Friday 14 March 2014, 1:05pm

‘Song from a forgotten world’:

Jewish choral music, old and new

School of Music Choir

directed by Stephen Muir

Programme £1
PROGRAMME

Salomone Rossi (c.1570–1630) Motet for double chorus ‘Adon Olam’

[Master of the Universe]

Salomone Rossi ‘Al Naharot Bavel’

[By the waters of Babylon]

Gregory Rose ‘Sha’alu Shlom Yerushalayim’

Harp: Jack Rush [Pray for the peace of Jerusalem]
Piano: Charlie Calver i. ‗Al Naharot Bavel‘
[By the waters of Babylon]
ii. ‗Afafuni khivlet mavet‘
[The snares of death]
iii. ‗Rotze Adoshem et yereav‘
[But the Lord‘s delight]
iv. ‗Yismakh Yisrael‘
[Let Israel rejoice]
v. ‗Samakhti‘
[I was glad]
vi. ‗Sha‘alu shlom Yerushalayim‘
[O pray for the peace of Jerusalem]
vii. ‗Harninu le‘elohim‘
[Sing we merrily]

Louis Lewandowski (1821–94) ‘Enosh k’hatsir yomov’

Organ: Charlie Calver [As for man, his days are as grass]

Gideon Klein (1919–45) ‘První hřich’ [The original sin]

Tenor solo: Alex Chisholm-Loxley

Froim Spektor (1888–1948) ‘V’shomru’

[The children of Israel shall keep the
Sabbath]

Dovid Ajzensztadt (1890–1942) Passover Cantata Chad Gadya

[One little goat]
Violin I: Lorna Williamson i. Allegro scherando
Violin II: Sophie Emptage ii. Talmudic Intermezzo
Viola: Georgia Davies iii. Largo
„Cello: Sam Brown iv. Andante Maestoso
TRANSLATIONS
(Programme notes below)
Salomone Rossi, Adon Olam
Origin uncertain, 10th–11th century
He is Lord of the universe, who reigned ere any creature yet was formed:
At the time when all things were made by his desire, then was his name proclaimed
King.
And after all things shall have had an end, he alone, the dreaded one, shall reign;
Who was, who is, and who will be in glory.
And he is One, and there is no second to compare to him, to consort with him:
Without beginning, without end: to him belong strength and dominion.
And he is my God—my Redeemer liveth—and a rock in my travail in time of
distress;
And he is my banner and my refuge, the portion of my cup on the day when I call.
Into his hand I commend my spirit, when I sleep and when I wake;
And with my spirit, my body also: the Lord is with me, and I will not fear.
(Translation from the Authorized Daily Prayer Book by Simeon Singer, 1890)

Salomone Rossi, Al Naharot Bavel

Psalm 137
By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered
Zion.
Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hanged up our harps.
For there they that led us captive asked of us words of song, and our tormentors
asked of us mirth: ‗Sing us one of the songs of Zion.‘
How shall we sing the Lord‘s song in a foreign land?
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember thee not; if I set not
Jerusalem above my chiefest joy.
Remember, O Lord, against the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem; who said:
‗Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.‘
O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that repayeth
thee as thou hast served us.
Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock.
(Translation adapted from www.mechon-mamre.org)

