Ann Arbor Residency for Jewish Art Music
University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance
University of Michigan Frankel Center for Judaic Studies
The Ann Arbor Residency for Jewish Art Music is a celebration of Jewish art music. It is a student-run collaboration between the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance and the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies. In November 2017, the first annual residency was held with guest Jewish music scholar Neal Brostoff. The residency's goals are to cultivate performance of Jewish art music, provide solo and chamber music opportunities for student artists, connect the musical, academic, and Jewish communities, and promote collaboration between vocalists, string, and wind players.
2019 Guest Artist
As a pianist he has recorded almost 40 CDs. Many of his CDs have been honoured with various international distinctions, among them the German Record Critics Prize (2007). In 2012, he performed in the German Bundestag on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance of the victims of National Socialism. Jascha Nemtsov plays solo concerts as well as participates in various chamber music formations in Europe, Israel, Russia, Canada and the USA. In 2018, he was honoured with the most prestigious German classical music award, the Opus Klassik Award.
In his scientific works he focuses on Jewish music and Jewish composers of the 20th century. Jascha Nemtsov is a member of the School of Jewish Theology at the University of Potsdam and of the Editorial Board of the Milken Archive of Jewish Music (Santa Monica/New York). Since 2010 he is Academic Director of the Cantorial School of the Abraham Geiger College. Since 2013 he has a full position as Professor for History of Jewish Music at the Franz Liszt University of Music Weimar.
In 2015 he founded together with Martin Kranz the ACHAVA Festival Thuringia; he is the Artistic Director of this interreligious and intercultural festival.
Events
Monday, March 25, 2019
Juliusz Wolfsohn (1880–1944)
Two Paraphrases on Old Jewish Folk Tunes for piano
Alexander Weprik (1899–1958)
Kaddisch for saxophone and piano
Alberto Hemsi (1898–1975)
Three songs from Coplas Sefardies for voice and piano
Leo Zeitlin (1884–1930)
Eli Zion (Paraphrase on a folk theme and trop of "Song of Songs“) for bassoon and piano
Alexander Krein (1883–1951)
Ornaments for saxophone and piano
Viktor Ullman (1898–1944)
Variations and Fugue on a Hebrew Folk Song for piano
Julius Chajes (1910–1985)
Hebrew Suite
Reception to Follow
Performers: Jascha Nemtsov, Jeffrey Siegfried, Aviva Klein, JoAna Rusche, Cassie Nielsen, Tobiah Murphy, Ben Penzner, Heewon Uhm
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
Jascha Nemtsov, pianist and musicologist
The oldest part of Jewish music culture is the ritualized presentation of texts from the Hebrew Bible (tanakh) organized through a complex and highly diversified system of strict musical rules and distinct motifs (cantillations). This system was essentially created during the Biblical times; it was then passed on orally for several centuries and codified in the 9th century with special signs (teamim). Since the beginning of the 20th century, the motifs of biblical cantillations have been perceived by Jewish composers as the “most authentic” part of the Jewish musical tradition and used as a source of inspiration and “building material” in many works. As a rule, in this context the motifs of cantillation lost their connection to the liturgy and their direct relation to the text and were merely identified as the musical embodiment of the Jewishness. By their archaic character and their shortness of breath they also significantly influenced the musical style of the new Jewish art music.
