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Home , Lavta, Oud

Cal Performances Presents Program

Saturday, December 20, 2008, 8pm The Gonifs Zellerbach Hall Jeanette Lewicki vocals, accordion Peter Jaques Aaron Novik bass clarinet Pomegranates & Figs Aaron Kierbel A Feast of Jewish Stuart Brotman basy

Production Credits PROGRAM Paul Knight House Sound Engineer Kaila Flexer Artistic Director & Main Balaboste Alexis Krumme Production Assistant

Teslim Kaila Flexer violin, viola Gari Hegedus lauoto, baglama saz, , This concert is dedicated to Carla Zilbersmith. , frame Cal Performances’ 2008–2009 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo Bank. Teslim Special Guests Shira Kammen vielle, viola Julian Smedley violin Leah Wollenberg violin Liza Wallace Faisal Ghazi Zedan percussion

INTERMISSION *

Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble Caitlin Tabancay Austin Leslie Bonnett Briget Boyle Shira Cion Catherine Rose Crowther Juliana Graffagna Janet Kutulas

* There will be a 15-minute intermission. Go! Have anosh (snack) in the mezzanine. Kibbitz (visit) with your friends a little.

14 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 15 Welcome Message Program Notes

A Feast of Jewish Music characterized all Jews living in the farflung corners of the Earth, and that Jews sang and played a host of musical traditions, almost all transmitted orally, Today, the thorny question of what makes music which shared their traits more with the host non- “Jewish” is often avoided (and feared) by scholars, Jewish cultures than among themselves. This diver- musicologists and cultural historians alike, but sity preoccupied Jewish intellectuals, whom in the it does occasionally spark heated discussions on midst of the Romantic and nationalistic fervors of e-mail lists and gathers the attention of bloggers 19th-century Europe were instead trying to prove, worldwide. It is indeed a question with a thousand once and for all, the unity and distinctiveness (and possible answers, and one that generates additional thus the intrinsic value) of Judaism. The study of questions, which in turn end up blending and over- Jewish music by Jews themselves was therefore lapping with one another. Invariably, the answers initially aimed at creating a place for Jewish musi- fail to consider the world of sounds, and instead cal culture, and not just for its supposedly ancient raise issues concerning the many Jewish identities Hebraic construct, within the canons of Western and cultures that surround us. cultural history. This preoccupation, and especially However, it was not so in the past, when the rise of Zionism, led to a progressive focus on European scholars—Christian and Jewish— the diversity of the oral tradition and on the impor-

