| ARTISTIC DIRECTOR’S NOTE |  |
NOVEMBER 2013 | ||
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 Support the JMI and enjoy the many benefits by becoming a FRIEND FOR MORE INFO Visit our website for more news and info... |
| UKJFF & JMI: Broadway Musical's: A Jewish Legacy | |
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Over the fifty-year period of the development of the Broadway musical, the songs were created almost exclusively by Jewish Americans. This UK Premiere of this riveting, toe-tapping film features interviews with some of the greatest composers and writers of the Broadway stage, including Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, George and Ira Gershwin, Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers, Kurt Weill and Jules Styne. At this special UK Premiere of Michael Kantor's film, we are delighted to be joined by our President Lord Grade after the film, who will be joined in conversation by Mark Lawson on the Cinema 1 stage. In this exciting second year of working with UKJFF we interviewed the festival's Managing Director Michael Etherton for our radio show here |
Event information Date: 13 Nov Time: 6.15pm Venue: Barbican Price: Various  |
| Westminister Abbey: 75th Kristallnacht Remembrance Service | |
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 Kristallnacht, also known as the Night of Broken Glass, was a series of coordinated attacks carried out by paramilitaries and civilians against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9th and 10th November 1938. The attacks left the streets covered with broken glass from the windows of Jewish-owned stores, buildings and synagogues. Westminster Abbey will hold a Service of Solemn Remembrance and Hope on the 75th Anniversary of Kristallnacht on Sunday 10th November 2013 at 6.30pm. The Abbey service will feature personal testimonies and readings and music from the choirs of London synagogues. |
Event information Date: Sun 10 Nov Time: 6.30pm Venue: Westminister Abbey Price: Free / Ticketed |
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| Joe Loss Lecture Series at SOAS | |
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Dr Abigail Wood has been the Joe Loss Lecturer in Jewish Music at SOAS since 2006. She specialises in contemporary Yiddish song and Klezmer, music among minority and immigrant communities in Israel and the relationship between music and religion. In this lecture, via musical examples and historical discussion, Dr Abigail Wood will explore why, in recent years, Yiddish song has become a potent medium for musical and ideological creativity among a generation of musicians far removed from Eastern Europe. Discounted copies of the book will be for sale at the launch. This is the official book launch of this publication in the SOAS Musicology Series and there will be a book signing and a reception after the lecture. This is a free event but it would be very helpful is you would please register your interest with our office via the event page on our website. If you would like to hear a preview of the lecture, you can listen to her being interviewed on our podcast here |
Lecture details Date: Wed 20 Nov Time: 7-830pm Venue: G52 Lecture Theatre, Russell Sq, SOAS Price: FREE |
| JW3: Monooka and Friends / Zingt! | |
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Our musical programs at JW3 continue at JW3Music with Monooka and Friends Specially commissioned by JMI and JW3 to introduce the youngest members of our community to the magic of live music and performance. It will inspire them to listen, learn and interact. Each Friday morning, Monooka, her puppet friends Micah and Maya, and her trusty guitar bring a traditional Jewish folk story to life through music and song. More details can be found here. Book in advance or drop in on the day. Zingt! The People's Yiddish Chorus JMI has partnered with JW3 to bring you our all new Yiddish choir, exploring traditional songs in this thousand year old language. Embark on an inspiring journey, learning to sing in Yiddish and breathing life back into a fascinating fading language and a rich musical genre. You will learn a wide variety of traditional songs from lullabies and folk ballads to protest songs and Shabbat prayers, as well as wordless nigunim. Led by Polina Skovoroda-Shepherd, renowned Yiddish singer, performer and choirmaster, this group is open to all. More details can be found here |
| Sholem Aleykhem, Comrade! | |
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Music and words portraying Jewish life in revolutionary times.Music, literature and political activism were woven through Jewish life in Russia and Eastern Europe before and after the revolution. The London Klezmer Quartet together with Julia Bard and David Rosenberg of Jewish Socialist magazine present an evening of music, poetry and prose drawn from this cultural and political treasure trove. If you would like to hear both Ilana Cravitz and David Rosenberg talk about the event the please listen to the podcast here |
