Middle East Harmonies A musical dialogue between Arab and Israeli cultures Concert

The Zamir Chorale of Boston
and Northeastern
University Present
Middle East
Harmonies
A musical dialogue between Arab and Israeli cultures
Concert
Sun April 10, 2011 2PM
Sanders Theatre - Cambridge, MA
Joshua Jacobson, Artistic Director
Performed by the Zamir Chorale of Boston
and original members of Bustan Abraham
Symposium
Mon April 11, 2011 7:30PM
Fenway Center (NU) - Boston, MA
Concert
Intermission
Zamir Chorale of Boston
Fog Elna Khel
Trad. Syrian/Iraqi (arr. Salim Bali)
Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, solo
La Rosa Enflorece
trad. Sephardi (arr. Paul Ben-Haim)
Aval Ahavah
Ahinoam Nini, Gil Dor (arr. Joshua Jacobson)
Lawrence E. and Jill Sandberg, solos
Psalm 121
Akram Haddad
Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, Louise Treitman and Lidiya Yankovskaya, solos
Essa Einai (Psalm 121)
Paul Ben-Haim
Adinu Bi-din Il Hubbi
Sufi (arr. Shireen Abu-Khader and André de Quadros)
Mehmet Ali Sanlikol with Louise Treitman, Kate Judd and Rick Lawrence, solos
There Must Be Another Way
Ahinoam Nini, Mira Awad, Gil Dor (arr. Joshua Jacobson)
Mireille Tannous and Hinda Eisen, solos
Zamir Chorale of Boston with Members of Bustan Abraham
Shedemati Yedidyah Admon (arr. Joshua Jacobson)
Lama Bada Yatathana
trad. Andalusian (arr. Bustan Abraham)
Mireille Tannous, Alison Fields and Rick Lawrence, solos
Zaman Salaam
Amnon Abutbul, Fathi Kasam and Yair Dalal
Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, solo
Edwin Swanborn and Sarah Boling, piano
Takaaki Masuko, percussion
Bruce Creditor, clarinet
Henry Shapiro, guitar
Mireille Tannous and Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, vocalists
The Boston City Singers, Jane Money, Artistic Director
Thank you for turning off all cell phones and pages. Photography and recording of this performance are prohibited.
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Sunday, April 10, 2011 - 2 pm
Selections will be announced from the stage.
Sanders Theatre, Cambridge (Harvard University)
Members of Bustan Abraham
Program Notes
Psalm 121 (sung in Arabic and in Hebrew)
Samuel Huntington wrote about “the clash of civilizations,” but the Middle East Harmonies project
presents another model—the counterpoint of civilizations. Counterpoint can be thought of as the
harmonious coexistence of two dissimilar (musical) ideas. This afternoon we bring together the
musics of people who share a common origin. In an attempt to bypass politics, we are attempting
to create harmony in the only way that we can. Perhaps it will be contagious, perhaps not. But
musicians have an obligation to inspire and to provoke. In the words of Rabbi Tarfon, “You are
not obligated to complete the task, but neither are you free to ignore it.” And in the words of the
Psalmist, “Seek peace and pursue it!”
Akram Haddad is a young Arab Christian composer from Israel. He started his musical path at an
early age playing classical piano and flute, writing music for theatrical plays, and participating in
the Masraheed Festival and the Alternative Festival in Acco. He received his degree in music from
the University of Haifa, Israel, and recently has been studying composition with Prof. Arik Shapira
in Israel and Dr. David Little in New York. He has composed many instrumental and choral works,
which have been performed in the United States, Germany and Israel. He also serves as piano
player and arranger for the “Sawa” choir in Shfaram. Our program begins with three love songs, one in Arabic, one in Ladino (a language of Sephardic
Jews), and one in Hebrew.
Fog Elna Khel (sung in Arabic)
There above, I have an intimate friend.
Is that his cheek that shines, or is it the moon on high?
By G-d, I do not want him; his love troubles me.
Your cheek was shining, my love, lit over Baghdad.
G-d took his time creating you, and was indeed generous.
By G-d, I am taken with him; I don’t know what to do with myself.
O flowing water, by G-d, give my regards to him.
It’s so hard being apart; I do long for my loved one.
By G-d, I do not want him; his love troubles me.
La Rosa Enflorece (sung in Ladino)
The rose blooms in the month of May.
My soul is melancholy, suffering from love.
The nightingales sing, they sigh for love,
and passion is killing me, heightening my pain.
Come more swiftly, dove, come more swiftly to me.
Come more swiftly, O my soul, for I shall die.
Aval Ahavah (sung in Hebrew)
Love
Love I sing I say love Love I hear I give love Morning eyes light love Delicious kiss thanks love Sweet little girl love Sweet big girl love Beautiful new blouse love What a wonderful smell love
Who is knocking at the door
Here for sure love Sometimes I’m afraid but love - Lyrics by Meir Vizeltir, English translation by Noa
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Psalm 121 is sung first in Arabic in a setting by Arab-Israeli composer Akram Haddad, and then in
Hebrew based on a traditional Jewish Persian melody in a setting by the Jewish Israeli composer,
Paul Ben-Haim.
Paul Ben-Haim (1897-1984) was born Paul Frankenburger in Munich. He served as assistant
conductor to Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch at the Munich Opera, and as the conductor of
the Opera of Augsburg. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, Ben-Haim emigrated to Tel Aviv and
there Hebraicized his name to Ben-Haim. Living in the Middle East gave him a new perspective. “I
am of the West by birth and education, but I stem from the East and live in the East. The problem
of synthesis of East and West occupies musicians all over the world. If we—thanks to our living in a
country that forms a bridge between East and West—can provide a modest contribution to such a
synthesis in music, we shall be very happy.”