Gregory Rose, Sha’alu Shlom Yerushalayim

i. Psalm 137: 1–6
By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered
Zion.
Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hanged up our harps.
For there they that led us captive asked of us words of song, and our tormentors
asked of us mirth: ‗Sing us one of the songs of Zion.‘
How shall we sing the Lord‘s song in a foreign land?
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember thee not;
if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy.
ii. Psalm 116: 3–4; psalm 69: 1–3
The snares of death compassed me about: and the pains of hell gat hold of me.
I shall find trouble and heaviness, and will call upon the Name of the Lord: O Lord, I
beseech thee, deliver my soul.
Save me, O God: for the waters are come in, even unto my Soul.
I stick fast in the deep mire, where no ground is: I am come into deep waters, so
that the floods run over me.
I am weary of crying; my throat is dry: my sight faileth me for waiting so long upon
my God.
iii. Psalm 147: 11–14; Psalm 73: 1; Psalm 135: 21
But the Lord‘s delight is in them that fear him: and put their trust in his mercy.
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise thy God, O Zion.
For he hath made fast the bars of thy gates: and blessed thy children within thee.
He maketh peace in thy borders: and filleth thee with the flour of wheat.
Truly God is loving unto Israel: even unto such as are of a clean heart.
Praised be the Lord our of Zion: who dwelleth at Jerusalem.
iv. Psalm 149: 2–3
Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: and the children of Zion be joyful in their
king.
Let them praise his Name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with tabret
and harp.
v. Psalm 122: 1–3
I was glad when they said unto me: we will go into the house of the Lord.
Our feet shall stand in thy gates: O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is built as a city: that is at unity in itself.
vi. Psalm 122: 6–7
O pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
Peace be within thy walls: and plenteousness within thy palaces.
vii. Psalm 81: 1–4
Sing we merrily unto God our strength: make a cheerful noise unto the God of
Jacob.
Take the psalm, bring hither the tabret: the merry harp with the lute.
Blow the trumpet in the new moon: even the time appointed, and upon our solemn
feast-day.
For this was made a statute for Israel: and a law of the God of Jacob.
(Translations courtesy of Gregory Rose)

Louis Lewandowski, Enosh

Psalm 103: 15–17; Psalm 16: 9–11
As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof knoweth it no
more.
But the Lord‘s mercy is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him,
and His righteousness unto children‘s children;
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth; my flesh also dwelleth in safety;
For Thou wilt not abandon my soul to the nether-world; neither wilt Thou suffer Thy
godly one to see the pit.
Thou makest me to know the path of life; in Thy presence is fullness of joy, in Thy
right hand bliss for evermore.
(Translation adapted from www.mechon-mamre.org)

Gideon Klein¸ První hřich

Adapted from folk poetry
The Good Lord entered, entered Eden Eve she took it, and took a bite,
Adam followed on bended knee, Sharing it with her mate Adam.
When into the centre they came Eat, my Adam, eat the apple,
The Good Lord spoke, said this unto Adam: To help us find the sweetest bliss.

‗From all the trees collect the fruit, This is the way they both did sin,
But only from one take nothing, From Eden out they were driven.
Standing in the heart of Eden, The Good Lord gave them each a rake
With the blue flower as its blossom.‘ And sent them off to the vineyard:

The devil set to work, with his serpent, ‗Away and dig the ground
Tempting Eve along with Adam. Work hard to earn your daily bread.‘
Plucked the apple, very sharply Before they brought their harvest home,
Placing it in Eve‘s fair hand. Tears, bitter tears they both did shed.
(Translation Richard Howard)

Froim Spektor, V’shomru

Exodus 31: 16–17
The children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, and observe it throughout their
generations as an everlasting covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of
Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heaven and earth, and on the
seventh day He ceased from work and rested.
(Translation adapted from biblicalheritage.org/music/vshamru.htm)

Dovid Ajzensztadt, Passover Cantata Chad Gadya

I. Allegro Scherzando
One little goat, one little goat: Which my father bought for two zuzim.
The cat came, and ate the goat, which my father bought for two zuzim.
The dog came, and bit the cat….
The stick came, and beat the dog….
The fire came, and burned the stick….
The water came, and extinguished the fire….
The ox came, and drank the water….
II. Talmudic Intermezzo
Instrumental. Annotation in Ajzensztadt‟s hand:
‗This tells us that the Jewish slaughterer is not a murderer without feelings of mercy
in his heart. And therefore it is expressed in this way. I hope that you will
understand everything.‘
III: Largo
The slaughterer came, and killed the ox….
The angel of death came, and slew the slaughterer….
IV: Andante Maestoso
Then came the Holy One, Blessed be He, and smote the angel of death….
(Translation adapted from www.chabad.org)

