21st Berkeley Jewish Music Festival, Berekeley, CA, 4-26 Mar 2006
The 21st Annual Jewish Music Festival
c/o Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center
1414 Walnut Street
Berkeley, California 94709
510-848-0237 x126
www.brjcc.org/jcc/jewish_music_festival.htm
E-mail Berkeley-Richmond Jewish Community Center.
OPENING NIGHT: New Orleans Klezmer All- Stars, a “genre-crossing, heroically nutty ensemble [with] a raucous, wild spin on the popular Eastern European revival." (Billboard) Saturday, March 4, 8:00 pm, First Congregational Church, Oakland
I-Tal-Ya A taste of Passover from the 2000 year old Jewish community of Italy, performed and taught by Francesco Spagnolo, leading authority on Italian Jewish music, Cantor Sharon Bernstein and Michael Alpert. Sunday, March 5, 11:30 am, Caffe Venezia, Berkeley.
Zimriya: The Bay Area Jewish Choral Festival. An annual event featuring choirs of local synagogues as well as Jewish community choirs. If you are interested in participating, please contact your cantors to join their choirs and experience the incredible feeling of singing great music! Sunday, March 5, 5:00 pm, Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco
Septeto Rodriguez Percussionist Roberto Juan Rodriguez and friends bring the influences of Havana, Miami and New York together in a brilliant alchemy of Cuban sounds and klezmer. MC: Chuy Varela: Music Director, KCSM, “the jazz station.” Special Guest: Irving Fields, creator of the now classic, recently re-released Jewish-Latino fusion record, Bagels and Bongos, (1959). Saturday, March 11, 8:00 pm, First Congregational Church, Oakland
Septeto Rodriguez will also appear Sunday, March 12 at the Little Fox Theatre, Redwood City.
Traditions and Transformations Cantors Alberto Mizrahi (of the PBS special “The Three Cantors” and Jack Mendelson (of the film “The Cantor’s Tale) take liturgical singing of Ashkenazi (East European) and Sephardic (Spanish) traditions to new heights. With renowned NY jazz pianist Anthony Coleman. Sunday, March 12, 7:30 pm, Temple Sinai, Oakland
Jewish Fringes Celebrated Bay Area composers of New Music: Paul Dresher, Daniel David Feinsmith, Amy X. Neuburg and John Schott premiere original works inspired by questions of identity in a post-modern world. Co-sponsored by the Kurz Family Foundation in memory of Ursula Sherman. Thursday, March 16, 7:30 pm, Berkeley Repertory Theatre.
Yair Dalal The Middle East meets the Far East when Yair Dalal, one of Israel's most accomplished musicians, collaborates with the renowned Ali Akbar College of Music. Followed by an Israeli-style Purim Party with food, DJ, dancing & costumes. Saturday, March 18, 7:30 pm, Osher Marin JCC, San Rafael
From Istanbul to Jerusalem: Yahudice Sephardic music from an ensemble of Turkey’s finest musicians with Israeli Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) singer Hadass Pal Yarden. In collaboration with Golden Horn Records. Sunday, March 19, 7:30 pm, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman Yiddish songwriter, singer, poet and recipient of the 2005 NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award will appear in an afternoon matinee with Canadian singer Theresa Tova, Thursday, March 23, 2:00 pm, BRJCC
Yiddish Matters: A conversation with Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman and her son, Itzik Gottesman, associate editor of the Yiddish Forward, with Harvey Varga, Bay Area Yiddishist. Thursday evening, March 23, 7:30 pm, JCCSF
Yiddish Divas Cabaret stars Adrienne Cooper, Theresa Tova and Joanne Borts sizzle with the souls of Bessie Tomashevsky, Mollie Picon, Fannie Brice and other Yiddish theater greats who inspired modern Broadway. Saturday, March 25, 8:00 pm, JCCSF
Community Music Day An Instrument Petting Zoo, a dozen interactive workshops, and performances throughout the day showcase high quality local artists. Guaranteed to bring out your inner musician. MC: Renowned Bay Area monologist and TV personality Josh Kornbluth. Sunday, March 26, 12-5 pm, BRJCC