By Steve Simmons – posted at 5:58 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 10, 2021
The Los Angeles Jewish Symphony (LAJS) continues its return to live performances with a celebration of Jewish women composers, Women’s Voices, Women’s Souls at 7:30 p.m., Sunday Oct. 17 at Temple Israel of Hollywood. Tickets are available to attend the program in-person and thanks to underwriting, live streaming will be available for free thanks to a gift from Trana K. Labowe and the Labowe Family Foundation. For more information, see below.
Described as a concert and discussion, the 90-minute program will feature Maria Newman’s Shirat Hayam (Song of the Sea), excerpts from Sharon Farber’s Only A Book and five selections from Andrea Clearfield’s cantata, Women of Valor, an homage to Old Testament heroines.
Following the hour of music will be a discussion with participating artists, including the composers, of ancient Jewish stories reinterpreted by contemporary Jewish women moderated by Eileen Strempel, inaugural dean of the The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. The Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience at UCLA is co-sponsor of the event, along with Temple Israel.
A Personal Connection
LAJS Founder and Artistic Director Dr. Noreen Green has a personal relationship with Clearfield’s oratorio, which forms the centerpiece of the concert. Green and Clearfield met in 1993 at the Aspen Summer Music Festival when Green and Clearfield were in their respective master classes for conducting and composing and Green’s mentor Maestro Murry Sidlin gave her a piece by Clearfield to conduct.
“We connected as students and became good friends,” says Green. “She said she was developing a symphony, and one of my goals was to conduct a piece by a woman composer based on women of the Bible. Andrea was looking to compose a large-scale work, so I kind of commissioned the piece and I was involved from the outset. We talked about the structure and which women to highlight.”
Clearfield was inspired by a book on Proverbs 31, The Eshet Chayil, that details the attributes of a good wife or an ideal woman, given to her by Green and Ian Drew, which likened each line of the text to a biblical woman’s story. Clearfield used it as framework drawing text from portions of Genesis, Judges, and the Book of Esther to serve as text for the recitatives. The arias tell the stories of the women from the perspectives of 10 contemporary women writers including Sandy Shanin, who will attend the event.
The award-winning cantata is comprised of three large sections, each including duets, orchestral interludes and narration in English, Hebrew and Yiddish.
Of the process, Green recalls, “Andrea would write a new aria and send it to me, and I’d write back and say, ‘this is fantastic.’ I lived vicariously as a composer through her,” says Green, who also had a hand in the orchestration.
Green premiered the work in 2000 at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Clocking in at just over an hour, it was the “first major work” she conducted. She and the orchestra recorded the piece in 2017 for Albany Records.
Women of Valor
With strings, harp and percussion, Green will lead five excerpts from the award-winning cantata with soprano Hila Plitmann, featured in the work’s premiere and recording, and mezzo-soprano Iris Malkin. Actress Susan Morgenstern will narrate.
–Clearfield dedicated the Hannah movement, with narrated text by Ellen Frankel, to Green’s daughter, her goddaughter. Childless, Hannah prayed for a son, promising to dedicate him to God. Her prayers were answered with the birth of her son Samuel. “It’s a gorgeous movement,” says Green.
–The Leah and Rachel stories are “the stuff of a movie,” says Green. “You have two women in love with the same man and you have to wonder ‘what was Leah thinking knowing her betrothed, betrayed by her father, wanted Rachel?’” Leah’s song text is from The Tune to Jacob Who Removed the Stone from the Mouth of the Well by Rivka Miriam. Rachel’s text is from Rokhl by Roza Yakubovitsh.
–Jocheved, Moses’ mother, placed him in a waterproof basket and sent it down the Nile to save him. “I’m a mother and I can’t imagine what that would be like,” says Green. The aria text, from Shanin’s Jacheved’s Song, asks the winds to keep him safe.
–The Miriam section is dedicated to Green. Miriam, who led the women with her timbrel as they crossed the Red Sea, dancing and singing, “was the first female conductor,” says Green. “She’s my inspiration.” The narrated text is from the Five Books of Miriam by Dr. Ellen Frankel. Sung texts are from The Songs of Miriam by Dr. Alicia Suskin Ostriker from her Nakedness of the Fathers: Biblical Visions and Revisions.
Song Of The Sea
Opening the concert will be local composer Maria Newman’s Shirat Hayam (Song of the Sea). Commissioned by the LAJS in 2006 and also dedicated to Green and Cantor Marcelo Gidlin of the Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue, the piece helped open the center.
Using string orchestra and harp, the piece tells the story of the Jewish exodus from Egypt.
Remembering Daniel Pearl
The main theme and selections from Sharon Farber’s Only A Book will be dedicated to Daniel Pearl. October is Daniel Pearl Month, says Farber. The Wall Street Journal journalist, who was kidnapped and later decapitated by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002, was born on Dec. 10.
The piece consists of five variations, based on an anonymous poem of the same name, about the tie between the Jewish people and the book of faith. The third variation Mourning is especially appropriate for the occasion, Green says, the sad music conveys loneliness and disbelief.
Farber has strong ties to the Pearl family. She was Judea Pearl’s (Daniel’s father) arranger when he was conductor of LA Shir, a Los Angeles Hebrew choir. She wrote Mothers’ Lament/ The Third Mother in Pearl’s memory and dedicated to his parents, Judea and Ruth. The Los Angeles Master Chorale premiered the piece in 2020.
“Sharon and I have been very close with the Pearl family,” says Green. “We are playing the music in memory of Daniel and Ruth, who died in July.”
The Right Tine
“With Andrea coming to town we thought this would be a great opportunity to celebrate women writers, artists and musicians,” says Green. “In a time when women’s rights are being stripped away around the world and even in the U.S., it’s important to remember that women are nurturers and creators.
“This is also a time when there are no women conductors of A or B level orchestras,” Green points out. “I founded a niche in Jewish music that works, so it’s even more important for me to champion women composers.”
Temple Israel of Hollywood is at 7300 Hollywood Blvd., L.A. In-person tickets are $36, $18 for students. For more information, visit lajs.org/womens-voices-womens-souls/. To attend in person, proof of vaccination is required at the door by. Additionally, masks must be worn while indoors and seating will be spaced out to allow for social distancing.
Steve Simmons is an accomplished writer and editor who writes about a wide array of topics including entertainment. His successful experience at the Beverly Hills Courier and other publications set the stage for his blog. Contact Steve at steve.simmons0211@gmail.com or 626-788-6734.