A song for ascents.
I turn my eyes to the mountains; from where will my help come?
My help comes from the LORD, maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot give way; your guardian will not slumber;
See, the guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps!
The LORD is your guardian, the LORD is your protection at your right hand.
By day the sun will not strike you, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will guard you from all harm; He will guard your life.
The LORD will guard your going and coming now and forever.
Adinu Bi-din Il Hubbi (sung in Arabic)
The text of Adinu is attributed to the Andalusian Moorish Sufi mystic, philosopher, poet, and sage,
Abū ‘Abdillāh Muḥammad ibn ‘Alī ibn Muḥammad ibn `Arabī (1165-1240). Born and brought up in
Spain and travelling widely in Asia Minor, he ended his days in Damascus. Known as “The Greatest
Master,” he believed that love was the dominant existential and universal force. The music of Adinu
is based on a traditional Sufi melody.
I follow the religion of love,
For love is my religion and my faith.
There Must Be Another Way (sung in English, Hebrew and Arabic)
“There Must Be Another Way” was originally performed by Israeli singers Noa (Ahinoam Nini) and
Mira Awad, and was Israel’s entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. Awad, an Arab-Israeli, and
Noa, a Jewish-Israeli, performed it together as a song that emphasizes hope and understanding
through common humanity. The singers describe “There Must Be Another Way” not as a song of
peace, but as a simple call to respect the humanity of others.
There must be another, must be another way.
Your eyes, sister, say everything that my heart desires.
So far, we’ve gone a long way—
such a difficult path, hand in hand.
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And the tears flow, streaming in vain—
a pain without a name.
We’re waiting only for the next day to come.
There must be another way.
Your eyes say a day will come and all fear will disappear.
In your eyes a determination
that there is a possibility to carry on the way
as long as it may take.
For there is no single address for sorrow.
I call out to the heavens, the stubborn heavens:
There must be another way.
We will go a long way (such a difficult path)
together to the light.
Your eyes say all fear will disappear.
And when I cry I cry for both of us;
My pain has no name.
And when I cry, I cry to the merciless sky and say:
There must be another way.
Oh my destiny! My perplexity!
No one can comfort me in my misery,
In my lamenting and suffering for love.
None but you, beautiful one.
Here he comes, trembling, flinching;
the splendor of his beauty stopped our hearts.
This is a my decree; the pain is my fate.
And who will listen, merciful and compassionate?
Who will hear the bitterness in my heart, the moaning of my love,
if not you, beautiful boy?
Yes, only you, beautiful boy,
you will hear my voice, the moaning of my love.
Oh, how bitter is life!
Oh, how bitter it is to live!
Who can feel my sorrow, and my sighs of love?
Who but the owner of my heart, the king of grace and love.
Shedemati (sung in Hebrew)
Zaman Salaam (Sung in Arabic and Hebrew)
Israeli composer Yedidyah Admon (1894-1982) was born in the Ukraine and emigrated to Palestine
in 1906. From 1923 to 1927 he studied theory of music and composition in the U.S. In 1930 he went
to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger, the French music teacher. Admon was one of the first Israeli
composers, and one of the earliest to create a new style that blends four elements: the music of the
Oriental Jewish communities, especially the Yemenite and Persian; Arab music; Ḥassidic music; and
Bible cantillation. We precede our arrangement with improvisations by members of Bustan Abraham.
Yair Dalal was born in Israel in 1955. His parents were Iraqis who had immigrated to Israel the year
before. Among his many efforts to promote peace between Arabs and Israelis, Dalal has created a
“Concert for Peace,” and written an album entitled “Inshallah Shalom,” which loosely translates to
“G-d willing there shall be peace.” He has toured with a band of Palestinian musicians. In 1994, he
wrote and performed the song “Zaman Salaam” in Oslo during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for
Rabin, Peres and Arafat.
My field.
At dawn I sowed with tears.
The farmer’s prayer is heard.
My field,
drenched in dew,
drunk with sunlight,
the cornstalk bows
before the harvester.
Swiftly, with a grand sweep,
the sickle
is waved on high
-Yitzhak Shenhar
Like the sea, so is peace my love—
its soul all-embracing and wide.
There are times of high and low tide,
and days are difficult and sad.
Between thunder and storms
I harvest my feelings, my love.
It’s time for peace, with G-d’s help.
Lama Bada Yatathana (sung in Arabic, Hebrew and Spanish)
There are times of high and low tide.
When days are difficult and sad,
between the lightning flashes, a rainbow will appear,
and I will know that this is the time.
Lama Bada Yatathana is a Muwashah, a genre of vocal music that developed in Andalusia during the
ninth century and was common in North Africa and the Arabian Middle East. It is performed here in an
arrangement by Bustan Abraham.
The gossamer nymph appears,
My beloved’s beauty drives me to distraction
When I am enraptured by a glimpse.
My beloved’s beauty is a tender branch
Caught by the breeze.
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And there is a time – I know,
yearning from afar,
like a lonely star in the rain,
up high in the sky.
(Join us on the refrain: Zaman Salaam!)
Special thanks to Prof. André de Quadros for sharing his expertise in Arab choral music with us.
