This is the Forward’s coverage of Jewish music, including klezmer and other traditions.
Music
The Latest
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The Schmooze Is Rick Moranis ‘Too Jewish’?
Writing about Rick Moranis required that I remind myself what he’s done. After all, his great comic roles in Mel Brooks’ “Spaceballs” and the first “Ghostbusters” movie are pushing 30. So I sneaked over to YouTube to watch Moranis order his starship to “ludicrous speed,” and in “Ghostbusters” ask, “Okay, who brought the dog?” But…
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Culture The Jewish History of ‘God Bless America’
In what would become an iconic display of mournful resolve after the twin towers fell, members of Congress who had gathered on the steps of the Capitol for a press conference on the evening of September 11, 2001, burst into a spontaneous chorus of “God Bless America.” Like many Americans watching that night, I was…
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The Schmooze Neil Diamond Writes Song for Bombing Victims
Though it doesn’t mention Boston or baseball, Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” is a staple at Red Sox games. In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15, the singer-songwriter went to Fenway Park and sang it live. He subsequently donated royalties from the song to One Fund Boston, the charity started to help…
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The Schmooze Israeli Composer Appointed Cleveland Music Director
Israeli-born composer Avner Dorman has been appointed Music Director of CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, which is set to celebrate its 10th anniversary season. CityMusic Cleveland is a professional chamber orchestra that seeks to develop audiences by presenting free concerts in neighborhood venues. It presents four or five concerts per year and devotes most of its…
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Culture Top 10 Songs About Treyf
Popular music has a long and well-documented tradition of fomenting rebellion and social change, both overtly and covertly. Not as well documented, however, is pop’s embrace and endorsement of that ultimate Jewish dietary taboo: treyf. The consumption of meat, shellfish and other comestibles that do not conform to the laws of kashrut has long been…
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The Schmooze Hundreds Gather for Jewish Choir Festival
Hundreds of singers from across Europe have convened in Vienna for the first European Jewish Choir Festival. The festival will culminate on May 12 in a gala concert titled “Shir LaShalom — A Song for Peace” at the Austria Center Vienna, where 400 vocalists from Jewish choirs from 16 European cities will present their repertoires….
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The Schmooze Philadelphia Honors Grande Dame of Piano
Philadelphia’s classical music-loving community is coming together on May 11 at Centennial Hall in Haverford, Pennsylvania to pay tribute to the achievements of Nelly Berman, a Russian-Jewish immigrant who has touched the lives of hundreds of young music students over the past 30 years. Jonathan Adler, who has been studying piano at the Nelly Berman…
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The Schmooze Avner Dorman’s Unusual ‘Nigunim’
“They told me to go do my thing,” said Avner Dorman about a 2011 commission by pianist Orli Shaham, violinist Gil Shaham and the 92nd Street Y to write a composition for their Hebrew Melodies project. “They wanted something related to their project, but they didn’t want to impose any specific idea on me.” The…
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