Cambria Lowe Cambria shaped the modern notion of Jewish music, and tance of non-European Jewish cultures. Kaila Flexer in a way almost invented it. The first interest in In 1907, when Abraham Zvi Idelsohn (1882– the musical world of the Jews—and especially 1938), the founder of modern Jewish musico- in what Jews sang in their place of worship, the logical research, moved to Palestine, he was con- elcome to Pomegranates & Figs! synagogue—arose since the 16th century among fronted with an overwhelming variety of Jewish W Christian humanists, to whom we owe the very no- oral traditions, which included liturgical music, We hope that you are enjoying the holiday sea- with their rollicking and heymish (homey) brand tion of musica hebraeorum (in Latin, “music of the folksongs and instrumental practice by Jews son. What a momentous year it has been! As our of klezmer music and Yiddish song. Kitka Vocal Hebrews”). These scholars, who immediately un- originating from Eastern, Central and Southern lives speed up, sometimes to a blur, it’s so nice to Ensemble will melt you with their rich harmonies derstood that the music of the Jews had long been Europe, the Balkans, , the Middle spend an evening enjoying live music together. and soulful delivery. Really, it makes me kvell (feel transmitted by way of oral tradition, hoped to find East, the and . I met my musical partner, Gari Hegedus, three proud) that the Bay Area boasts so much talent. within Jewish liturgy the traces of Hebraic antiqui- Already, then, the Eurocentric dichotomy between years ago, and we formed the duo Teslim, which ty, and thus the roots of Christianity itself. Instead, Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jewish musical worlds has proven to be a wonderful collaboration. We We are so glad you came. what they found was a universe of diverse sounds was proving insufficient: Arab music, its modes (or are very excited about our debut CD, which has (a “world music” of a sort) generated by the fact maqamat) and aesthetic sensibilities were equally just been released (and which is available for sale Happy Hanukah! Fargin zikh (enjoy)! that Jews had lived in Diaspora for many centu- essential to Jewish musical history and required in the lobby, just in time for Hanukah). We are ries. In the fourth volume of his Bibliotheca Magna a whole new consideration. Throughout the 20th thrilled tonight to be joined by a number of special Kaila Flexer Rabbinica (Rome, 1693), Father Giulio Bartolocci century, Idelsohn’s quest for the unifying traits in guests. When Teslim performs with these talented listed three different ways in which the Jews of this panoply of sounds has morphed into a research friends, people have dubbed this larger ensemble his times chanted the Torah (the Hebrew Bible), field that combines musicology, ethnography and Teslim Extreme! Special thanks to Lucy Flexer-Marshall, Abe and and provided musical transcriptions according to anthropology, and that examines the variables of As many of you know, I have been program- Bobbie Flexer, Carolyn North and Herb Strauss, the “German,” “Spanish” and “Italian” traditions, musical production in the context of the cultures ming Jewish music in the Bay Area for a long time, Shira Cion, Jeanette Lewicki, Sue Schleifer, Edith de facto stating the cultural differences between of the Jews in the Global Diaspora. and I love bringing together inspired performers. Morrow, Carla’s Muselings, Sara Glaser, Catherine Jews who originated from ancient Palestine and While the notion of “Jewish music” is clearly While due to unforeseen circumstances Nikitov Rose Crowther and Juanita Greene. those who lived in Central Europe (also known a scholarly construct, the place of sounds and of was unable to join us tonight, I’ve learned over the as Ashkenazi Jews) or that descended from the musical practice within Jewish life is a fascinating years that when life gives you potatoes you make Oriental carpets courtesy of Claremont Rug Company’s Iberian Jews who had been expelled from Spain reality that presents itself in many different guises. latkes. I am therefore thrilled to present two of my Claremont II: outstanding vintage and antique car- and Portugal after 1492 (Sephardic Jews). Other Since at least the beginning of the 20th century, favorite groups: The Gonifs will steal your hearts pets, 1813 Fourth Street, Berkeley. Christian researchers followed in this path and by Jewish music has existed in two parallel arenas. the 19th century, when Jewish scholars also be- On the one hand, it continues to be produced (and came interested in the topic, it was very clear that consumed) within the specific context of com- there was no such thing as one “Jewish music” that munal Jewish life, and thus as part of synagogue