Program notes by Joshua R. Jacobson
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Conductor and Artistic Director
Joshua R. Jacobson, founder and director of the Zamir
Chorale of Boston, is Professor of Music and Director of
Choral Activities at Northeastern University, where he served
nine years as Music Department Chairman and six years as
the Bernard Stotsky Professor of Jewish Cultural Studies. He
is also Visiting Professor and Senior Consultant in the School
of Jewish Music at Hebrew College. He has guest conducted
a number of ensembles, including the Boston Pops
Orchestra, the Bulgarian National Symphony and Chorus,
the New England Conservatory Orchestra and the Boston
Lyric Opera Company. He has guest lectured and taught
workshops for schools, synagogues, festivals and
conventions throughout North America and in Israel. He has
also written articles on various aspects of choral music, and
over one hundred compositions and arrangements that have been published and performed by
choirs around the world. In 1989 he spent four weeks in Yugoslavia as a Distinguished Professor
under the auspices of the Fulbright program. In 1994 he was awarded the Benjamin Shevach Award
for Distinguished Achievement in Jewish Educational Leadership from Hebrew College. Prof. Jacobson
is past President of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. He is
the conductor and host of the PBS film, Zamir: Jewish Voices Return to Poland. His book, Chanting the
Hebrew Bible: The Art of Cantillation, published by the Jewish Publication Society in 2002, was a
finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. He is co-author of Translations and Annotations of Choral
Repertoire—Volume IV: Hebrew Texts, published by earthsongs in 2009. In 2004 the Cantors
Assembly presented Prof. Jacobson with its prestigious “Kavod Award.”
Accompanist
Edwin Swanborn, accompanist, studied with Dr. Anthony Newman at the Juilliard School of
Music in New York, and has participated in master classes with Gustav Leonhardt and Anton Heiller.
Mr. Swanborn is Music Director of the historic First Parish Church in Duxbury, Massachusetts. He
is also the Artistic Director of the Candlelight Concert Series of Duxbury, a nationally recognized
chamber music series. Founder-Director of the Boston Baroque Chamber Players and harpsichordist
of the Atlanta Virtuosi, Mr. Swanborn also serves on the music staff of Northeastern University in
Boston. Solo and chamber music engagements have taken him to all corners of the United States as
well as to Mexico, Canada, and Europe. Mr. Swanborn has made several compact disc recordings that
have been enthusiastically received by critics and audiences alike.
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Guest Artists
Boston City Singers
Directed by Jane Money, Boston City Singers was founded in 1995 in the Boston neighborhood of
Dorchester. Over the last 15 years, programming has grown to include 350 members in neighborhood
training choruses in Dorchester, Jamaica Plain and Hyde Park, and a city-wide Concert Chorus.
Boston City Singers’ vision is to provide the highest level of musical training and wide-ranging
performance opportunities for young people to inspire personal development, celebrate diversity
and foster goodwill. Members come from all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Boston
City Singers has appeared on concert, opera, and theatre stages throughout New England, and has
toured the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Bruce Creditor
An alumnus of the Zamir Chorale of Boston, and currently the Chairman of Zamir’s board, Bruce
Creditor is well-known as an award-winning clarinetist with many orchestras, choruses, and chamber
music ensembles in the Boston area. A graduate of the New England Conservatory, Mr. Creditor has
been assistant personnel manager for the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras for the
past 25 years. He is past president of the New England Region - United Synagogue of Conservative
Judaism, and was General Manager of Margun Music publisher.
Taiseer Elias
A master of both Eastern and Western music, oud and violin artist, Taiseer Elias is one of the foremost
Middle Eastern musicians of our time. Founder and conductor of the first Orchestra of Classical Arabic
Music in Israel, and currently the musical director and conductor of the Arab-Jewish Orchestra and
the Music Center in Jerusalem, Prof. Elias has recorded with a number of ensembles including White
Bird, Bustan Abraham, Ziryab Trio (of which he is the musical director) and others. In addition, Prof.
Elias is the head of Eastern Music Department at the Rubin Academy of Music; a professor in the
Musicology Department at Bar Ilan University; and director of Arab music education in the Education
Ministry in Israel.
Zohar Fresco
One of the best and most sought after percussionists in the world, and a star on the international
scene, Zohar Fresco’s unique and amazing finger style expresses itself on a vast array of Oriental
and Western percussion instruments. Mr. Fresco is a virtuoso of many percussion instruments, and
his performances with the darbuka and the frame drums (such as Bendir, Riqq, and Tar) have left
audiences all over the world awestruck. After years of playing these instruments, he has developed
original techniques that include influences of Arabic, Indian, Persian, and Turkish music, as well as
Jazz. Mr. Fresco was an original member of Bustan Abraham, Ziryab Trio and of Arabandi and taught
at the Rubin Academy of Music, where he was head of the Oriental percussion department. Emmanuel Mann
Born in France, Emmanuel Mann has become one of Israel’s top bass players. He was a member of
Israel’s first ethnic group, Habrera Hativ’it, and later co-founded Bustan Abraham. Mr. Mann has
performed at the Israel Festival, the Budapest Spring Festival, the Hong Kong Asian Arts Festival, le
Theatre De La Ville, the Lille Festival, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Womad Festival, the Krakov Jewish
Music Festival, Sao Paulo SESC, World Expo- Seville, the Akbank Jazz Festival Istanbul, the Kennedy
Center, Symphony Space, Town Hall, the Beacon Theater and the Jewish Repertory Theater. He has led
workshops at the Berklee College of Music in Boston as well as the Juilliard School in New York City.
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Takaaki Masuko
Takaaki Masuko has become one of the area’s most versatile percussionists since he left New
England Conservatory in the early 80s. He was an original member of the Jazz Composers Alliance
and Le Miserable Brass Band. He has performed and recorded with many different groups and
festivals around the world. Currently he performs with several critically acclaimed groups, including
The Horse Flies and Tapestry. For the past six years he has been a regular percussionist with the
Zamir Chorale of Boston. Each year he returns to his home in Japan to give frame drum workshops.