Event Info Date: Thu 7 Nov Time: 7.15-9pm Venue: DLT, SOAS, Russell Square Price: £10/£5 |
| DER NAYER KLANG | |
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Our vocal workshop ‘Der Nayer Klang‘ focuses on the two major strands of the Jewish Eastern European vocal tradition. The first workshop of each month will explore lesser known songs from the Yiddish folk, contemporary and art song traditions. The second workshop of each month will focus on the voice as a tool for inner reflection via the medium of Chassidic Niggunim (wordless melodies). Come and discover the captivating charm of the Yiddish song through exploring cultural, linguistic and musical narratives of Jewish Eastern Europe. Der Nayer Klang will be led by Rachel Weston, one of the UK’s leading Yiddish song experts. She graduated last year from SOAS with a Masters in Ethnomusicology. Workshops will run bi-monthly throughout term time at SOAS Vernon Square. |
Course Info Date: 6/20 Nov Time: 7-9pm Venue: Room VG01 SOAS, Vernon Square Price: £8/£6 conc. |
| SUITCASE 1938 | |
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Seventy-five years on from the first arrival of the Kindertransport in Britain, the concourses and platforms of stations across the country will burst into life with Suitcase, an original mix of site-specific promenade theatre and music which marks this anniversary. Suitcase reflects the stories of those who were there. From the 12th November to 2nd December, 'Suitcase 1938' will travel station to station around the country bringing that story to resonate out from stations into 21st Century Britain. A special performance will take place on the 1st December at Liverpool Street station where JMI's Artistic director, violinist Sophie Solomon, cellist Francesca Ter-Berg and singer Sam Lee will perform at this event and we will bring you more information on that in our next newsletter. To hear Suitcase's Executive Director Jane Merkin and Artistic Director Max Reinhardt in interview then listen to our podcast preview here |
Suitcase Date: 12 Nov - 2 Dec Venue: Across the UK Price: Free / Donations |
| JMI'S TOP PICKS | |
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 Tcha Limberger UK Tour Date: 21-25 Nov This is a rare opportunity to hear one of Europe's most talented violinists in the UK. With Tcha Limberger's Kalotaszeg Trio the music of the Transylvanian villages will bring Laments, Csardas and Szaporas from this region. Heralded by the Observer as; "Tcha Limberger seems to be made entirely of music", this violinist is one of the most prominent and important figures in the folk of the Carpathian basin and through his playing the cross-communal nature of the music of the Klezmorim and Tsigane of the past can be heard again. All details of this five date UK tour can be found here Balkan Beat Box Date: 1 Nov The bombastic and upfront sound of New York-Israeli band Balkan Beat Box returns to the UK for one last UK date at Boomtown Fair, Bristol. All details can be found at their website here The Jerusalem Quartet Date: 12, 14, 17 Nov The ensemble arrives at Wigmore Hall in November to begin a season-long exploration of the Russian composer’s fifteen string quartets. In these intimate works, Shostakovich felt free to reveal aspects of his personality, autobiographical ruminations and musical ideas that would have fallen foul of Soviet dogma if paraded in compositions of a more ‘public’ nature. For more details please visit here Daphna Sadeh and The Voyagers Date: 13 Nov Israeli bassist Daphna Sadeh was schooled in Jerusalem and Manhattan, recorded on John Zorn's Tsadik label and composed a major new commission in conjunction with the Academy of Ancient Music. A regular on the London Jazz scene and the world music festival circuit, she is joined by some of the best players in the UK. Ivor Goldberg (Shir), Guy Schalom (Baladi Blues) and Stewart Curtis (K-groove) being some of the star players. This event takes place at Cambridge's West Road Concert Hall and tickets are available here David Greilsammer and The Geneva Camerata Date: 22 Nov The brilliant and virtuoso mandolin player Avi Avital will be joined by David Greilsammer who will conduct some flamboyant works written by various members of the Bach family. More details on the event at Kings Place, London can be found here |
| JMI Radio | |
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This month's radio show brings you Bukhari Jewish music from The Alaev Family. As well as an interview with Dr Abigail Wood (JMI Joe Loss Lecturer, SOAS), Jane Merkin and Max Reinhardt of 'Suitcase 1938' are interviewed about their resonant Kinderstransport commemorative production and we look forward to 'Sholem Aleykhem Comrade' and celebrate the co-working of the UKJFF-JMI partnership. All the podcasts and whole show can be found here |