Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Jewish music, including klezmer and other traditions.
Music
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The Schmooze Jerusalem Chamber Festival Fills Gap in Berlin
Photo: Monika Rittershaus This past weekend saw the third installment of the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival at the Berlin Jewish Museum. The brainchild of Russian pianist Elena Bashkirova, the festival comprised over 40 musical pieces spread over six very full concert programs, featuring an enviable array of international musical talent, including many Israeli performers….
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The Schmooze Reform and Conservative Come Together in Song
When 31 students from Jewish Theological Seminary’s H.L. Miller Cantorial School and Hebrew Union College’s Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music perform together on May 4, the concert will be the first interdenominational collaboration of this sort that David Tilman can remember. Years ago, there were “very significant” differences between the Conservative and Reform movements,…
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The Schmooze VIDEO: Jazz Genius in the City of Light
A friend of klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer recently stumbled on a mention of Behcet’s Syndrome, a medical disorder involving inflammation of the blood vessels. He joked that Krakauer seems to be suffering from Bechet’s Syndrome, an obsession with the American reeds player Sidney Bechet, who received great acclaim in the late 1940s. Krakauer has let…
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The Schmooze Forgotten Songwriter of ‘Twist and Shout’
“Twist and Shout.” “Under the Boardwalk.” “Piece of My Heart.” “Brown-Eyed Girl.” The songs are recognized almost everywhere. But their Jewish creator, Bert Berns, has nearly vanished into obscurity. That should change this year, with a book, documentary, and stage musical — all inspired by Berns and his music. April 15 sees the release of…
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The Schmooze Chicago Concert Brings Interfaith Music Together
“This sanctuary is the most religiously diverse place in this great city,” said Michael Siegel, the rabbi of Anshe Emet, a Conservative synagogue in Chicago. If that sounds like crowing, consider that conspicuous among the attendees of the synagogue’s April 6 “Sounds of Faith” concert were kippas, Greek Orthodox vestments, and headscarves. The program, which…
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The Schmooze Podcast: The Best Hasidic Composer in Brooklyn
Over the past 200 years, the Modzitzer hasidim have become known for their beautiful melodies, or nigunim. Thousands of them, in fact. Today, 88 year-old Ben Zion Shenker is one of the most prolific, and respected, Modzitzer composers. For his latest album, “Hallel V’zimrah,” he teamed up with klezmer and bluegrass virtuoso Andy Statman. The…
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Culture How the Son of German and Polish Jews Became the ‘Starchild’ of KISS
● Face The Music: A Life Exposed By Paul Stanley HarperOne, 480 pages, $28.99 I’ll admit that I was a little late to the KISS party. In the mid-1970s, while most of my elementary school friends were cranking “Destroyer” and ooh-ing and ah-ing over the photo booklets from “Alive!” and “Alive II,” I was gravitating…
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Life Throwback Thursday: Pianist Myra Hess
Forward Association Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly photo feature in which we sift 116 years of Forward history to find snapshots of women’s lives. Though acclaimed for her interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann, Myra Hess, born in 1890, achieved artistic heroine status for her deep and abiding faith that art and music must…
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