Amir Milstein
A graduate of the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem, flautist Amir Milstein is now an established
figure in the world-music scene. He is the founder of Bustan Abraham, an ensemble of seven
distinguished Israeli musicians, both Jews and Arabs, who have combined their experience
as composers, soloists and heads of musical ensembles to create original instrumental music,
which combines elements of both Eastern and Western traditions. Mr. Milstein has collaborated
with artists such as Zakir Hussein, Tito Puente, Ross Daly, Omar Farouk Tekbilek, and Mikhalis
Nikoloudis. Currently Mr. Milstein lives in Boston and performs with a wide variety of ensembles.
Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol
Composer, multi-instrumentalist, and ethnomusicologist, Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, earned a
Bachelor’s degree from Berklee College of Music, a Master’s in Jazz Composition from New
England Conservatory of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition from the New England
Conservatory. Sanlıkol is the president and a founder of Dünya, an organization dedicated to
contemporary presentations of Turkish traditions. Prof. Sanlıkol chooses projects in which music
connects disparate ethnic and religious groups through devotion, longing, celebration and joy.
Currently Prof. Sanlıkol is pursuing this idea with a new program entitled “Jews and Sufis: A Shared
Musical Tradition.” Sanlıkol has taught at Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory,
Emerson College and Brown University.
Henry Shapiro
Henry Shapiro studied guitar, jazz performance and arranging at the Berklee College of Music in
Boston. He has been a professional musician, band leader and composer for over 20 years. A wellknown performer of swing music with his band Swing Fever, his debut album, Whatever Swings,
was named best jazz album of the year. Mr. Shapiro has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival,
Switzerland, and toured in Europe. Conversant in many traditional and world music styles, he is one
of the premiere guitarists forging an authentic klezmer sound on guitar today. As a composer, Mr.
Shapiro has written a number of film scores for award-winning documentary and independent films.
Recently moved from Pittsburgh, he is currently in the Cantor/Educator Program at Hebrew College.
Mireille Tannous
Born in Lebanon, Mireille Tannous began singing as a soloist at her church before she moved to the
U.S. in 1978. A few years later, Ms. Tannous became a member of the Harvard Music Study Group
and performed throughout Boston, singing songs by Fayrouz (aka, Nouhad Wadi Haddad, the most
famous living singer in the Arab world who still sparks Lebanese national pride). Ms. Tannous
was introduced to Zamir by her Palestinian conductor fifteen years ago when she participated in a
Zamir concert at Regis College. She is currently the soloist at her church and sings at many haflis
(Lebanese dances).
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The Zamir Chorale of Boston
Music with a Mission
Founded in 1969, the Zamir Chorale of Boston’s mission is to serve as “a musical and educational
organization dedicated to raising awareness of the breadth and beauty of Jewish culture through
performances, recordings, symposia, publications, and musical commissions.” Led by Founder
and Artistic Director Joshua Jacobson, the Chorale comprises more than 45 experienced volunteer
singers who perform music spanning thousands of years, four continents, and a variety of styles,
both classical and popular. Zamir’s repertoire includes Jewish liturgical pieces, major classical
works, music of the Holocaust, newly commissioned compositions, and Israeli, Yiddish, and Ladino
folksongs. Zamir’s music is enjoyed by people of all ages, religions and races. Concerts can be
designed to meet special requirements and always provide an educational component.
In addition to enjoying a devoted following in the Greater Boston area, Zamir has achieved a farreaching reputation through its 19 recordings and frequent tours throughout the United States,
as well as in Israel and Europe. The documentary film, Zamir: Jewish Voices Return to Poland, has
been shown across the country on public television stations. In January 2006, Zamir was invited
to perform at the United Nations General Assembly for the first International Day to Commemorate
Victims of the Holocaust.
An essential component of Zamir’s mission is to develop future leaders in Jewish choral music.
Graduates of the Mary Wolfman Epstein Internship program have gone on to conduct choirs of their
own in Boston and beyond. Zamir also mentors other Jewish community choruses through joint
rehearsals and performances.
Dr. Joshua Jacobson is one of the world’s leading authorities on Jewish choral music. He is Professor
of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Northeastern University and Visiting Professor of Jewish
Music at Hebrew College. A sought-after scholar and lecturer, his many arrangements, editions, and
compositions are performed worldwide. His book, Chanting the Hebrew Bible: The Art of Cantillation
(Jewish Publication Society, 2002), is considered the definitive source in the field. Zamir concerts
are known for being highly entertaining, thanks to Dr. Jacobson’s colorful programming and his
illuminating commentary from the stage.
The Zamir Chorale of Boston, Choir-in-residence at Hebrew College, is funded in part by the
Massachusetts Cultural Council and by Combined Jewish Philanthropies. Zamir is a member of the
Greater Boston Choral Consortium, a cooperative association of diverse choral groups in Boston and
the surrounding areas.
