is to promote multi-cultural exchange and awareness by providing hospitality and entertainment to the local and international community through cultural presentation of arts, music, cuisine and educational programming (often in collaboration with various community, corporate and university partners). The Carriage House Caf� is located at 304 Stewart Avenue, Ithaca.
Contact: Denice Karamardian, (607) 275-0021

PITTSBURGH JEWISH MUSIC FESTIVAL

The Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival, a new annual concert series devoted to Jewish-themed classical music, will debut this spring. The festival is founded by cellist Aron Zelkowicz and will feature musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and guests. This year's theme is "A Vanished World", an exploration of Jewish culture in Eastern Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century, and consists of three programs:
1.Monday, April 19, 2004 8pm
2. Tuesday, April 27, 2004 8pm
3. Wednesday, May 5 2004 8pm
For more info...

1.Monday, April 19, 2004 8pm Levy Hall, Rodef Shalom Congregation 4905 Fifth Ave. VOCAL CONCERT: "An Evening of Jewish Song" with Mimi Lerner. mezzo-soprano and Aron Zelkowicz, cello. Hebrew liturgical works by Ben Steinberg, Yiddish art songs by Lazar Weiner, Yiddish folk songs, the song cycle "We Are Children Just the Same" after poetry by boys in Terezin by Srul Irving Glick, and a set of cello pieces by Israeli composer Joachim Stutschewsky.

2. Tuesday, April 27, 2004 8pm Katz Theatre, JCC of Pittsburgh 5738 Forbes Ave. ORCHESTRA CONCERT: "Klezmer Concertos" Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra resident conductor Lucas Richman conducts a chamber orchestra comprised of PSO and Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra members in two of his own works, "Kol Nidre" and "Overture for Israel" in addition to the N.American premiere of Srul Irving Glick's clarinet concerto"The Klezmer's Wedding" and the world premiere of an instrumental suite from Hans Krasa's "Brundibar". Also "The Fiddle" by Elliot Finkel (with text by Sholom Aleichem) and "Self-Portrait with Gebirtig" by Joel Hoffman.

3. Wednesday, May 5 2004 8pm CHAMBER CONCERT: "Chamber Music from the Old World" PSO members perform a virtuosic selection of klezmer-inspired works for flute, clarinet, piano, harp and strings by Golijov, Glick, Pittsburgh composer David Stock, Hoffman, and Schiff.

Tickets and more info. available at ProArts (412)394- 3353 or www.proartstickets.org

THE JEWISH PEOPLES PHILHARMONIC CHORUS (JPPC)

Der yidisher filharmonisher folkskhor with CONDUCTOR BINYUMEN ("BEN") SCHAECHTER have upcoming performances in PENNSYLVANIA, NEW YORK and NEW JERSEY, USA.
THE JPPC is the LONGEST CONTINUALLY PERFORMING YIDDISH - and JEWISH - CHORUS IN THE WORLD.
Upcoming performances:
1) Sun., March 28, 7:30 PM, Gratz Coll., Melrose Park, nr. Philadelphia, PA
2) Sunday, April 18, 7:15 PM, Riverdale Jewish Center, Bronx, NY
3) Sunday, April 25, 6:30 PM, Temple Beth Elohim, Old Bethpage, NY
4) Wednesday, May 19, 8:00 PM, Highland Park Conservative Temple, NJ
5) Sunday, June 6, 2:00 PM, Hebrew Union College, New York, NY
more details....

1) DATE: Sunday, March 28, 2004, 7:30 PM
PLACE: Gratz College, 7605 Old York Rd,
Melrose Park, Pennsylvania 19027 (just outside Philadelphia)
EVENT: Delaware Valley Jewish Choral Festival
TIME: Festival begins @ 2:00; CONCERT BEGINS @ 7:30
Concert features special guest performance by JPPC
INFO, REGISTRATION, TIX: 215-635-7300 x138; ZamirFdn@aol.com
_____________________________________________________

2) DATE: Sunday evening, April 18, 2004, 7:15 PM
PLACE: Riverdale Jewish Center, 3700 Independence Avenue,
corner 237th Street (West side of H.H. Pkwy), Bronx, New York 10463
EVENT: Holocaust commemorative service and JPPC performance
TIME: Holocaust service/performance begins immediately following Mincha
INFO: 718-548-1850; www.rjconline.org
_________________________________________________________

