The 2017/2018 residency featured guest pianist and scholar of Jewish music, Neal Brostoff.
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."