PROGRAMME NOTES
Salamone Rossi (c.1570–1630) gained a reputation as a fine violinist during his
youth, earning him an appointment as a musician in the court of the powerful
Gonzaga family in Mantua, northern Italy. The high esteem in which he was held is
evident in that he received ducal exemption, in 1606, from wearing the yellow ‗Jew
badge‘ required of other Jews at the time. At the Mantuan court he almost certainly
encountered such distinguished composers as Monteverdi and Gastoldi, providing
an environment in which he could develop a substantial body of serious and light-
hearted madrigals (including some of the first examples of continuo madrigals), and
a boldly innovative collection of instrumental works representing something of a
transitional style between late Renaissance and Baroque trio sonata styles.
Perhaps Rossi‘s most striking contribution as a composer,
however, is his landmark collection Ha-Shirim asher li-
Shlomo (literally, ―The Songs that Are of Solomon‖ -
evidently a play on his own name, since the biblical Song
of Solomon is absent from the collection), probably the
first printed publication of music with Hebrew texts.
Encouraged by the radical scriptural commentator Rabbi
Leon of Modena, Rossi composed 33 concerted settings
of texts from the Jewish liturgy for use in the synagogue,
including the renditions of ‘Adon olam’ [Master of the
Universe] and ‘Al Naharot Bavel’ [By the Waters of
Babylon] performed today, which are clearly indebted to
the single- and double-choir motets of the Gabrielis.
‗Adon olam‘ is among the most familiar hymns of Jewish liturgy, though its origins
are unknown. It is sung to a multitude of different tunes in nearly every service, and
concludes many. In ‗Al Naharot Bavel‘ (Psalm 137) Rossi expresses the text
through striking harmonic shifts and almost madrigalian word painting, ending with
a defiantly angry portrayal of the psalmist‘s words ‗Happy shall he be, that taketh
and dasheth thy little ones against the rock.‘
The invasion of Mantua by Ferdinando II in 1630 resulted in the expulsion of almost
2,000 Jews from the city, an event in which Rossi likely perished along with his
sister Europa, who was probably the first professional female Jewish opera singer.
It would be another 200 years until serious published choral music for the
synagogue would appear, this time among the musical reforms wrought in the
wake of the 19th-century ‗Haskalah‘ (Enlightenment) by composers Salomon
Sulzer (1804–90) in Vienna and Louis Lewandowski (1821–94) in Berlin.