Zamir Chorale of Boston
1320 Centre St., Suite 306
Newton, MA 02459
www.zamir.org
[email protected]
617-244-6333
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Zamir Chorale of Boston 2010-2011
Symposium
altos
Sarah Boling • Johanna Ehrmann • Hinda Eisen • Alison Fields • Deborah Melkin • Rachel Miller
Judy Pike • Jill Sandberg • Nancy Sargon-Zarsky • Sara Schwindt • Elyse Seltzer • Phyllis Werlin
Phyllis Sogg Wilner
inspire people to venture outside their comfort
tenors
David Burns • Steven Ebstein • Ethan Goldberg • Suzanne Goldman • Hal Katzman • Daniel
Nesson • Leila Joy Rosenthal • Lawrence E. Sandberg • Yishai Sered • Gilbert Schiffer • Avi Wolf
to increase empathy and mutual understanding
basses
Peter Bronk • Abba Caspi • Phil Goldman • Michael Krause-Grosman • Michael Kronenberg
Devin Lawrence • Richard Lawrence • Richard Lustig • Martin Oppenheimer • James Rosenzweig
Peter Squires • Mark Stepner • Michael Victor • Jordan Lee Wagner • Robert Wright
Joshua R. Jacobson, Artistic Director
Barbara Gaffin, Managing Director
Bruce Creditor, Chairman of the Board of Directors
Daniel Bauman, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors
Jeff Rosenberg, Treasurer
Edwin Swanborn, Accompanist
Lidiya Yankovskaya, Assistant Conductor
Hinda Eisen, Assistant to the Conductor
Betty Bauman and Devin Lawrence, Mary Wolfman Epstein Conducting Interns
Betty Bauman, Johanna Ehrmann, Avi Wolf and Richard Lustig, Section Leaders
Susan Rubin, President
Deborah Melkin, Vice President
Lawrence E. Sandberg, Concert Manager and Merchandise Manager
Michael Kronenberg, Librarian
Board of Directors
Daniel Bauman
Joyce Bohnen
Bruce Creditor
Nancy Finn
Peter Finn
Phyllis Hammer
Suzanne Hanser
Joshua Jacobson
Deborah Melkin
Jeff Rosenberg
Susan Rubin
Lawrence E. Sandberg
Zvi A. Sesling
Robert Snyder
Alan Teperow
Jon Tepper
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zones. It has been said that music has the ability
among people who have been separated by
borders of various kinds and alienated by
conflicting politics. Our focus is on the people
and cultures of Israel and its neighbors, and on
the personal experiences of the presenters.
In his book, Playing Across a Divide (2009, Oxford University Press) Prof. Ben
Brinner chronicles the experiences of musical groups that found innovative
ways to fuse disparate musical styles, and, perhaps even more challenging, to
rehearse and perform together. Prof. Brinner writes that the determination of
the Alei Ha-Zayit ensemble to remain together in spite of political conflict around
them, offers powerful evidence to their audiences that Jews and Arabs can work
together creatively, in mutually beneficial ways, to create a shared culture.
In 1999 conductor Daniel Barenboim and educator Edward Said established
the East-West Divan Orchestra. The aim of the East-West Divan is to promote
understanding between Israelis and Palestinians. Shirana is an all-women’s
choir based in the Israeli city of Jaffa. Launched by the Arab/Jewish Community
Center of Jaffa in 2008, Shirana includes Jewish, Christian and Muslim women. In
2004 two Israeli choirs began a tradition of coming together in song. The Efroni
Choir from Emek Hefer and the Sawa Choir from Shfaram met at a Peace Camp
project in Barcelona, and decided to continue their musical collaborations in
their homeland, as well. The noted musician Pablo Casals once noted, “Perhaps
it is music that will save the world.”
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Monday, April 11, 2011 - 7:30 pm
Musicians do more than entertain. Musicians
The Fenway Center, Boston (Northeastern University)
sopranos
Betty Bauman • Sharon Goldstein • Marilyn J. Jaye • Kate Judd • Anne Levy • Elana Rome
Susan Rubin • Sharon Shore • Julie Smily • Louise Treitman • Heather Viola • Deborah West
Lidiya Yankovskaya
Presenters
Benjamin Brinner
Benjamin Brinner is currently Chair of the Department of Music at the University of California at
Berkeley, where he has taught since 1988, and holds the Henry and Julia Weisman Schutt Chair
in Music. He has also taught at Tel Aviv University, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and the
Jerusalem Music Center, as well as Colorado College. He earned the PhD and MA degrees in the
ethnomusicology program at UC Berkeley after completing a BA in musicology at the Hebrew
University. Brinner is interested in issues of musical cognition, particularly questions of musical
memory and how musicians know what they know and how that influences their interactions with
one another in performance. He has conducted research in Indonesia (Central Java and Bali) and
Israel, with the support of two Fulbright fellowships and various research grants from the University
of California. In addition to articles in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and in
journals such as Ethnomusicology, Asian Music, and the Journal of the American Musicological
Society, he has written three books. The first, Knowing Music, Making Music: Javanese Gamelan and
the Theory of Musical Competence and Interaction (University of Chicago Press, 1995), won ASCAP’s
Deems Taylor Award. This was followed by a textbook, Music in Central Java, for Oxford University
Press’s Global Music series. The most recent book, Playing Across a Divide: Musical Encounters in a
Contested Land on musical collaborations between Jews and Arabs in Israel (Oxford University Press,
2010), was awarded the 2010 Alan P. Merriam Prize for Outstanding Book in Ethnomusicology by the
Society for Ethnomusicology.
André de Quadros
André de Quadros is a professor of music at Boston University, where he also holds a faculty position
in the Institute for the Study of Muslim Societies and Civilizations. He is Advisor to the Board
of the International Federation for Choral Music, Artistic Director of the Aswatuna—Arab Choral
Festival, conductor of the Manado State University Choir (Indonesia), and a member of the Steering
Committee of IFCM’s Conductors without Borders. He is the editor of the following choral series:
Music of Asia and the Pacific; Cantemus; and Salamu Aleikum – Choral Music of the Muslim World
published by earthsongs, and Songs of the World published by Hinshaw Music. He is editing the
Cambridge Companion to Choral Music (Cambridge University Press) and co-authoring Choral Music
in Global Perspective (Routledge). He is in demand as a guest conductor all over the globe. Professor
de Quadros has studied at the University of Bombay, the University of Melbourne, the Universitaet
Mozarteum, Salzburg and La Trobe University.
