2009 Festival Overview
Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 11:59 PM
24th JEWISH MUSIC FESTIVAL March 21-April 2, 2009
Concerts throughout the Bay Area
A program of the Jewish Community Center of the East Bay
800-838-3006 or www.jewishmusicfestival.org
TICKETS NOW ON SALE!
Group discounts, 510-848-0237, 148
Download the full color Poster/Brochure PDF:
BLOCH PARTY! A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF ERNEST BLOCH
Leading 20th century Swiss-American Jewish composer Ernest Bloch ((1880-1959) lived for twenty years in the Bay Area, teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory and UC Berkeley and composing some of his most evocative works. This year, we present two special events to commemorate his 50th yahrzeit (anniversary of his death)
Sunday, March 8, 4:00 pm Festival forshpeis (appetizer)
The Bridge Players
Formed in 2001 by violinist Randall Weiss, this San Francisco chamber music ensemble presents
Bloch Piano Quintet No.1 and Violin Sonata No.1. The program also includes Darius Milhaud’s Sonata No. 1 for viola and piano. Co-sponsored with Congregation Sha’ar Zahav
Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, 290 Dolores Street, San Francisco
$20 general. Tickets: 415-861-6932, x304 or shaun@shaarzahav.org
Sunday, March 22, 2:00 pm Young People’s Symphony Orchestra (YPSO), highlighting the music of Ernst Bloch with special guest, cellist Bonnie Hampton, soloist.
California’s oldest youth orchestra includes more than one hundred young musicians and an alumni roster of many distinguished musicians, including cellist Bonnie Hampton. A student of Pablo Casals and currently a professor at Juilliard, Ms. Hampton will perform Bloch’s Schelomo. Violinist Jeremy Cohen, a student of Itzhak Perlman, will also perform a klezmer concerto by Berkeley composer Arkadi Serper. Pianist Chloe Pang, 17, whose Carnegie Hall debut was nationally televised on PBS two years ago, will play Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
Castro Valley Arts Center, 19501 Redwood Road, Castro Valley
$15 students / seniors
$20 general
24TH JEWISH MUSIC FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT Saturday, March 21, 8:00 pm,
Kosher Gospel featuring Joshua Nelson & Special Guests, the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir
Grammy-nominated Joshua Nelson sings with a voice that recalls Mahalia Jackson and counts Oprah Winfrey and Maya Angelou among his biggest fans. He has sung with Wynton Marsalis, Aretha Franklin, and The Klezmatics. This extraordinary “Prince of Kosher Gospel” combines African-American spiritual styles with Jewish liturgical music. Special guests, the renowned Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, directed by Terrance Kelly open the evening Presented in association with the Progressive Jewish Alliance. Co-sponsored by Forest Creatures Entertainment and Leonard Kurz in memory of Ursula Sherman, and First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison Street, Oakland
$24 students/ seniors/ JCC members
$28 general
Sunday, March 22, 2:00 pm:
Young People’s Symphony Orchestra (YPSO), highlighting Ernst Bloch’s Schelomo, with Bonnie Hampton, soloist. SEE BLOCH PARTY ABOVE
Monday, March 23, 8:00 pm & 10:00 pm
Andy Statman Trio
Andy Statman brilliantly and unpredictably weaves bluegrass, American roots, and avant-garde jazz with klezmer and Hasidic nigunim, to name a few. No single style is safe when he takes off for new galaxies. “[This] clarinet and mandolin virtuoso is an American visionary…” The New Yorker
Yoshi’s San Francisco, 1330 Fillmore Street
Info and Tix: 415-655-5600
Wednesday, March 25:
An Evening with Flory Jagoda: Conversation, Memories and Songs from Bosnia
Recipient of an NEA National Heritage Fellow award, Jagoda was born into a singing family in the Sephardic community in Sarajevo, more than eighty years ago. Her repertoire and original compositions, such as the popular Chanukah song Ocho Kandelikas, continue to enrich the Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) heritage. JCC East Bay Presented in association with Lehrhaus Judaica
$16 students/ seniors / JCC members
$20 general
Thursday, March 26, 1:00 pm MATINEE
Di Goldene Pave: Yiddish Muse and Mystery
Toronto-based native Yiddish singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Lenka Lichtenberg joins the fiercely talented clarinetist Kinneret Sagee in an intimate duet format. Featuring new Yiddish songs and old favorites.
JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley
$12 students/ seniors/ JCC members
$15 general
Thursday, March 26, 6:00 pm
Di Goldene Pave: Yiddish Muse and Mystery
See program above.
