Article on the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir
Eva Broman spotted this article on Canada's oldest Jewish folk choir:
Since I have understood that several members here are involved with the "Workmen's Circle", I thought you might be interested in this article. You'll need an Acrobat reader to open it, and it takes some time to load if you don't have broadband connection. Leftist, Jewish, and Canadian Identities Voiced in the Repertoire of the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir, 1939-1959, by Benita Wolters-Fredlund, Canadian Journal for Traditional Music, 29:04 (2002).
"Abstract: This article focuses on a twenty-year period of the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir during which the ensemble was conducted by Emil Gartner. Considering historical contexts, including political pressures and social frameworks, the author shows how repertoire choices were linked to overlapping patterns of identify, notably the choir as a voice for progressive political ideas, as a Jewish community group, and as a player in the emerging multicultural Canadian fabric."