Dan Plonsey's Bar Mitzvah
The 25th Jewish Music Festival invites you to share our joy as our friend Dan Plonsey becomes a Bar Mitzvah!
Thanks to a generous matching grant of $7,500 from The East Bay Community Foundation’s Fund for Artists, the JMF commissioned a new multimedia piece by Bay Area composer Dan Plonsey and choreographer Eric Kupers to premiere as part of our silver anniversary season. Thanks to your love of the arts and willingness to give, we have reached our goal.
Save the Date: July 11, 2010 and come celebrate Dan Plonsey’s Bar Mitzvah
Dan Plonsey’s Bar Mitzvah asks what it means to become an adult in today’s world. Through humor and parody, music, dance and theater, the work will explore how we are both prepared for and protected from the knowledge and surprises of adult life. This composition will be performed by Dan’s ensemble, Daniel Popsicle and joined by Eric and members of Dandelion Dancetheater.
A composer and sax player, Dan Plonsey has written music for the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Toychestra & Fred Frith, Santa Cruz New Music Works and the Berkeley Symphony, as well as for his own ensembles. He has performed and recorded with Anthony Braxton, Eugene Chadbourne and Tom Waits, but more frequently with local greats John Schott, John Shiurba, Robert Horton and many others. Most recently, He composed the music for a new opera, Leave Me Alone, with libretto by Harvey Pekar of American Splendor fame, which premiered at Oberlin College in January 2009.
Eric Kupers has co-directed, choreographed, and performed with Dandelion Dancetheater since its inception and formerly worked with Della Davidson and Margaret Jenkins. He teaches at Cal State University East Bay and is an artist-in-residence at ODC Theater in San Francisco. Eric has received many grants and commissions, including for Dancing in the Streets/NYC, and projects by John Killacky, California Shakespeare Festival, and Highland Summer Theatre.
Please make checks payable to the Jewish Music Festival, Attn: Dan Plonsey’s Bar Mitzvah, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA, 94709. Donations can be made online here or by calling 510.848.0237 ×126.