Gregory Rose studied with two former pupils of

Schoenberg, Hans Jelinek (Vienna Music Academy)
and Egon Wellesz (Oxford), and his father, Bernard
Rose. He has composed orchestral, instrumental and
choral music, including many liturgical pieces. His
Missa Sancta Pauli Apostoli won one of the 2006
British Composer Awards and several of his pieces
have been published and broadcast. His most
ambitious project, a music-theatre piece called Danse
macabre, was premiered in Tallinn, Estonia in 2011 and received its UK premiere
on May 18th 2013 at St John at Waterloo. Last year saw the premieres of Garden
of the Gods (recorder and piano), Avebury Stone Circles and Missa Sancti Vedasti
(soprano and hand bells). Premieres this year include Heaven Haven (for the
Harwich Festival), Wesleyan Soliloquy 1 (horn – Texas, USA), The Melodic Thread
(tuba and harp – Texas) and RED PLANET (instrumental ensemble). Future
projects include two new song cycles, commissioned by Suré Eloff: Dancing in
Sun-split Clouds (soprano and flute) and Song of Songs (soprano and harp). As a
conductor, Rose has worked with orchestras, ensembles and choirs throughout
Eastern and Western Europe and the Far East, particularly in romantic and
contemporary repertoires. He has conducted many operas and has worked closely
with composers such as Stockhausen, Cage and Steve Reich and has appeared in
festivals throughout Europe, including two BBC Promenade concerts with
Singcircle. He has arranged and conducted for Diana Ross, Linda Ronstadt,
Madness and Sasha & Shawna. He is a professor of conducting at Trinity Laban
Conservatoire of Music & Dance. Of Sha’alu Shlom Yerushalayim [Pray for the
Peace of Jerusalem] he writes:
‗In the mid 1990s I had the pleasure of appearing as guest conductor with ‗Ankor‘
Children‘s Choir of Jerusalem. This substantial new work was directly inspired by
this visit and working with young musicians, with whom the hope for the future lies.
The texts I have used for this piece are entirely from the Psalms of David, using
transliterated versions of the original Hebrew. All the Psalms, except in Movement
2, are directly concerned with ‗Jerusalem‘, ‗Zion‘ and ‗Israel‘ and the nature of the
moods of the 7 movements modulates from the gloomy mood of ‗By the waters of
Bablyon‘ and ‗The snares of death encompass me round about‘ to the optimism of
peace and celebration. The harp was the obvious choice for an accompanying
instrument because of its association with David and its use in Jewish music over
the centuries, and it is mentioned several times in these Psalms.‘
 No other composer exerted more influence over
synagogue music in the modern world than Louis
Lewandowski (1821–94). Born in Wreschen, Poland
(then Prussia), at the age of 15 he became the first Jew to
be admitted to the Berlin Academy‘s school of
composition after the intervention of Felix Mendelssohn.
In 1840 he became choirmaster of the Berlin
Heidereutergasse synagogue, and in 1866 received the
honorific title ‗Royal Musical Director‘, and a new
appointment at Berlin‘s newly-built 3000-seat Neue
Synagogue. The Neue Synagogue was a bastion for the
progressive religious practices advocated by some during
the ‗Haskalah‘ (Enlightenment), including the use of the organ and the introduction
of mixed choirs based on Lutheran Christian models. It was here that he composed
all of his synagogue music, primarily in two large collections that blend traditional
Jewish liturgical melodies with the textural and harmonic idioms of 19th-century
German choral music, especially that of Lewandowski‘s advocate Mendelssohn:
Kol Rinnah u-Tefillah (The Sound of Supplication and Prayer, 1871), for cantor,
and especially Todah ve-Zimrah (Thanks and Song, 1882), a setting of the entire
liturgical cycle for mixed chorus, solo, and organ that forever transformed musical
expression in mainstream Jewish religious life.
‘Enosh k’hatsir yomov’ [As for man, his days are as grass], from the latter
collection, was composed for use on the holiest day of the Jewish liturgical
calendar, Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement). The first section, describing the
fleetingness of mortal life and humanity‘s inadequacies before God, is among
Lewandowski‘s most performed works in concerts, despite appearing but once
during the liturgical year; it‘s sombre mood and gently chromatic harmonies capture
the nature of the text perfectly, as does the more upbeat tone of the second
section, a song of hope for the mercy of God often used at burial services.
In contrast to the other Jewish composers in this programme, the Czech pianist
and composer Gideon Klein (1919–45) wrote little for the synagogue, despite
being raised in Přerov, Moravia, in a family steeped in Jewish tradition. Early piano
lessons with the head of the local conservatory led on to admittance to the Prague
Conservatory and Charles University in 1938. The Nazi occupation of
Czechoslovakia in March 1939 resulted in the closure of the conservatory and
other institutions of higher education, curtailing Klein‘s education. The occupation
also prevented Klein‘s acceptance of a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy
of Music in London. Despite these setbacks, the composer rapidly became
renowned in Prague musical circles as a prodigious pianist, and his earliest works
of note date from this period, including songs, a wind octet, large-scale string
quartets, and some experimental string works that feature the use of quarter tones.
In 1941 a large proportion of Prague‘s cultural elite, and
most of its Jewish population, was incarcerated in the
former military garrison town of Terezín (Theresienstadt
in German) around 40 miles north-west of Prague.
Despite appalling conditions, for various complex reasons
– including, but not restricted to, the desire on the part of
the Nazi regime to have a ‗show camp‘ to fool the outside
world – a rich cultural life developed in Terezín for a few
brief years before most of its inhabitants (Klein included)
were deported to Auschwitz and murdered. Klein‘s
‗Terezín works‘ show a natural progression from his
earlier music, with two stylistic leanings in evidence: a
fascination with Czech folk culture, and a close affinity
with the composers of the Second Viennese School, reflecting his earlier exposure
to the music of both Arnold Schönberg and Leoš Janáček. Among the works
composed in Terezín is a fine collection of pieces for male chorus. Most are short
settings of Czech folk poetry, but První hřich [The original sin], performed today, is
an extended work retelling the story of Adam and Eve. The setting is densely
chromatic, though essentially tonal, with a ruthless harmonic logic that recalls late
Mahler. It is also rhythmically complex, the simple triple meter often disruptively
transected by a quadruplet rendition of the text ‗and with Adam‘, perhaps
underscoring the latter‘s equal complicity with Eve in the ‗original sin‘ of eating the
forbidden fruit. The tortured nature of the setting evokes the human crisis at the
heart of the text, with the faltering closing utterance ‗bitter tears they both did shed‘
petering to nothing with considerable effect.