San Francisco Public Library, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin Street (at Grove), San Francisco
FREE
Thursday, March 26, 9:00 pm
AMERICAN PREMIERE AND CD RELEASE PARTY Daniel Kahn and The Painted Bird with Beatboxer Yuri Lane
Direct from Germany, and driven by Detroit-born Daniel Kahn, the group’s second CD Partisans and Parasites is an explosive mix of klezmer, radical Yiddish song, political cabaret and punk folk. “Kahn writes like the rainy ghost of Woody Guthrie hitched a ride with Tom Waits to New Orleans, spilling accordions, ukuleles, busted pianos, and broken dreams all over the road from Brooklyn to the bayou.” –Detroit Metro Times. With Yuri Lane, pioneer of the art of Beatbox Theater, known nationally for his one man hip-hop play “From Tel Aviv to Ramallah” Presented in partnership with the Hub at the JCCSF
A Project of the JCC Cultural Collaboration
Rickshaw Stop Club, 155 Fell Street, San Francisco
$12 students/ seniors/ JCC members
$14 general
Thursday, April 2, 8:00 pm
Program repeats
Congregation Beth Am
26790 Arastradero Rd
Los Altos Hills
Price tbd
Saturday, March 28, 8:00 pm
WEST COAST PREMIERE The Sisters of Sheynville and Gaucho
Inspired by the legendary Barry Sisters of the ‘30s and ‘40s, Canada’s Premier All-Female Swing-Klez Sextet was voted that country’s top folk vocal group in 2008. Their Yiddish airtight three and four part vocal harmonies positively sizzle with seduction. The local darling Gaucho ensemble opens, treading in the footsteps of legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt. Presented in association with the Eugene & Elinor Friend Center for the Arts, JCCSF
JCCSF, 3200 California Street, San Francisco
$18 students / $24 JCC member / seniors; $28 general
Sunday, March 29, 2:00 pm
COMMUNITY MUSIC AND DANCE PARTY WITH BRASS MENAŽERI, YURI LANE, MEMBERS OF PAINTED BIRD AND SISTERS OF SHEYNVILLE AND MORE
Children’s concert with Elana Jagoda, Instrument Petting Zoo, workshops and performances with Dan Kahn and members of the Painted Bird and Sisters of Sheynville. The Bay Area’s award-winning, powerhouse Balkan/klezmer brass band closes out this year’s festival with their wild rhythms, soulful vocals & hot improvisations. The energy is infectious—toes tap, bodies slam, sweat flies as vital energy radiates from the dance floor. Dance instruction with Jewish dance specialist Bruce Bierman. Co-sponsored by the San Francisco Foundation and the Gottesman Family. Presented in association with Freight and Salvage Coffee House
JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley
$20 family up to two adults and two children
$7 students / JCC members
$10 general
RELATED EVENTS
Saturday, March 7, 9:00 pm Slavic Soul Party!
Hub Purim Masquerade
A fiery Balkan brass band with hip-grinding American grooves. Presented in Partnership with The Hub of the JCCSF and The Hornucopia Festival
Mighty, 119 Utah Street, San Francisco
Friday, March 13, 7:30 pm Shir Hashirim
Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Mizrahi musical liturgy
JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, 510-848-0237
Friday March 28, 8:30 pm. A Musical Shabbat
with Yiddish singer Lenka Lichtenberg
Temple Beth Sholom, 642, San Leandro, 510-357-8505
April 22, 9:00 pm & 11:00 pm Third World Love
Blending African, Middle Eastern and Rock, this jazz quartet features tracks from their album Sketch of Tel Aviv, which commemorates the city’s 100th anniversary. “This band is killer. . .” -The New York Times. Presented in Partnership with the Hub and the Israel Center
Yoshi’s San Francisco, 1330 Fillmore Street, San Francisco
Bloch Party!: The Bridge Players
Sun, Mar 08, 2009 4:00 PM
Leading 20th century Swiss-American Jewish composer Ernest Bloch (1880-1959) lived for several years in the Bay Area, teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory and UC Berkeley and composing some of his most evocative works. This year, we present two special events to commemorate his 50th yahrzeit (anniversary of his death).
Formed in 2001 by violinist Randall Weiss, this San Francisco chamber music ensemble presents Bloch’s Piano Quintet No.1 and Violin Sonata No.1. The program also includes Darius Milhaud’s Sonata No. 1 for Viola and Piano.
Kosher Gospel
Sat, Mar 21, 2009 8:00 PM
Opening Night
Featuring Joshua Nelson & Special Guests, Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir
Bloch Party!: Young People’s Symphony Orchestra
Sun, Mar 22, 2009 2:00 PM
plays Ernest Bloch
Matinee with Special Guests
California’s oldest youth orchestra includes more than one hundred young musicians and a roster of many distinguished alumni…
Andy Statman Trio
Mon, Mar 23, 2009 8:00 PM
Andy Statman brilliantly and unpredictably weaves bluegrass, American roots, and avant-garde jazz with klezmer and Hasidic nigunim to create a transcendent style all his own.
Flory Jagoda and Friends
Wed, Mar 25, 2009 7:30 PM
An NEA National Heritage Fellow, Flory Jagoda was born into a singing family in the Sephardic community of Sarajevo more than eighty years ago. Her repertoire and original compositions, such as the popular Chanukah song Ocho Kandelikas, continue to enrich Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) culture.
Di Goldene Pave: Yiddish Muse and Mystery
Thu, Mar 26, 2009 1:00 PM
Toronto-based Yiddish singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Lenka Lichtenberg joins the fiercely talented clarinetist Kinneret Sagee in an intimate duet format. Featuring new Yiddish songs and old favorites.
The Sisters of Sheynville and Gaucho
Sat, Mar 28, 2009 8:00 PM
Inspired by the legendary Barry Sisters of the 1930s and 1940s, this all-female Swing-Klez sextet was voted Canada’s top folk vocal group in 2008…
Family Music Day & Finale Dance Party
Sun, Mar 29, 2009 11:00 AM
Activities throughout the day:
11:00am Family Music Day Children’s concert
4:00pm Finale Dance Party with Brass Menažeri
Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird
Thu, Apr 02, 2009 8:00 PM
Direct from Berlin, Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird’s second CD Partisans & Parasites is an explosive mix of klezmer, radical Yiddish song, political cabaret and punk folk. Thursday the 26th of March features Beatboxer Yuri Lane!
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