Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Jewish music, including klezmer and other traditions.
Music
The Latest
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The Schmooze Leonard Bernstein Sculpture Unveiled at Tanglewood
(JTA) — A bronze sculpture of Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), one of the last century’s towering musical figures, was unveiled last week at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). The sculpture, by artist Penelope Jencks, is the second in a series planned depicting Tanglewood’s most iconic music figures, according to a statement…
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The Schmooze Holocaust Victim, Artist Charlotte Salomon’s Life Premieres as Opera
Photo: Salzburger Festspiele / Ruth Walz (Reuters) — The Berlin-born Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon left behind a body of watercolors and text she called “Life? or Theater?” before she was killed at Auschwitz in 1943 at age 26, carrying her unborn child. Salomon’s life, which has inspired films, plays and a musical, was turned into…
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The Schmooze Sephardic Legend Flory Jagoda Keeps Singing at 90
Photo: Tom Pich Soon after she assumed the makeshift stage during her July 16 performance at the Washington D.C. JCC, Flory Jagoda, 90, lit a candle. “Sephardic women always believed in light, in a candle,” she told the audience of about 125 people. “With these candles,” the Bosnian-born artist sang in Ladino, “We pray to…
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The Schmooze Tommy Ramone, Jewish Punk Icon, Dies at 65
Getty Images As Thomas Erdelyi, he was the Budapest-born son of Holocaust survivors who settled in Forest Hills, Queens. But as Tommy Ramone, he became the leather-jacketed, rhythm-slashing backbone of The Ramones, arguably one of the most influential bands of the late 20th century. Ramone, the last surviving original member of the band, died July…
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Music The Secret Jewish History of Prince
Prince died at the age of 57 on April 21, 2016. In honor of what would have been his 60th birthday, we’re re-reading this very Jewish appreciation. In 1993, at the height of his fame, after selling millions of albums, collecting a closetful of Grammy, Golden Globe and Academy awards, and establishing himself as one…
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The Schmooze Eric Clapton Headlines Auschwitz Music Festival
Eric Clapton headlined the fifth annual Life Festival in Oswiecim, Poland late this month. Yes, you read that right. Eric Clapton just played Auschwitz. Well, kind of. The Oswiecim Life Festival started in 2010, and was created by Darek Maciborek, a radio DJ, who wanted to change the negative associations brought up by his hometown….
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Culture Hey Baby, It’s the 4th Of Jew-ly!
When it comes to popular patriotic American songs written by Jews, “God Bless America” by Irving Berlin certainly stands at the top of the list; it isn’t, on the other hand, particularly festive. If you want to soundtrack your Fourth of July cookout with tunes by Jewish artists that are appropriately star-spangled, and haven’t already…
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Breaking News Rabbi-Produced Ugandan CD Wins Music Award
“Delicious Peace,” a CD of original Ugandan songs produced by the longtime Hillel director at Tufts University, won best world traditional album at the Independent Music Awards. The CD produced by Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, an ethnomusicologist and a research professor of music at the Boston-area school, features songs about coffee and religious unity. The 13th…
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