3) DATE: Sunday evening, April 25, 2004, 6:30 PM
PLACE: Temple Beth Elohim, 926 Round Swamp Rd,
Old Bethpage, Long Island, New York 11804
EVENT: JPPC concert
TIME: 5:00 - 6:00 PM Cocktail Party; CONCERT @ 6:30 PM
INFO, TIX: 516-694-4544; www.mytemple.org
________________________________________________________

4) DATE: Wednesday evening, May 19, 2004, 8:00 PM PLACE: Highland Park Conservative Temple And Center, South 3rd and Benner Streets, Highland Park, New Jersey 08904 EVENT: JPPC concert is final event in EXPO '04 - The Jewish Immigrant, Hope and Fulfillment, 1880 -1929 TIME: 8:00 PM INFO: 732-545-6482 (Temple office); www.hpctc.net
__________________________________________________

5) DATE: Sunday afternoon, June 6, 2004, 2:00 PM
PLACE: Hebrew Union College, 1 East 4 St. (West of Broadway),
New York, New York 10012
EVENT: JPPC 81st annual final concert, featuring performance of the Itche-Goldberg / Maurich Rauch OYB NIT NOKH HEKHER (adapted from the Chasidic tale by I.L. Peretz), in honor of Goldberg's 100th birthday (born 1904) and commemorating 10 years since Rauch's passing (1994-2004); as well as selections celebrating 350 years of a Jewish presence in North America (1654-2004), including hits from the Second Avenue Yiddish theatre
TIME: 2:00 PM
INFO: 646-602-2007 Jo Abrams; JPPC@nyc.rr.com

Delaware Valley Jewish Choral

Gratz College will host the 4th annual Delaware Valley Jewish Choral Festival on Sunday, March 28. Sponsored by the Zamir Choral Foundation in conjunction with Gratz and the Jewish choral community of the Delaware Valley, the event is designed for lovers of Jewish music of all backgrounds... Contact the Tyson Music Department at Gratz College, 215-635-7300, or e-mail ZamirFdn@aol.com See more information...

The program will begin at 2 p.m. with a "community sing" of choral selections led by local conductors, with special guest, Binyumen Schaechter, director of the Jewish People's Philharmonic Chorus. Specializing in Yiddish music, the choir has been performing continuously for more than 80 years, and will headline the evening concert that follows the day-long event. Schaechter will also lead two of the twelve workshops scheduled following the community sing, on topics ranging from Yiddish humor in song to vocal improvisation, conducting volunteer choirs and the relationship between Jewish choral music and Broadway. Attendees will have the opportunity to attend their choice of two hour-long sessions during the afternoon, following which a light, Glatt Kosher buffet will be served. In addition to the Jewish People's Philharmonic Chorus, the evening program, which begins at 7:30 p.m., will feature performances by the M'kor Shalom Chorale of Cherry Hill, conducted by Cantor Anita Hochman, and by Nashirah, a newly-formed, auditioned chorus conducted by Robert Ross. Participants are encouraged to attend the full-day event, but an afternoon-only option is available. Tickets for the concert, alone, may also be purchased. Discounts are available for seniors and students. For further information, contact the Tyson Music Department at Gratz College, 215-635-7300, or e-mail ZamirFdn@aol.com

"Di Tsvey" ("The Duo")

Steven Greenman, violin and Pete Rushefsky, tsimbl (cimbalom/hammered dulcimer) Thursday, March 4, 8:15 PM Ford Hall-- Whalen Center Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY Visiting guest recital by world-renowned klezmer violinist Steven Greenman and tsimbl (cimbalom / hammered dulcimer) player Pete Rushefsky playing a program of original and rarely heard klezmer pieces.