The final two works in today‘s concert represent some of
the first practical outcomes of an ongoing international
research project Music, Memory and Migration in the
Post-Holocaust Jewish Experience: Renewal and
Transformation (www.mmm.leeds.ac.uk), led by Dr
Stephen Muir of the School of Music at Leeds, with
collaborators from Leeds College of Music, the Royal
Northern College of Music, the Universities of York, Cape
Town, New York and Sydney, the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, and the
South African Holocaust and Genocide Foundation.
Facilitated by the Worldwide Universities Network, the
project seeks out works created or thought lost during the
Holocaust, exploring the impact of migration and displacement, and stimulating
new creative work based upon these experiences.
During a visit in 2013 to Cape Town, South Africa (funded by the British Academy),
Dr Muir chanced upon the manuscript folder (pictured above left) of Froim Spektor
(1888–1948), a distinguished Russian cantor–composer from Rostov-on-Don,
South Russia. Spektor was ‗Über-Kantor‘ of the grand Choral Synagogue in
Rostov, gaining the position in 1915 against fierce international competition. In
1927 he responded to an advertisement placed
in the Yiddish press by the committee of the New
Hebrew Congregation in Cape Town, and took
up the position of Cantor at that synagogue in
1928, travelling to South Africa via England with
his young family. Now in the possession of his
granddaughter in Cape Town, Spektor‘s
manuscript folder contains some
correspondence and a number of his own
compositions, including a simple but highly effective setting of the Sabbath prayer
‘V’shomru’ [The children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath], performed at today‘s
concert by permission of the composer‘s family, and in the presence of his
youngest son Isidore.
Spektor‘s folder also contains previously unknown works (or works considered lost)
by other significant Jewish composers, most importantly Dawid Nowakowsky
(1848–1921, cantor of the Odessa Synagogue for 50 years, and Professor of
Theory and Harmony at the Odessa Conservatory), and Dovid Ajzensztadt
(1890–1942), who knew Spektor as a young man in Rostov-on-Don. Ajzensztadt
later became famous as choirmaster of the extraordinary 100-strong choir of the
Tłomackie Street Synagogue in Warsaw (the synagogue,
pictured later in this programme, was destroyed during the
war). His subsequent story is less fortunate than his friend
Spektor‘s. Forced into the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940, he was
initially a key figure in the ghetto‘s cultural life, helping to
establish the Jewish Symphony Orchestra, and performing
regularly with his soprano daughter, Maryisa, popularly known
as ‗the Nightingale of the Ghetto.‘ In 1942, however, the ghetto
was liquidated, and most inhabitants sent by train to the
extermination camp at Treblinka. According to an eyewitness,
Ajzensztadt and his wife were placed in one line, and their
daughter in another. Unable to bear the separation, Maryisa attempted to run to her
parents, but was shot and killed by an SS Officer. The fate of the composer and his
wife are uncertain, but they were either shot immediately afterwards, or else killed
at Treblinka.
Only six works by Ajzensztadt were thought to have
survived the war until the emergence of Spektor‘s folder.
The cantata for choir and orchestra on the Passover song
Chad Gadya was, however, reported by the musician
Issachar Fater in his memoirs of Polish music between
the wars:
‗Creations based on the Chad Gadya tale have taken on
the most varied musical garb, from primitive folk song to
complex musical compositions. The most significant
known to me was composed by the Warsaw conductor
Dovid Ajzensztadt. It is a musical poem for choir and
orchestra, constructed on the model of a classical sonata in four parts. The first
section, a congenial narrative, is entitled ―Allegro scherzando.‖ The second,
―Andantino,‖ is intertwined with talmudic intonational motifs and anticipates a
coming storm. The third movement, ―Largo,‖ launches the war between the
Slaughterer and the Angel of Death. This ―sharp-sounding‖ episode awakens
unease and dread, unpleasantness, apprehension and horror. The concluding
―Andante maestoso‖ depicts the ultimate victory of justice over authority; it is an
ode to the master of the universe. The composition was performed by the choir of
the Great Synagogue in Warsaw on Tłomackie Street at its annual concert under
the direction of the composer, Dovid Ajzensztadt.‘
The concert that Fater describes (8 March 1931) must
have been a grand affair. According to the programme
(pictured right), it featured two other works by
Ajzensztadt, alongside music by Lewandowski, Rimsky-
Korsakov, Handel, Haydn, Schubert, and Nowakowski.
The manuscript of Chad Gadya in Spektor‘s folder is
evidently a very early version (possibly Ajzensztadt‘s
earliest complete draft), and is a setting for a cappella
chorus. However, an annotation in Yiddish on the front
cover (above) indicates that Ajzensztadt was already
drafting a piano accompaniment, and Fater mentions an
orchestra in his review. Sadly, the final version remains
lost; the orchestra is today represented by a string
quartet.
The manuscript of Chad Gadya links its composer and Spektor far more intimately
than has previously been understood, and opens up a small window onto the
interconnected world of early 20th-century East European Jewish synagogue
composition. Written on the front cover of the manuscript is a letter from
Ajzensztadt to Spektor. Not only does it clearly indicate the respect in which he
held the older Russian Cantor, it also offers a tantalising hint at the rather more
illustrious and well-known non-Jewish musical connections that these hitherto little
appreciated figures may have had:
‗My dearest friend, Mr Spektor, this is part of the whole work. I derive such
pleasure from this composition. I don‘t think I am deluded, because the piece has
been praised by Prof. Maliszewski (the great Polish musicologist and Director of
the Odessa Conservatory), and by the great Alexander Glazunov. Their signatures
will naturally follow on a second copy. But you are the only man whom I truly
respect. I beg of you – send me your opinion! With hearty greetings, Your best
friend Dovid Ajzensztadt.‘
SCHOOL OF MUSIC CHOIR
Joschka Althoff, Stephen Beattie, Tommaso Cagnoni, Charles Calver, Chrystalla
Charalampous, Alexander Chisholm-Loxley, Hannah Conway, Eve Daniels,
Michael Deakin, Hannah Elkins, Rebecca Ellis, Tim Gillies, Imogen Halsey,
Samantha Harrington, Kyle Harrison-Pope, Tasha-Marie Hawthorn, Juliette Ivie,
Ashley Jacobs, Charlotte Kane, Anna Kemball, Melissa Kirby, Matthew Lazenby,
Sophie Macrae, Laura Marks, Johanna Marx, Paul Massey, Clive McClelland,
Hannah McCluskey, Hollie Mediana, Olga Morozova, Charlotte Morris, Jasmine
Munns, Rebecca Muress, Marilena Papantoniou, Natalie Popkin, James Reynolds,
Philippa Ridgway, Amber Ruxton, Roxanne Scott, Lauren Storey, Alexander Vass,
Lucy Wagstaffe, Eleanor Watts, Alexander Weston, Lorraine Wild, Anna
Woodroofe, Hellana Wruk.

