Bringing Jewish music to the concert hall

Maestro James Conlon, Music Director of the Los Angeles Opera (and Pro Musica Hebraica’s artistic adviser) has been awarded this year’s Roger E. Joseph Prize from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion:
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From the Jewish Daily Forward:

“It seems like yesterday,” recalled Bruno Finzi, his son, who is now 87. “I was walking with my father in the famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, and the master of La Scala, Riccardo Pick-Mangiagalli, who was sitting on the jury of the contest, came to us. ‘I should not say anything,’ he told my father, ‘but I wanted to offer you my congratulations. The Serenata won. You can start to think about the production, the cast, the scenes.’ My father was beside himself with joy and pride.”

But for Jews, dark times were approaching fast. The official announcement of Finzi’s victory never came. In 1938 the Anti-Jewish Laws were promulgated in Italy. Finzi could not work anymore. He was offered a job as a musician in Chicago, but he did not want to leave his family. In 1943 the Finzis went into hiding.

Read the rest here.

Pro Musica Hebraica’s Spring concert, The Apollo Ensemble: Jewish Baroque Treasures from Italy and Amsterdam, will include singing by soprano Siri Karoline Thornhill. Here is a preview of her lovely voice:

Tickets for the May 13th concert are available at The Kennedy Center’s website.

The Washington Post classical music critic Anne Midgette notes that classical music lovers have a lot to look forward to in The Kennedy Center’s 2013-2014 season:

“Possibly the biggest headline is a joint recital of Evgeny Kissin and Maxim Vengerov playing an evening of Jewish classical music, co-presented with Pro Musica Hebraica, in February 2014,” Midgette said. “Either of these artists is capable of selling out the concert hall alone.”

Stay tuned for more details on this site.

Winter Jewish Music Concert, an organization based in Temple Israel of Greater Miami and directed by Alan Mason, presents its first solo concert this June:
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