Jacob Schoenberg (1900–1956)
Nigun from the “Chassidic Suite” for piano
Janot S. Roskin (1884–1946)
Three Yiddish songs for voice, violin and piano
Alexander Weprik (1899–1958)
Sonata No. 2 for piano
Joachim Stutschewsky (1891–1982)
Lazare Saminsky (1882–1959)
Pieces for cello and piano
Hugo Chaim Adler (1894–1955)
Shalom Rav for voice and piano (trans. for cello)
Joseph Achron (1886–1943)
Wind Sextet, "Cantillations"
*****Program Change*****
In place of Joseph Achron's Wind Sextet:
Joseph Achron (1886–1943)
Selections from Children's Suite for Solo Piano
Joachim Stutschewsky (1891–1982)
Four Jewish Dance Pieces
Reception to Follow
Performers: Jascha Nemtsov, Gregory Gropper, Aviva Chertok, Emily Camras, Aviva Klein, Jillian Kouzel, Rebecca Williamson, Oliver Barron, Rebecca Epstein-Boley
Team
Gallery
Past
Past Events
2017
Saturday, November 4, 8:00 pm
Britton Recital Hall, Moore Building
Works by Schiff, Ben-Haim, Krein, Weinberg and Prokofiev
Performers:
Cole Anderson, piano
Siyuan Li, piano
Daniel McGrew, voice
Rita Wang, violin
Christina Adams, violin
Zoie Hightower, viola
Richard Narroway, cello
Andrew Plaisier, cello
Joshua Anderson, clarinet
Emily Camras, cello
Elizabeth Schubkegel, flute
Caroline Helton, mezzo-soprano
Thursday, November 2, 7:30 pm
UM School of Music, Theatre & Dance, McIntosh Theatre
Works by Schoenfield, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Copland, Weill, Ravel and Bloch
Neal Brostoff, piano
Michayla Chapman, clarinet
Chase Ward, violin
Daniel McGrew, voice
Koinonia Trio
Nathaniel Pierce, cello
Hyejin Cho, piano
Christine Harada Li, violin
Shane McFadden, piano
Sofie Aaron, voice
Emily Camras, cello
Teagan Faran, violin
Amber Carpenter, harp
Olivia Johnson, voice
Thursday, November 2, 12:15pm
UM Frankel Center for Judaic Studies
"The Birth of Jewish Art Music in St. Petersburg, 1908"
Lecture, Neal Brostoff
About Neal Brostoff, 2017 Scholar
Neal Brostoff has soloed as pianist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and also functioned as orchestra pianist and/or soloist with the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra, New West Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, Burbank Symphony and COTA Orchestra. Active as a chamber music recitalist, Mr. Brostoff performed regularly at the Monday Evening Concerts at LACMA, on tour with the American Ballet Theater, and he has recorded for motion pictures and television. He has also participated as chamber and orchestral pianist in European concerts and festivals.
Additionally, Mr. Brostoff has held the positions of music specialist for the Skirball Cultural Center, cultural affairs director for the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles, and concert manager of The Pasadena Symphony. From 2011-16 he taught Jewish music courses at UCLA in connection with the Mickey Katz Endowed Chair in Jewish Music, where he also served as Music Programs Coordinator.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Neal Brostoff received his early musical training in piano, theory and chamber music in the preparatory school of the California Institute of the Arts. He continued his higher education studies at Mount St. Mary's College (B.Mus.), California State University at Fullerton (M.A.) and California State University at Northridge (Secondary Teaching Credential)
Neal Brostoff has also worked professionally in Jewish music in Los Angeles since 1971. He has held the positions of organist/choir director/music director at Adat Ari El (1971-86) and at Temple Aliyah (1986-2005).
Mr. Brostoff has served the international Jewish community as a resource and has promoted Jewish arts education since the early 1980’s. In 1986 he founded Jewish Music Foundation as a 501 (c) (3) organization to support his concerts and festivals; the organization has received funding from the L.A. City Cultural Affairs Dept., the National-State-County Partnership and from individuals and foundations.
Projects of special interest include positions as concert producer for the Los Angeles segment of Sounds of Healing, (November, 2000, Royce Hall); consultation for the World Festival of Sacred Music in October, 1999; member of planning committee for the 1993 Los Angeles Festival, directed by Peter Sellars.
In 2016, Mr. Brostoff gave a violin-piano recital at Beit Warszawa, where he also taught lay cantors in their training program. He looks forward to returning to Poland in 2018 to present concerts of classical Jewish music and to continue his work with the Beit Warszawa cantorial training program.
In 2003, Mr. Brostoff's citywide Los Angeles festival "Beyond Bim-Bam" New Directions in Jewish Music," received critical and popular acclaim. The festival provided the impetus for UCLA Extension's parallel program "The Future of Jewish Culture in America."
Our Sponsors
Our residency is supported in part by: The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance The University of Michigan Frankel Center for Judaic Studies School of Music, Theatre & Dance Meta Weiser EXCEL Fund Arts at Michigan Hillel Homepage image is courtesy of www.judaica-art.com, artist Israel Rubinstein
