March 2nd: Opening Night: The Future of Jewish Music in Poland

Polesye: Jewish Folksongs from the Shtetl

Olga Mieleszczuk: Press Photo | Performer Page

Ittai Binnun: Press Photo | Performer Page

Cookie Segelstein

Press Photo | Performer Page

Josh Horowitz

Press Photo | Performer Page

Shofar: Mikołaj Trzaska (saxophone, bass clarinet), Raphael Rogiński (electric guitar) and Macio Moretti (drums).
Press Photo | Performer Page

March 3rd: Real Vocal String Quartet & True Life Trio

Real Vocal String Quartet

Press Photo | Performer Page | Homepage | Press Kit

True Life Trio

Press Photo | Performer Page | Website

March 5th: Night Songs from a Neighboring Village

Michael Alpert

Press Photo | Performer Page

Julian Kytasty

Press Photo | Performer Page

March 7th: Theodore Bikel, Merima Ključo & Shura Lipovsky

Theodore Bikel

Press Photo | Performer Page

Merima Ključo

Press Photo | Performer Page

Shura Lipovsky

Press Photo | Performer Page

March 9th: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Memorial Concert; Vilna Poems & Akoka

Akoka – The End of Time; Featuring David Krakauer and Matt Haimovitz

Website | Video | Audio Sample

David Krakauer

Press Photo | Performer Page | Website | Press Kit

Matt Haimovitz

Press Photo | Performer Page

David Garner’s Vilna Poems

Featuring soprano Lisa Delan, pianist Kristin Pankonin, cellist Matt Haimovitz, and clarinetist David Krakauer

Lisa Delan

Press Photo | Performer Page

Kristin Pankonin

Press Photo | Performer Page

March 12: An-ski Expedition at 100

S. An-ski

Press Photo | Bio

Michael Alpert

Press Photo | Performer Page

28th ANNUAL JEWISH MUSIC FESTIVAL MARCH 2-12

NEW AND TRADITIONAL JEWISH MUSIC OF POLAND HIGHLIGHT ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF JEWISH LIFE AND LEGACY
ARTISTS INCLUDE THEODORE BIKEL, DAVID KRAKAUER, MATT HAIMOVITZ, SHURA LIPOVSKY, THE WEST COAST DEBUTS OF SHOFAR AND POLESYE, THE WORLD PREMIERE OF DAVID GARNER’S VILNA POEMS AND MORE

Berkeley, CA, January 15 2013 – Folk music, jazz and contemporary classical music drawing attention to a thousand years of Jewish life and legacy in Poland will be the focus of the 28th Jewish Music Festival, scheduled March 2-12 in Berkeley and San Francisco.

Festival Director Eleanor Shapiro has announced an impressive array of artists including Theodore Bikel, David Krakauer, Matt Haimovitz, European Yiddish diva Shura Lipovsky, the world premiere of Bay Area composer David Garner’s Vilna Poems, the West Coast debuts of the Polish ensembles Shofar and Polesye, and more in nine performances. A complete schedule and details may be found at www.jewishmusicfestival.org.

Festival director Shapiro explains that “we are focusing on Jewish music from Poland to highlight a thousand years of Jewish life, a history which includes the roots of most Jewish Americans. The murder of more than 90 percent of Poland’s Jewish population in the Holocaust ruptured that continuity within living memory.

“We are at an incredible moment now where the post-Communist generation in Poland wants to know more about the country’s Jewish past, and Jewish Americans have also begun to explore their families’ Polish histories. Music offers a compelling and universal gateway into Polish Jewish history remembered as traumatic by people of both backgrounds.”

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