STEVEN GREENMAN Violinist Recognized internationally as one of the finest practitioners of traditional East European Jewish Klezmer violin, Steven Greenman is a seasoned performer of "Klezmer" music as well as a serious composer of traditional Klezmer music, a teacher, musical arranger and lecturer. His current project, "The Dream of Stempenyu" involves a CD recording of his own original Jewish and Klezmer violin compositions, a series of concerts of the music and a future publication of the material. One of the first American born klezmer violinists to create a program and performance style based entirely on the repertoire of European Klezmer violin music, Steven co-founded the Khevrisa ensemble together with the cimbalist, Walter Zev Feldman in 1998. Steven has performed internationally with Khevrisa and other notable klezmer ensembles such as the Klezmatics, Budowitz, the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band and Kapelye. His own ensemble, the Steven Greenman Klezmer Ensemble is dedicated to performing his o! wn compositions and the transitional Jewish/Moldavian Klezmer repertoire. As a teacher of Klezmer music Steven received a grant to be the first recipient of the Louis E. Emsheimer Memorial Artist in Residence Program in Cleveland, Ohio (2002) for which he lead Klezmer workshops for classical string players and lectured on Klezmer music. He has taught Klezmer violin and led string ensembles at the KlezKanada festival, Living Traditions� KlezKamp, and KlezFest London. Working with educators Mitchell Korn and Amy McClellan of the Cleveland Orchestra educational department�s "Learning Through Music" program Steven was selected as a "Teaching Artist" and developed a children�s program combining story telling and klezmer music. Steven has collaborated with New York dancer/choreographer David Dorfman and the Cleveland State Dance ensemble as musical director in Dorfman�s "Moving Histories", a modern dance piece dealing with Jewish identity, and performed with members of the Klezmatics in their 1997 performance of Tony Kushner�s adaptation of S. Ansky�s "Dybbuk." Steven has lectured and performed at the Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow, Poland and has been a regular performer with various ensembles at Toronto�s Ashkenaz-A Festival of New Yiddish Culture. In addition to his involvement with Klezmer music Steven is an accomplished performer of urban Gypsy violin styles, in particular, Hungarian "Nota", Romanian "Lautari" music and Slovak folk music. Steven has devoted his life to the study of these styles learning East-European violin style and ornamentation from professional Gypsy and folk musicians from Slovakia, Romania, the Ukraine and Hungary in addition to transcribing and arranging hundreds of tunes. As a concert soloist, Steven has been a regular guest soloist with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra performing his own arrangements of traditional East European Gypsy violin music. Steven will be featured on a forthcoming CD of urban Romanian Gypsy violin music together with the cimbalist, Alexander Fedoriouk. As a classical violinist Steven received both his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Violin Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music studying with Linda Sharon Cerone, Dr. Eugene Gratovich and the l! ate Bernhard Goldshmidt. Steven has also performed as a member of the Canton and Akron Symphony Orchestras and has participated in the National Repertory Orchestra, the National Orchestral Institute and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Steven is lead performer, producer and the composer of the music of his upcoming Klezmer violin CD project, "The Dream of Stempenyu". Together with Walter Zev Feldman, Steven co-produced and is featured on the recording Khevrisa-European Klezmer Music on the Smithsonian Folkways label. Steven is also featured on the following recordings: Budowitz� "Mother Tongue"; as violinist and musical producer/arranger with Yiddish vocalist Lori Cahan-Simon with "Songs My Bubbe Should Have Taught Me" (Vol. 1) and lead violinist on "Vessel of Song-The Music of Mikhl Gelbart". In addition Steven has recorded with Alicia Svigals and with "The Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band". PETE RUSHEFSKY Tsimblist Pete Rushefsky (tsimbl) is a leading revivalist of the tsimbl, or Jewish hammered dulcimer. He performs with some of the finest practitioners of traditional Yiddish and klezmer music including Steven Greenman, Rebecca Kaplan, Joel Rubin and Alicia Svigals. He won much critical acclaim for his CD with violinist Elie Rosenblatt entitled "Tsimbl un Fidl: Klezmer Music for Hammered Dulcimer & Violin" (Hatikvah Music) and he appears with Michael Alpert and Deborah Strauss on Yiddish poet/songwriter Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman's CD "Af di gasn fun der shtot - On the Streets of the City" (Yiddishland Records). His upcoming Yiddishland Records release with Rebecca Kaplan is entitled "Oyf di vegelekh / On the Paths: Yiddish Songs with Tsimbl." Pete is also the author of a pioneering instructional book on adapting the American 5-string banjo for klezmer.

Kol Zimra: Chant Leader's Training

Held at ELAT CHAYYIM in 99 Mill Hook Road, Accord, New York, starting August 2-8, 2004... If you are one of the many people who have been moved and transformed by Rabbi Shefa Gold's chanting practice and if you are a healer, teacher, artist or spiritual leader in your community, here is your chance to cultivate the inner qualities and learn the practical techniques that will enable you to bring that joy and meaning to others...not to mention the abundant blessings it will bring to your own spiritual life. Please feel free to pass this information on to others who might benefit from it.