Date: June 16 (Thurs)
Time: 12:15
Where: Sulzer Regional Library, Chicago
Leader: Steve Gibons
Date: June 15 (Wed)
Time: 12:15
Where: Skokie Public Library
Leader: Steve Gibons
Songs in Yiddish and English
“Chicago’s go-to group for stripped-down, old-fashioned Roma music- They bring the improvisational sophistication of jazz to Romanian and Bulgarian Gypsy music without smoothing out its ragged edges.”
–Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader
Date: June 6 (Mon)
Time: 12:15
Where: Skokie Public Library
Stewart Figa (baritone)
Ilya Levinson (piano)
Stewart Figa Bio: Figa has performed in Yiddish Theater Productions in New York, where he worked with great artists of the Yiddish stage. He sang the classic Yiddish song “Rumania, Rumania” on the award-winning CBS-TV series Brooklyn Bridge. The Northwestern University theater graduate serves as cantor atWest Suburban Temple Har Zion in River Forest, Ill.
(Source: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=2071)
Ilya Levinson Bio: Russian-born Ilya Levinson graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory as a composer, where he studied composition with Alexander Pirumov and orchestration with Edison Denisov. After immigrating to the United States in 1988, Levinson completed a Ph.D. in Composition at the University of Chicago where his training included instruction from Ralph Shapey, Shulamit Ran, John Eaton, and Howard Sandroff. He teaches Composition, Orchestration, Sightsinging 2, Keyboard 1 at Columbia College Chicago and Musicianship skills at the University of Chicago.
(Source: http://www.colum.edu/academics/music/faculty_staff/Ilya_Levinson.php)
The Chicago YIVO Society’s
Fall 2010 Yiddish-English Music Program:
YIDDISH LESSONS
What I Learned in Life & the Yiddish Theatre
Presented by Stewart Figa (accompanied by Ilya Levinson on the piano & Don Stille on the accordion).
WHEN: Sunday, October 10 @ 1:30 PM
WHERE: Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in Skokie
RSVP & PRE-PAYMENT REQUIRED.
Click HERE to make online reservations (preferred) or call 847.967.4889.
Click here to download eVite as a pdf: 10Oct10ProgramInfo
We were recently informed that the Russian Women’s Melody Choir would be unable to perform on Mon 8/23.
Therefore, we have scheduled a concert by Annette Bjorling (Harpist) & Kurt Bjorling (Clarinet/Basset-Horn): Same Time/Same Place!
When: Monday, August 23, 2010 at 12:15 PM
Where: Sulzer Public Library (Chicago)
Follow this link to download a complete program description –>
Click HERE to order CD on Amazon.
Click HERE for more information about Kurt Bjorling.
Click HERE to learn about the Russian Women’s Melody Choir.
Performance by the Gypsy Rhythm Project
(lead by Steve Gibons)
When: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 12:15 PM
Where: Indian Trails Public Library (Wheeling)
NOTE: Space is limited at Indian Trails Public Library, & telephone reservations are required. Please remember to call 847.459.4100 if you would like to attend this program!
Steve Gibons Bio: Gibons is a Chicago jazz violinist who has turned his sights on the rich world of Balkan and oriental music. He traveled in Romania spending time with Roma and folk musicians in Moldavia, Wallachia and Bucharest, learning and recording their music.
Chicago native Steve Gibons leads the Gypsy Rhythm Project and also plays Gypsy Jazz with guitar virtuoso Alfonso Ponticelli and Swing Gitan. During his career he has performed with a diverse range of great ensembles among them, the Chicago Klezmer Ensemble, Victor Parra and the Mambo Express, and the Chicago Classical Oriental Ensemble and the 3rd Coast String Quartet. and appears on many recordings as a session player. Gibons spent time in Romania making field recordings and studying with folk and Roma musicians. Gibons has a wide breadth of experience performing ethnic music ranging from Klezmer music (Chicago Klezmer Ensemble), Afro-Cuban jazz (Victor Parra and the Mambo Express) to classical middle eastern music (The Chicago Classical Oriental Ensemble). After traveling in Romania and Turkey his focus has been on the Roma and folk music from those regions.
Source: Chicago’s Gypsy Rhythm Project
8/13 UPDATE: This performance by the Russian Women’s Melody Choir Concert (lead by Zita Rit) has been cancelled!!!
Click HERE for program substitution:
SAME TIME/SAME PLACE!
When: Monday, August 23, 2010 at 12:15 PM
Where: Sulzer Public Library (Chicago)
Description: Ensemble from the former USSR sings in Russian, Yiddish, Hebrew, and English!
The Russian Women’s Melody Choir is an ensemble of women who are from the former USSR. The conductor is Zeta Rit (on piano) and the coordinator is Frieda Karpul. The choir performs in Yiddish, English, Russian, and Hebrew. In October ’09, they performed as a part of “The Joys of Yiddish: A Musical Experience” sponsored by the The Jewish Community Center (JCC) Chicago Yiddish Institute.
Top photo (from left to right):
Zita Rit, Frieda Landau, & Frieda Karpul.
Performance by soprano Sima Miller (accompanied by Alex Koffman on the violin & Gerald Rizzer on the piano)
When: Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at 12:15 PM
Where: Skokie Public Library
Click here to see an article on Sima Miller
(led by vocalist Shirlee Todd)
When: Monday, August 2, 2010 at 12:15 PM
Where: Skokie Public Library
Description: The Jazmer Group performs vocal and instrumental Jewish Music – Klezmer, Israeli, Yiddish, and Sephardic, as well as American Jazz and Pop Standards. Shirlee Todd, multi-lingual vocalist, sings in Yiddish, Hebrew, Spanish, and Russian.
Jazmer Ethnic Ensemble
Stewart Figa (baritone)
Ilya Levinson (piano)
When: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 12:15 PM
Where: Skokie Public Library
Description:
Serious, Soulful & Humorous Songs
Stewart Figa Bio: Figa has performed in Yiddish Theater Productions in New York, where he worked with great artists of the Yiddish stage. He sang the classic Yiddish song “Rumania, Rumania” on the award-winning CBS-TV series Brooklyn Bridge. The Northwestern University theater graduate serves as cantor at West Suburban Temple Har Zion in River Forest, Ill.
(Source: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=2071)
Ilya Levinson Bio: Russian-born Ilya Levinson graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory as a composer, where he studied composition with Alexander Pirumov and orchestration with Edison Denisov. After immigrating to the United States in 1988, Levinson completed a Ph.D. in Composition at the University of Chicago where his training included instruction from Ralph Shapey, Shulamit Ran, John Eaton, and Howard Sandroff. He teaches Composition, Orchestration, Sightsinging 2, Keyboard 1 at Columbia College Chicago and Musicianship skills at the University of Chicago.
(Source: http://www.colum.edu/academics/music/faculty_staff/Ilya_Levinson.php)