16 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 17 Program Notes Program Notes liturgy and life-cycle events, throughout the globe. music and Yiddish and Judeo-Spanish (or Ladino) variety of musical styles, ranging from synagogue maqam system. Traditionally performed by wom- The Holocaust and the creation of the State of song. These genres are all prominently featured modes to tango, from Russian folk themes to jazz. en with minimal instrumental accompaniment, Israel have had a great impact on Jewish musical in tonight’s program through the interpretations The revival of klezmer music has bridged the dis- that of Judeo-Spanish song is, however, a relatively traditions. The destruction of countless European of outstanding Bay Area performers. While mu- tance between these two genres, and today Yiddish recent musical repertoire (traceable to the late 19th communities forever changed the soundscape of sic from their repertoires is sometimes presented songs (with all their aesthetic implications) are century), which bears traces of the melodies popu- Europe, and the relocation of hundreds of thou- together, often on the grounds of their shared often considered an integral part its repertoire. larized by the global recording industry, and thus sands of Jewish refugees from North Africa and “Jewishness,” they belong to very different sound- Similarly, the genesis of Judeo-Spanish songs is the includes tangos and references to opera. The staged the equally changed the soundscape scapes and social contexts. result of many layers of music and text. Their lyrics versions of these songs frequently include arrange- of the Islamic world. Reconstructed Jewish tra- Klezmer music is the instrumental rep- are in Judeo-Spanish, a language developed by the ments based on the canons of medieval, early ditions were subsequently recreated in Israel and ertoire of the Jewish professional instrumen- Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula follow- and Mediterranean music, in an attempt to bring the United States, where new musical expressions, talists (klezmorim or, in Yiddish, “vessels/ ing the edict of 1492, promulgated by the Kings of Judeo-Spanish songs back to an ancient, and often including secular musical cultures, have progres- tools of song”) of Eastern Europe, who tradition- Spain. Some of these lyrics originate directly from idealized, past. sively been shaped. ally accompanied Jewish weddings and other fes- medieval Spanish literary models, and include On the other hand, Jewish musical tradi- tive occasions, and also earned a living by playing detailed references to Spanish historical events. tions have been the constant object of study and at the weddings of their non-Jewish neighbors. The Others were instead created later, as part of the Francesco Spagnolo reinterpretation by Jewish performers and com- klezmorim had to be fluent in a variety of musical oral tradition of the Sephardic Jews living in the posers, primarily since the diffusion of com- styles in order to please their highly multi-ethnic , where they found a new home Francesco Spagnolo, PhD, holds degrees in philoso- mercial sound recordings. Artistic involvement patrons, and their musical repertoires incorporated after their expulsion. Their music varies greatly, as phy and music from the University of Milan and has traditionally focused on Ashkenazi (i.e., East elements from Bulgarian, Rumanian, Hungarian, it was created in the Balkans, in , the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and is Head of European) traditions, but also, and possibly for Polish and Ukrainian music, synagogue influ- and , and it is often based on the Arab Research at Magnes in Berkeley. a longer time, on Sephardic (i.e., “Iberian” and/ ences and globalized styles like the polka. Upon or “Mediterranean”) music. Early attempts to pres- the mass immigration of East-European Jews to ent the liturgical music of the Sephardic Jews on the Americas, the klezmorim adapted to the - stage date back to late 19th-century Italy, while the ing taste of their Jewish audience and incorporated Jewish Folk Music Society, active in St. Petersburg elements of swing and jazz into their sounds, until between 1908 and 1918, focused on the klezmer (in- their music became unappealing to the new gen- strumental) music, and the Hassidic and Yiddish erations of American Jews. song of the Ashkenazi Jews. The fact that tradi- Since the early 1970s, the music of the klezmo- tional Jewish music, performed by professionally rim became the object of a new revival launched trained musicians, has been prominently featured by musicians in Israel (Giora Feidman), New York by the recording industry has in turn influenced City (Walter Zev Feldman and Andy Statman) the practice within communal life, and traditional and the San Francisco Bay Area (The Klezmorim). performers have increasingly attempted to sound These early revivalists became the source for a more “like a recording” by adopting the repertoires small “army” of followers, and their music has popularized by their artistic counterparts. A symp- become a new “primary source.” By the 1980s, tomatic byproduct of the confluence between “tra- klezmer music became a mass phenomenon within dition” and “art” is the flourishing, in Israel first the World Music market, and it progressively in- and then in the United States, of a new musical corporated Yiddish songs. Songs in Yiddish, which genre—labeled musiqah mizrachit (in Hebrew, were not traditionally sung or accompanied by “Oriental music”) in Israel and “” in klezmorim, had been created in traditional Jewish the United States—which includes Arab (and thus, contexts (bridging secular and religious themes) “Oriental”) modes, pop and rock arrangements, like other folksong repertoires in Jewish languages hints of a “world music” aesthetics, and lyrics that throughout the Diaspora, including Judeo- combine religious references and liturgical Hebrew and Judeo-Spanish. Beginning with the 19th cen- with nods to the international canons of the “love tury, however, Yiddish songs started to be written song” repertoire. by Jewish poets and composers both as theater The Jewish musical genres that have been the songs—in the growing arena of Yiddish theater— center of artistic and cultural revivals are klezmer and as art songs, and to involve a virtually endless

18 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 19 About the Artists About the Artists

