Concerts are at the core of our activitiy. Our concert committee, headed by Board Member Hadassah Markson, continues to assemble wonderful performances which are presented at the Center for Jewish History in New York City. ASJM’s annual Hanukkah Concert, co-sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society, has repeatedly sold out. The “Music in Our Time” series, which features Jewish-themed music, has become an important forum for the music of contemporary and living composers. In May 2010, the concert committee presented its first commissioned work, a premiere of a new composition by the noted jazz pianist Dick Hyman entitled Biblical Chants: Variations and Improvisations on “Song of the Sea.” Performed by Mr. Hyman the Emmy-award winning singer-actress-director Ellen Gould, and renowned jazz clarinetist Ken Peplowski, the piece was structured on several cantillation motifs which were used as the basis for live improvisation by the performers. The concert was supported by the Maldeb Foundation and Cantor Nathaniel Benjamin as well as other generous individuals.
In addition to our annual Hanukkah and contemporary music concerts, in the last two seasons the American Society for Jewish Music has expanded its concert offerings with several notable events. In November 2008, with generous funding from board member Rosalind Devon and her friend Sanford Batkin, and the cooperation of Carnegie Hall, the Society participated in the city-wide 90th birthday of Leonard Bernstein – The Best of All Possible Worlds[MK1] . A lecture entitled “Leonard Bernstein: The Jewish Legacy,” written and narrated by Jack Gottlieb, Bernstein’s long-time editor, was given a few weeks earlier at the Jewish Museum. Both performances were sold out.
In January 2010, ASJM participated in a multidisciplinary “Symposium on Genocide” organized by the Center for Jewish History. For the musical portion of the program soprano Emily Duncan-Brown and pianist Laura Leon performed Hugo Weisgall’s Di Goldene Piave (“The Golden Peacock”), a setting of seven traditional Yiddish folk songs. Dr. Leon introduced the pieces from the stage and explained how these songs were an important part of the composer’s response to the Holocaust in general, and the resulting loss of the Yiddish language and culture in particular. Their moving performance culminated the day’s activities.
Continuing to encourage Jewish choral music, especially choral music written for the synagogue, in March 2010, the Society presented the combined choirs of the Jewish Theological Seminary (Hazzan Joann Rice, conductor) and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Music (Joyce Rosenzweig, conductor) in a spirited and inspiring performance at the Center.
In addition to performances at the Center, the American Society for Jewish Music has helped support and promote two recitals sponsored by the Jewish Theological Seminary. In November 2009, a program organized by Dr. Eliott Kahn, featuring pianist Jascha Nemtsov and others playing the music of the St. Petersburg School resulted in the initiation of the St. Petersburg Score Project (see below). This spring ASJM helped support and promote a program at JTS organized by a previous presenter at a session of the Jewish Music Forum, Dr. Tina Frühauf, entitled Remembrance and Renewal: Chamber Music by German Jewish Composers (May 10, 2010), featuring music that was selected from the JTS archives.
In addition to our annual Hanukkah and contemporary music concerts, in the last two seasons the American Society for Jewish Music has expanded its concert offerings with several notable events. In November 2008, with generous funding from board member Rosalind Devon and her friend Sanford Batkin, and the cooperation of Carnegie Hall, the Society participated in the city-wide 90th birthday of Leonard Bernstein – The Best of All Possible Worlds[MK1] . A lecture entitled “Leonard Bernstein: The Jewish Legacy,” written and narrated by Jack Gottlieb, Bernstein’s long-time editor, was given a few weeks earlier at the Jewish Museum. Both performances were sold out.
In January 2010, ASJM participated in a multidisciplinary “Symposium on Genocide” organized by the Center for Jewish History. For the musical portion of the program soprano Emily Duncan-Brown and pianist Laura Leon performed Hugo Weisgall’s Di Goldene Piave (“The Golden Peacock”), a setting of seven traditional Yiddish folk songs. Dr. Leon introduced the pieces from the stage and explained how these songs were an important part of the composer’s response to the Holocaust in general, and the resulting loss of the Yiddish language and culture in particular. Their moving performance culminated the day’s activities.
Continuing to encourage Jewish choral music, especially choral music written for the synagogue, in March 2010, the Society presented the combined choirs of the Jewish Theological Seminary (Hazzan Joann Rice, conductor) and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Music (Joyce Rosenzweig, conductor) in a spirited and inspiring performance at the Center.
In addition to performances at the Center, the American Society for Jewish Music has helped support and promote two recitals sponsored by the Jewish Theological Seminary. In November 2009, a program organized by Dr. Eliott Kahn, featuring pianist Jascha Nemtsov and others playing the music of the St. Petersburg School resulted in the initiation of the St. Petersburg Score Project (see below). This spring ASJM helped support and promote a program at JTS organized by a previous presenter at a session of the Jewish Music Forum, Dr. Tina Frühauf, entitled Remembrance and Renewal: Chamber Music by German Jewish Composers (May 10, 2010), featuring music that was selected from the JTS archives.
Copyright © 2017 by the American Society for Jewish Music
Site last updated June 6, 2016
Site last updated June 6, 2016