BIOGRAPHIES
Stephen Muir is Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of
Leeds. His research focuses on the music of Russia and
Eastern Europe, and Jewish musics, particularly in South Africa.
Recent publications include Wagner in Russia, Poland and the
Czech Lands (Ashgate, 2013), a chapter on Cape Town‘s
synagogue choirs for the volume The Globalization of Musics in
Transit: Music Migration and Tourism (Routledge, 2013), and a
study of Hasidic and Mitnagdic musical expression in 18th-
century Poland-Lithuania (Journal of Synagogue Music, 2013).
He is Principle Investigator for the international research project
‗Music, Memory and Migration in the Post-Holocaust Jewish Experience‘
(mmm.leeds.ac.uk). As a performer he has extensive professional experience as a
singer, conductor and percussionist with groups as diverse as Birmingham
Contemporary Music Group and Leeds Baroque. He is Assistant Director of The
Clothworkers Consort of Leeds (ccl.leeds.ac.uk), and as a tenor soloist he is proud
to be represented by the Davies Music agency (daviesmusic.com).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The British Academy, The Worldwide Universities Network, Leora and Nina
Braude, Rabbi Stuart Serwator, Isadore Spektor, Bret Werb, Milton Shain, Janine
Blumberg, Veronica Belling, Leila Bloch, Mzo Tutuka and colleagues at the Jewish
Digital Archive Project at the South African Jewish Museum, Louise Heery, Clive
McClelland, Paul Massey.
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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Friday 21 March 6:00pm
The Band Project