Kaila Flexer Gari Hegedus (oud, lauoto, baglama saz, man- When 16-year old Leah Wollenberg (violin) was The Gonifs docello, , frame drum) plays both bowed and only four, she had a dream that she was playing the plucked strings, including violin and viola, and a violin. For the next two years, she (nicely) asked gonif (Yiddish): (1) a thief; (2) a clever, variety of instruments from Greece and Turkey, her parents (painter Jenny Bloomfield and guitarist mischievous child; (3) “America gonif!” including lauoto, oud, saz and hand drums. In Mike Wollenberg) for a violin. Being artists them- meaning, “Only in America!” addition to playing in Teslim, he performs with selves, how could they refuse? Ms. Wollenberg world music group Stellamara and Persian vocalist took lessons with Kaila Flexer for the next six years. The Gonifs klezmer band formed in 1995 as the Hamed Nikpay. Mr. Hegedus travels frequently to Thus began Ms. Wollenberg’s love for Celtic and house band for San Francisco’s pirate radio station, Greece and Turkey to study, collect instruments and Balkan music, jazz, Swedish music and many other Radio Libre. Part of the second generation of the gain inspiration. He has studied with oud master genres. She has also studied with Julian Smedley, klezmer revival that began in 1970s Berkeley, the

Anne Hamersky Anne and has recorded and performed Laura Risk, Bobbi Nikles, Jeremy Kittel, Martin Gonifs bring a fresh, quirky, anarchistic spirit to with Ross Daly. He has toured with the Mevlevi Hayes, Bruce Molsky and Alastair Fraser. In ad- their deep love for Yiddish music. Teslim Dervish (Sufi) Order of America and continues to dition, Ms. Wollenberg acts and composes fiddle participate in Turkish ceremonial and devotional tunes whenever she isn’t doing her Berkeley High As the Gonifs, sing- Teslim (tes-leem) means both “commit” and “sur- gatherings around the country. Mr. Hegedus had School AP History or English homework. ing accordionist render” in Turkish and features violinist Kaila been playing fiddle and plucked stringed instru- Jeanette Lewicki Flexer, a descendant of Polish klezmer musicians, ments for 15 years, when he found out that his sur- Liza Wallace (harp), now 17 years old, began (Klez-X) and clari- and Gari Hegedus on (mostly plucked) strings in- name means “fiddler” in Hungarian. playing the neo-Celtic harp at age six. Her par- netist Peter Jaques cluding Turkish saz, oud, Greek lauoto and hand ents (dancer Beth Harris and choreographer Rick (Brass Menazerie) drums. This potent duo performs original and Wallace) home-schooled her (and her two broth- meld Ms. Lewicki’s . As composers, their original Teslim Special Guests ers) until the eighth grade. Her harp teachers have effervescent stage work reflects their deep respect for folk music. included Diana Stork and Cheryl Ann Fulton. presence and flu- Teslim just released their debut (self-titled) CD. Julian Smedley (violin) is not only a wonderful Kaila Flexer has been her composition teacher ent Yiddish with They have received partial funding for Project jazz violinist, arranger, producer and sound engi- for three years. Ms. Wallace has performed with Shannon Harrison Mr. Jaques’s flu- Tarab, an exciting collaboration with recording neer, he is a mensch (Yiddish for a really nice guy). the Bay Area Youth Harp Ensemble, Pleiades, the idity in Greek, Jeanette Lewicki artist-composer Ross Daly that will culminate in Originally from England (where he co-founded White Horse Harpers and the duo Harpscotch. Turkish, Arabic and Jewish musical modes to cre- October 2009. the Bowles Brothers Band), he emigrated to the She is also a singer, dancer and actor, and performs ate a language that speaks to everybody. Twenty- United States in 1979. He lives in Berkeley, where in musicals, operas and plays throughout the Bay five-year-old drummer Aaron Kierbel (Rupa and Kaila Flexer (violin, viola, Artistic Director of he has performed and recorded with many groups, Area. Ms. Wallace will graduate from Saint Mary’s the April Fishes) brings solid, danceable beats and Pomegranates & Figs) is a violinist, composer and including Kaila Flexer’s Third Ear, Clubfoot College High School this spring. playful ease to drumset, dumbek and an array of music educator. Ms. Flexer founded Klezmer Orchestra, Dan Hicks, Paul , Jim Kweskin, percussion toys. Bass clarinetist Aaron Novik Mania!, a much-loved annual Bay Area Jewish mu- Mike Wollenberg, The Hot Club of San Francisco, Born in Oum D’Baib, , in 1972, Faisal (Floating World, Gubbish) is a contemporary sic event presented for over 10 years (1989–2002). Duo Gadjo, Café Americain and his singer-- Ghazi Zedan (percussion) grew up obsessed with composer equally at home with odd meters, sensi- She has been at the helm of such bands as Third ist wife, Alison Odell. the derbakki—a goblet-shaped hand drum, made tive improvisations and head-banging heavy metal. Ear, Next Village and Kaila Flexer’s Fieldharmonik, of clay or metal, usually with a natural skin head The newest Gonif, bassistStuart Brotman (Brave and has performed with Club Foot Orchestra, Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Shira and sometimes referred to as a dumbek. Largely Old World, Veretski Pass), has been playing and Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble and Persian singer Kammen (violin, vielle) is one of the leading early self-taught, on dumbek and also riqq (a skin-cov- performing for nearly half a century. A multi- Hamed Nikpay, among others. Ms. Flexer teaches music performers in the world. This is not hyper- ered, -like instrument), Mr. Zedan instrumentalist, composer and arranger, with the violin and composition in her Oakland studio, as bole. Not only that, she is one of the most ener- began his studies upon relocating to California in Gonifs he plays the basy, a traditional Carpathian well as holding a variety of workshops, including getic people you will ever meet. Her enthusiasm for 1992, where he studied with noted ethnomusicol- bowed bass that drives the klezmer dance rhythm. the upcoming string and Balkan ensemble work- music and for life is positively contagious. She has ogy professor Ali Jihad Racy. He has performed shops at the Jazzschool in Berkeley (January– played with Ensemble Alcatraz, Project Ars Nova, with the UCLA Near East Music Ensemble, the March). She is launching an educational deck of Medieval Strings, The King’s Noyse, harpist-story- Near East music group Kan Zaman, Julian Weiss playing cards called The Music Deck. teller Patrick Ball, Kitka and the California Revels, of the Syrian-based Al Kindi Ensemble, and is the founder of Class V Music, an ensemble player George Sawa, and the Los Angeles-based dedicated to performance on river-rafting trips. Youm It Talaata percussion group, of which he is a The strangest place Ms. Kammen has played is in founding member. the elephant pit of the Jerusalem Zoo.

