The Misha & Sonia Yablon Cultural Foundation
 

	K-Mozart is the official radio station of the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony.
This project is supported in part, by the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles

AUGUST 21, 2005
LOS ANGELES JEWISH SYMPHONY PERFORMS AT THE FORD AMPHITHEATRE
AS PART OF THE 350 YEARS OF JEWISH LIFE IN AMERICA CELEBRATION

     The Los Angeles Jewish Symphony program will celebrate 350 Years of Jewish Life and Music in America and feature the contributions of Jews to the American musical scene. The concert will be held on August 21,
2005 at the John Anson Ford Theatre in Hollywood, as part of a year-long series of programs initiated by Jewish organizations nationwide. The concert will recall through music the journeys that brought Jews to America from every corner of the earth - Jews of diverse backgrounds who fled oppression and embraced opportunity, who escaped persecution and found freedom.

     The concert will showcase music that has its roots in Eastern Europe (Klezmer Yiddish), Russia, and Mediterranean countries such as Greece, Morocco, and Yemen. We are delighted to present in the first half of the concert Russian singing sensation Svetlana Portnyansky who will sing Yiddish selections, a Hebrew Prayer and a Russian song; and Barry Gold, the LAJS's principal cellist and member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Barry will perform a cello concerto by American composer Joel Hoffman, titled "Self Portrait with Gebirtig," which is based on themes by famous Yiddish composer Mordecai Gebirtig. This work shows the Eastern European influence of Klezmer and Yiddish. The first half starts with a performance of the piece, "Like Streams in the Desert" by Meira Warshauer, based on Sephardic themes.

     After intermission, the concert will continue with the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music artist Cantor Meir Finkelstein, accompanied by the orchestra. Cantor Finkelstein will sing traditional Cantorial music as well as his own pieces which have shaped the contemporary Jewish American prayer service. His repertoire will also include
selections made famous by celebrated opera singer and Cantor, Jan Peerce.

     To engage and inform the audience during the Concert, Artistic Director/Conductor Dr. Noreen Green will talk with the audience about the many contributions to the repertoire made by Jewish/American composers.

     If you would like to receive information about the concert or purchasing tickets, please call 818-728-1923 or e-mail us at lajs1@earthlink.net.

Tickets are now available for purchase only through the Ford Amphitheatre Box Office.
Please call (323) Go 1-Ford or go to www.FordAmphitheatre.org.  Tickets are priced at $36 and $25.

 

Meir Finkelstein

Svetlana Portnyansky

Barry Gold