Taiseer Elias
A master of both Eastern and Western music, oud and violin artist, Taiseer Elias is one of the foremost
Middle Eastern musicians of our time. Founder and conductor of the first Orchestra of Classical Arabic
Music in Israel, and currently the musical director and conductor of the Arab-Jewish Orchestra and
the Music Center in Jerusalem, Prof. Elias has recorded with a number of ensembles including White
Bird, Bustan Abraham, Ziryab Trio (of which he is the musical director) and others. In addition, Prof.
Elias is the head of Eastern Music Department at the Rubin Academy of Music; a professor in the
Musicology Department at Bar Ilan University; and director of Arab music education in the Education
Ministry in Israel.
Zohar Fresco
One of the best and most sought after percussionists in the world, and a star on the international
scene, Zohar Fresco’s unique and amazing finger style expresses itself on a vast array of Oriental
and Western percussion instruments. Mr. Fresco is a virtuoso of many percussion instruments, and
his performances with the darbuka and the frame drums (such as Bendir, Riqq, and Tar) have left
audiences all over the world awestruck. After years of playing these instruments, he has developed
12
original techniques that include influences of Arabic, Indian, Persian, and Turkish music, as well as
Jazz. Mr. Fresco was an original member of Bustan Abraham, Ziryab Trio and of Arabandi and taught
at the Rubin Academy of Music, where he was head of the Oriental percussion department. Joshua R. Jacobson
Joshua R. Jacobson, founder and director of the Zamir Chorale of Boston, is Professor of Music
and Director of Choral Activities at Northeastern University, where he served nine years as Music
Department Chairman and six years as the Bernard Stotsky Professor of Jewish Cultural Studies. He
is also Visiting Professor and Senior Consultant in the School of Jewish Music at Hebrew College. He
has guest conducted a number of ensembles, including the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Bulgarian
National Symphony and Chorus, the New England Conservatory Orchestra and the Boston Lyric
Opera Company. He has guest lectured and taught workshops for schools, synagogues, festivals
and conventions throughout North America and in Israel. He has also written articles on various
aspects of choral music, and over one hundred compositions and arrangements that have been
published and performed by choirs around the world. In 1989 he spent four weeks in Yugoslavia
as a Distinguished Professor under the auspices of the Fulbright program. In 1994 he was awarded
the Benjamin Shevach Award for Distinguished Achievement in Jewish Educational Leadership from
Hebrew College. Prof. Jacobson is past President of the Massachusetts chapter of the American
Choral Directors Association. He is the conductor and host of the PBS film, Zamir: Jewish Voices
Return to Poland. His book, Chanting the Hebrew Bible: The Art of Cantillation, published by the
Jewish Publication Society in 2002, was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. He is coauthor of Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire—Volume IV: Hebrew Texts, published
by earthsongs in 2009. In 2004 the Cantors Assembly presented Prof. Jacobson with its prestigious
“Kavod Award.”
Lori Hope Lefkovitz
Lori Hope Lefkovitz is the Ruderman Professor and Director of Jewish Studies at Northeastern
University and founding director of Kolot: The Center for Jewish Women and Gender Studies, the
first such center at a rabbinical seminary. A graduate of Brandeis University, Lefkovitz received her
MA and PhD in English from Brown University and was a recipient of a Woodrow Wilson dissertation
fellowship in women’s studies, a Golda Meir post-doctoral fellowship at Hebrew University, a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute of the Philadelphia Association for Psychoanalysis, and in 2004,
a Fulbright Professorship at Hebrew University. She was previously an Associate Professor at Kenyon
College. Lefkovitz serves on editorial and professional boards and lectures widely to academic and
Jewish audiences. She is married to Rabbi Leonard Gordon, spiritual leader of Mishkan Tefila in
Chestnut Hill, MA, with whom she has two daughters.
Emmanuel Mann
Born in France, Emmanuel Mann has become one of Israel’s top bass players. He was a member of
Israel’s first ethnic group, Habrera Hativ’it, and later co-founded Bustan Abraham. Mr. Mann has
performed at the Israel Festival, the Budapest Spring Festival, the Hong Kong Asian Arts Festival, le
Theatre De La Ville, the Lille Festival, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Womad Festival, the Krakov Jewish
Music Festival, Sao Paulo SESC, World Expo- Seville, the Akbank Jazz Festival Istanbul, the Kennedy
Center, Symphony Space, Town Hall, the Beacon Theater and the Jewish Repertory Theater. He has led
workshops at the Berklee College of Music in Boston as well as the Juilliard School in New York City.
Amir Milstein
A graduate of the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem, flautist Amir Milstein is now an established
figure in the world-music scene. He is the founder of Bustan Abraham, an ensemble of seven
distinguished Israeli musicians, both Jews and Arabs, who have combined their experience
as composers, soloists and heads of musical ensembles to create original instrumental music, which
combines elements of both Eastern and Western traditions. Mr. Milstein has collaborated with artists
such as Zakir Hussein, Tito Puente, Ross Daly, Omar Farouk Tekbilek, and Mikhalis Nikoloudis.
Currently Mr. Milstein lives in Boston and performs with a wide variety of ensembles.
13
Shakir Mustafa
Shakir Mustafa, Visiting Associate Professor of Arabic at Northeastern University, received his
PhD in Irish literature from Indiana University in 1999. He grew up in Iraq, and taught at Mosul
University, Northern Iraq, for eleven years. He then taught at Indiana University and Boston
University, from 1999 to 2008. His most recent book is Contemporary Iraqi Fiction: An Anthology
(Syracuse, 2008). Other publications are in the areas of literary translation, Irish drama, and Jewish
American fiction. He has given dozens of lectures, and radio and television interviews on Arab and
Muslim cultures and politics.
Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol
Composer, multi-instrumentalist, and ethnomusicologist, Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, earned a
Bachelor’s degree from Berklee College of Music, a Master’s in Jazz Composition from New
England Conservatory of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition from the New England
Conservatory. Sanlıkol is the president and a founder of Dünya, an organization dedicated to
contemporary presentations of Turkish traditions. Prof. Sanlıkol chooses projects in which music
connects disparate ethnic and religious groups through devotion, longing, celebration and joy.
Currently Prof. Sanlıkol is pursuing this idea with a new program entitled “Jews and Sufis: A Shared
Musical Tradition.” Sanlıkol has taught at Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory,
Emerson College and Brown University.
Denis J. Sullivan
Denis J. Sullivan is a Professor of Political Science at Northeastern University, where he also is
Director of the International Affairs Program and Director of the Middle East Center for Peace,
Culture, and Development. He formerly served as the Chair of Political Science at Northeastern from
2001 to 2003. Dr. Sullivan established the “Dialogue of Civilizations Program” in 1998, beginning in
Egypt. The Dialogues are faculty-led academic programs of 5-7 week studies abroad. These studentto- student exchanges and independent field research now operate in over 30 countries, including
Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Palestinian Authority, Turkey, China, Greece, Spain, South
Africa, Niger, Thailand, Mexico, Cyprus, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and more. Since 1987, Dr. Sullivan
has been an Affiliate in Research at Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies. In 2002
and 2003, he was the Director of the Institute in Governance, Public Policy, and Civil Society in
Toledo, Spain.
14
Greater Boston Choral Consortium
www.bostonsings.org
Visit our website for a complete Concert Calendar,
Chorus directory, and links for all our member groups
A Cappella Singers, www.theacappellasingers.org
Andover Choral Society, www.andoverchoral.org
The Apollo Club of Boston, www.apolloclub.org
Arlington-Belmont Chorale, www.psarlington.org
Back Bay Chorale, www.bbcboston.org
Belmont Open Sings, www.powersmusic.org
Boston Boy Choir, www.bostonboychoir.org
The Boston Cecilia, www.bostoncecilia.org
Boston Childrens Chorus,
www.bostonchildrenschorus.org
Boston Choral Ensemble, www.BostonChoral.org
Boston Early Music Festival, www.bemf.org
Boston Gay Men’s Chorus, www.bgmc.org
Boston Saengerfest Men’s Chorus:
www.saengerfest.org
Braintree Choral Society, www.braintreesings.org
Broadmoor Chamber Singers,
www.broadmoorsingers.org
Brookline Chorus www.brooklinechorus.org
Calliope; www.calliopemusic.org
Cambridge Chamber Singers,
www.cambridgechambersingers.org.
Cambridge Community Chorus,
www.cambridgechorus.org
Cantata Singers, www.cantatasingers.org
Cantemus Chamber Chorus, www.cantemus.org.
Cantilena, www.cantilena.org
Cappella Clausura, www.clausura.org
Capriccio Chorus www.riversschoolconservatory.org
Choral Art Society, www.choralartsociety.org
Chorus pro Musica, www.choruspromusica.org
Concord Chorus, www.concordchorus.org
Concord Women’s Chorus,
www.concordwomenschorus.org
Convivium Musicum, www.convivium.org
Coolidge Corner Community Chorus,
www.cccchorus.org
Coro Allegro, www.coroallegro.org
Coro Stella Maris, www.corostellamaris.org
Dedham Choral Society: www.dedhamchoral.org
Exsultemus, www.exsultemus.org
Fine Arts Chorale, www.fineartschorale.org
Golden Tones, www.goldentones.org
Greater Boston Intergenerational Chorus,
www.bostonchorus.net
Halalisa Singers, www.halalisa.org
Handel & Haydn Society,
www.handelandhaydn.org
Harvard Pro Musica, www.harvardpromusica.org
Harvard-Radcliffe Choral Groups
www.fas.harvard.edu/~holchoir/
Heritage Chorale, www.heritagechorale.org
Highland Glee Club, www.highlandgleeclub.com
In Choro Novo, www.inchoronovo.com
King’s Chapel Concert Series, www.kings-chapel.org
Koleinu, www.koleinu.org
Lexington Pops Chorus,
www.LexingtonPopsChorus.org
The Master Singers of Lexington,
www.themastersingers.org
Masterworks Chorale, www.masterworkschorale.org
Musica Sacra, www.musicasacra.org
Mystic Chorale, www.mysticchorale.org
Nashoba Valley Chorale, www.nashobachorale.org
Neponset Choral Society, www.ncschorus.org.
New England Classical Singers,
www.newenglandclassical.org
Newton Choral Society www.newtonchoral.org
Newton Community Chorus,
www.newtoncommunictychorus.org
The Newton Singers,
www.geocities.com/newton_singers
The Oriana Consort, www.theorianaconsort.org
The Orpheus Singers www.orpheussingers.org
PALS Children’s Chorus,
www.palschildrenschorus.org
Quincy Choral Society, www.quincychoral.org
Paul Madore Chorale, www.paulmadorechorale.org
Pilgrim Festival Chorus: www.pilgrimfestival.org
Polymnia Choral Society, www.polymnia.org
Reading Community Singers,
www.readingcommunitysingers.org
Revels, www.revels.org
Schola Amicorum, www.uvboston.org (Schola)
Seraphim Singers, www.seraphimsingers.org
Sharing A New Song, www.sharinganewsong.org
Somerville Community Chorus,
www.somervillechorus.com.
