Aik Khai Pung, artistic director
Seven Hills Symphony, presenter
PROGRAM BOOK
Concert 1 Yiddish Vocal Chamber Music Lecture Recital Program Notes
Concert 2 CCM Concert Orchestra Jewish Folk Music and Poems Through Orchestra Program Notes
Concert 3 Music From Auschwitz Program Notes
Concert 4 concert:nova Jewish Chamber Music Program Notes
Concert 5 Yiddish Music by NKU Program Notes
Concert 6 Seven Hills Symphony 120th Anniversary of Marc Lavry
Concert 8 Xavier University and Community Choirs Choir Palooza
Concert 9 Jews on Broadway Insert
Cincinnati Jewish Music and Culture Festival is a celebration of Jewish music through nine performances and lectures across the Cincinnati community. Various local performing groups, artists, and experts from around the world gather in Cincinnati in March 2024, presenting high quality concerts by Jewish composers and Jewish theme-related music.
Sponsors:
Friedlander Family Fund
Partnerships:
First Lutheran Church
Hebrew Union College
Jewish Federation of Cincinnati
Mayerson JCC
Concert 1
Yiddish Vocal Chamber Music Lecture Recital
Date: Sunday, March 3rd, 2024
Time: 1:30pm lecture; 3:00pm recital
Venue: First Lutheran Church
1208 Race St, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Admission: $15
CCM Alumna Dr. Samantha Stinson, and director of Public Programs at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research – Alex Weiser will give a lecture on Jewish/Yiddish art songs. Following the lecture, Dr. Stinson will present a recital with current CCM students.
Program:
Alex Weiser: And All the Days were Purple
Helen Greenberg: Froyen Shtime
Performers:
Samantha Stinson, soprano
Diana Chubak, piano
Yasmine Bougacha, violin
Celeste Meisel, viola
Joshua Bermudez, cello
Jacob Ottmer, percussion
Concert 2
Jewish Folk Music & Poems Through Orchestra
Date: Tuesday, March 5th, 2024
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: CCM Corbett Auditorium, 290 CCM Blvd, Cincinnati, OH 45221
Admission: FREE (no reservation required)
Performers:
CCM Concert Orchestra
Aik Khai Pung, music director and conductor
Avishay Shalom, guest conductor
Amy Johnson, soprano
Karen Lykes, mezzo-soprano
Daniel Weeks, tenor
Pavel Vinnitsky, clarinet
Program:
Anna Vinnitsky: Klezmer Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra
*World premiere
Erich Korngold: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35
Dmitri Shostakovich: From Jewish Folk Poetry
Ernest Bloch: Trois poèmes juifs (Three Jewish Poems)
Concert 3
Music from Auschwitz
Date: Thursday, March 7, 2024
Time: 6:30pm Lecture by Patricia Hall
7:30pm Performance
Venue: Mayerson JCC Amberly Room
8485 Ridge Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236
Admission: $35
This concert features music from Auschwitz curated by Patricia Hall from the University of Michigan. Avishay Shalom will lead the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra performing this unique music.
Acclaimed saxophonist Rick VanMatre will be performing his two compositions that he dedicated to Holocaust survivors and performed in the International Meeting Center at Auschwitz. On display will be Anna Socha VanMatre’s artworks created for the Galicia Jewish Museum and dedicated to Jan Karski and to the victims in the Krakow Ghetto.
Performers:
Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra
Avishay Shalom, conductor
Rick VanMatre, saxophone
Aaron Jacobs, acoustic bass
Sergio Pamies, piano
Reed Gnepper, tenor
Henry Benson, tenor
Emilio Vasquez, baritone
Kenneth Shaw, bass
Concert 4
Jewish Chamber Music by concert:nova
Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: HUC Mayerson Hall Auditorium
3101 Clifton Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45220
Admission: $35
concert:nova is a boundary-pushing ensemble that challenges the audience to engage with the music in various ways based in Cincinnati. They will present works by two prolific Jewish composers to the audience in Cincinnati: Verdina Shlonsky (Israel) and Osvaldo Golijov (Argentina).
Program:
Verdina Shlonsky: String Quartet
Osvaldo Golijov: Dreams and prayers of Isaac the Blind
Performers:
Ariel Quartet and Pavel Vinnitsky
Concert 5
Yiddish Music by NKU
Date: Thursday, March 14, 2024
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: Isaac M. Wise Temple
720 Plum St, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Admission: $15
Associate Professor of voice at NKU Dr. Kimberly Lazzeri is recording a collection by Robert de Cormier (discovered recently) in the fall and will perform them live at Jewish Music Festival. Her colleague Katie Barton, director of Choral Studies at NKU will bring her choir joining Dr. Lazzeri to present some Yiddish choral music.
Concert 6
Marc Lavry 120th Anniversary
Date: Sunday, March 17, 2024
Time: 3:00pm
Venue: Mayerson JCC Amberly Room
8485 Ridge Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236
Admission: FREE (registration & reservation required)
Celebrating Israeli composer Marc Lavry’s 120th anniversary, Seven Hills Symphony will perform an orchestral concert featuring him, along with Avshalomov and Bloch. Violin professor from NKU William Herzog will join us performing Baal Shem Suite.
Program:
Aaron Avshalomov: Four Biblical Tableaux
Ernest Bloch: Baal Shem Suite
Marc Larvy: Negev, Symphonic Poem
Marc Lavry: Emek, Symphonic Poem
Performers:
Seven Hills Symphony
Aik Khai Pung, conductor
Matthew Lee, assistant conductor
Dr. William Herzog, violin
Concert 7
Piano and Violin Recital
Date: Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: Hebrew Union College Scheuer Chapel
3101 Clifton Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45220
Admission: $15
Program:
Mieczysław Weinberg: Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes, Op. 47 No. 3
Aaron Copland: Sonata for Violin and Piano
Paul Schoenfield: 4 Souvenirs
Marc Lavry: Three Jewish Dances, Op. 192
Concert 8
Choir Palooza
Date: Thursday, March 21, 2024
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: Xavier University Bellarmine Chapel
Admission: Free (reservation required)
Performers:
Xavier University Concert Choir
Xavier University Women Chorus
Fluidity
Heri et Hodie
Cincinnati based choir directors Dr. Matthew Swanson, Matthew Lee, and Krista Cornish Scott joining force to present important Jewish literature to our audience.
Concert 9
Jews on Broadway Cabaret
Journey to the Past:
Songs & Stories from American Jewish Songbook
Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Time: 7:00pm & 9:00pm
Venue: Memorial Hall Ballrooms
Admission: 7:00pm $65 (food and drinks included)
9:00pm $15
Cincinnati Arts & Cultural Exchange 