20 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 21 About the Artists

In recent years, Kitka has been exploring the soulful song traditions of Eastern European Jewish women. The group’s live-concert docu- mentary, Kitka and Davka in Concert: Old and New World Jewish Music, has won awards at in- ternational film festivals from Beijing to Toronto and has been broadcast on more than 80 public television stations nationwide. Sung in Hebrew, Ladino, Yiddish, Hungarian, Russian, Bulgarian and Ukrainian, Kitka’s music showcases ecstatic Hasidic chants, contemplative prayers from the Ashkenazi tradition, tender Sephardic lullabies, and songs of work, love, loss and celebration from the Jewish Diaspora. Performers include Caitlin Tabancay Austin, Leslie Bonnett, Briget Boyle, Shira Cion, Catherine Rose Crowther, Juliana Graffagna and Janet Kutulas. Pixie Vision Productions

Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble

Kitka, meaning “bouquet” in Bulgarian and Macedonian, began in 1979 as a grassroots group of singers from diverse ethnic and musical back- grounds who shared a passion for the stunning dis- sonances, asymmetric rhythms, intricate ornamen- tation, lush harmonies and resonant strength of Eastern European women’s vocal traditions. Since its informal beginnings, the group has evolved into a professional touring ensemble that has earned international recognition for its artistry, versatil- ity and fresh approach to folk music. Through a busy itinerary of live and broadcast performances, recordings, educational programs, master artist residencies, commissioning programs and adven- turesome collaborations, Kitka has exposed mil- lions to the haunting beauty of their unique body of repertoire. Kitka has released seven recordings on their own Diaphonica record label, the most re- cent being Sanctuary: A Cathedral Concert.

22 CAL PERFORMANCES