The Spectrum Singers, www.spectrumsingers.org
Stämbandet, www.stämbandet.org
Stow Festival Chorus & Orchestra,
www.soundsofstow.com
Treble Chorus of New England,
www.treblechorus.com
Voices Rising, www.voicesrising.org
Wakefield Choral Society,
www.wakefieldchoralsociety.org
Wellesley Choral Society,
www.WellesleyChoralSociety.org
Youth pro Musica, www.youthpromusica.org
Zamir Chorale of Boston, www.zamir.org
15
The Zamir Chorale of Boston thanks all those who helped
support Middle East Harmonies through their generosity.
Co-Chairs
Margie and Gil Brodsky
Shir Chadash Circle ($3600 +)
Anonymous
Phyllis Hammer
Ethan and Lisa Lerner
Benefactor ($1000-$3599)
Joyce and Michael Bohnen
Margie and Gil Brodsky
Cail Family Foundation
Combined Jewish Philanthropies (made
possible by a grant by CJP’s Innovative
Grants Committee)
Consulate General of Israel to New England
Lillian Garber
Joshua and Ronda Garber Jacobson
Rachel Goldstein and James Elkind
Geoffrey Lewis and Amy Caplan
Northeastern University Department of
Jewish Studies
Charles and Patricia Ribakoff
Jill and Gilbert Schiffer
Robert and Myra Snyder
Jon and Ruth Tepper
Patron ($360-$999)
Dan and Hillery Bauman
Louise and David Citron
Bruce and Susan Creditor
Madelyn and Bruce Donoff
Marcia Eskin
Michael and Linda Frieze
Barbara Gaffin and Doug Cahn
Roz Garber and Alan Toledano
Independent Jewish Community
Frederic and Susan Jacobs
Arthur and Judith Obermayer
Martin Oppenheimer and Deborah Platek
Suzanne and Norman Priebatsch
Jeff Rosenberg and Marcia Cooper
Lawrence E. and Jill Sandberg
Zvi A. Sesling and Susan Dechter
Alan Teperow and Suzanne Hanser
Michael and Serene Victor
Pledges and gifts received by March 14,
2011. We regret any errors or omissions.
Please notify us at [email protected]
so that we can correct our database and
honor your contribution.
Keren
Ann
Israeli-born, French-reared
with Chris Garneau
“Her voice is tailor-made for bleary mornings after, rainy afternoons and
soul-searching late nights.” -Boston Globe
Thurs., June 9, 8pm • The ICA/Boston
100 Northern Ave., Boston
Special thanks to
Nicholas Bradley, Northeastern University, Legal Department
Tony De Ritis, Northeastern University, Music Department
Mary Goguen, Northeastern University, College of Arts, Media and Design
Paul Kelly, Synagogue Council of Massachusetts
Mary Bea Lingane, Northeastern University, College of Arts, Media and Design
Matt McIntyre, Northeastern University, Legal Department
Jigisha Patel, Northeastern University, Legal Department
Arthur Rishi, Northeastern University, Music Department
Denis Sullivan, Northeastern University, Middle East Center for Peace, Culture, and Development
Maureen Ton, Northeastern University, Music Department
16
FOR TICKETS AND INFORMATION
617.876.4275 www.WorldMusic.org
TICKETS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE AT THE ICA/BOSTON BOX OFFICE
Presented by World Music/CRASHarts
Program Design by Maureen Ton, Department of Music, Northeastern University
Honorary Council
Mary Beekman, Music Director, Musica Sacra
Paul Caldwell, Composer
Anthony Paul De Ritis, Professor and Chair, Department of Music, College of Arts, Media
and Design, Northeastern University
Leonard Fein, Writer, Teacher, Founder of Mazon; Co- Founder, Americans for Peace Now
John Harbison, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Composer and Conductor
Fred Lawrence, President, Brandeis University
Lori Lefkovitz, Ruderman Professor of Jewish Studies, Northeastern University
Shakir Mustafa, Visiting Associate Professor of Arabic, Northeastern University
Vardit Ringvald, Director, Hebrew Language Program, Brandeis University
Elias Rosemberg, Cantor, Temple Emanuel of Newton
Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, Composer, Ethnomusicologist, Multi-Instrumentalist; Professor,
Brown University; President, DÜNYA
Jonathan Sarna, Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis
University; Chief Historian of the National Museum of American Jewish History
Gunther Schuller, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Composer and Conductor
Kay Kaufman Shelemay, G. Gordon Watts Professor of Music and of African and African
American Studies, Harvard University
Bernie Steinberg, Former Director, Harvard Hillel
Denis Sullivan, Director, Northeastern University’s Middle East Center for Peace, Culture,
and Development
Louise Treitman, Cantor, School of Jewish Music, Hebrew College
Ilan Troen, Director, Shusterman Center for Israel Studies, Brandeis University
Moshe Waldoks, Rabbi, Temple Beth Zion
Yehudi Wyner, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Composer and Conductor
Middle East Harmonies is Sponsored by
Zamir Chorale of Boston and
Northeastern University’s Department of Music
Co-Sponsored by The Consulate General of Israel to New England, Combined Jewish
Philanthropies (made possible in part by a grant from CJP’s Innovative Grants Committee),
and Northeastern University Department of Jewish Studies
Community Partners: American Islamic Congress; American Jewish Committee; Argentinian
Jewish Relief Committee; Brandeis University Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education; Harvard
Hillel; Hebrew College; Independent Jewish Community; Islamic Center of Boston - Wayland; Lesley
University Department of National and International Collaborative Programs; New Center for Arts and
Culture, Temple Beth Zion; Northeastern University's Middle East Center for Peace, Culture, and
Development; Tufts University Hillel; the Weston/Wayland Interfaith Action Group (WWIAG)
www.chorus.neu.edu/meh