After its success last year, the band ensemble project is continuing for a
second year, led by Jiannis Pavlidis, (Berklee and Leeds College of Music).
Jiannis has performed in Sweden, USA, Serbia, Greece, Cyprus and England,
with numerous appearances in live music venues, on Greek national television
and international festivals. He will be directing student groups who will
showcase their work at this exciting event.

Admission Free - light refreshments available from 5:30pm

Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall
.

Sunday 23 March 3:00pm

Pulcinella, and Other Chamber Works School of Music Philharmonia
directed by Simon Baines

The University of Leeds School of Music Philharmonia presents a programme

of twentieth century music for chamber orchestra. The concert features
Stravinsky‘s Pulcinella suite for chamber orchestra and solo string quintet,
alongside other well- and lesser-known repertoire from the period.

Tickets: £13 adults, £10 concessions, FREE students and children under 16
Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall
Tuesday 25 March 7:30pm
Discord

This exciting program by the Brussels based ensemble Discord will feature
new pieces for horn, guitar, violin, bass, keyboards and electronics by
Alexander Sigman, Stefan Beyer, Hikari Kiyama and Michael Baldwin.

Admission Free - light refreshments available from 7:00pm

Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall
Friday 28 March 1:05pm
Yuanfan Yang (piano)

16 year old Yuanfan Yang returns to Leeds to give a performance of works by

composers including Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Yuanfan Yang.
After achieving his diploma at the young age of 10, in 2008 Yuanfan Yang
started studying at Chetham‘s School of music with Dr Murray McLachlan. In
2012 he was a BBC Young Musician of the Year finalist.

„I‟m speechless! He‟s incredible at what he does, and it was from those first
notes that I thought “wow”…

Milos Karadaglic on Yuanfan’s BBC Young Musician Final performance

Admission Free - light refreshments available from 12:30pm

Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall