Kolot Nashim – Jewish Music by Women Composers 2020-2021

The Zamir Chorale of Boston presents:

Kolot Nashim:

Jewish Music by Women Composers

A Virtual Concert and Conversation

Part I – Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Part II – Tuesday, May 25, 2021

For many centuries, the world of professional music making had been an exclusively male bastion in Western civilization. Female composers and public performers were a rarity in Europe and America and it was nearly impossible for them to have their works published or heard on concert stages. Kol ishah – the voice of a woman – was suppressed. Now we are presenting kolot nashim – the voices of many women, restoring them to their deserved position.

“Kolot Nashim,” a year-long program celebrating the many roles of women in Jewish music, is dedicated to the memory of Linda Plaut, the City of Newton’s longtime Director of Cultural Affairs and founder of the Newton Festival of the Arts. The November program, hosted by Josh Jacobson and Lidiya Yankovskaya, commemorated the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote and paid tribute to late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Part II of “Kolot Nashim” is hosted by Josh Jacobson and Amy Lieberman.

Kolot Nashim’s May program includes

Interviews with composers Benjie Ellen Schiller, with a performance of her “Harninu” (Psalm 81); Elena Kats- Chernin (Sydney, Australia), with a U.S. premiere performance of her Psalm 23; Kirsten and Ken Lampl (Canberra, Australia), with a performance of their “Dirshu.”
A discussion about Naomi Shemer and performance of her “Shirat Hasavim.”
An interview with Achinoam Nini (aka Noa), with a new performance of her and Mira Awad’s “There Must Be Another Way.”

Thank you to our sponsors:

Underwriters: Robert and Myra Snyder; Supporters: The Beker Foundation, Joyce and Michael Bohnen, Peter Bronk and Susan Axe-Bronk, Combined Jewish Philanthropies, The Harold and Evelyn R. Davis Memorial Foundation, Jonathan Plaut, Julie Plaut Mahoney, Gilbert and Jill Schiffer, Josh and Ronda Jacobson, Temple Reyim, Newton, MA, Cantor Louise and Richard Treitman; Friends: The Consulate General of Israel to New England, Bruce and Mady Donoff, Family of Rabbi H. Bruce Ehrmann, Marcia Solkoff Eskin, Elyse and Sanford Friedman, David Harris, Cantor Erica Lippitz, Newton Cultural Council.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Newton Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Kolot Nashim’s November program included

An interview with Israeli composer Nurit Hirsh, and a performance of her “Boker Shel Zahav” (A Golden Morning)
An interview with composer Alice Parker, and a performance of her “An American Kedushah”
An interview with composer Meira Warshauer, and the premiere virtual performance of her “Place These Words”
A performance of “Oy Mame, Bin Ikh Farlibt (Oy Mamma, I’m in Love)” by Abe Ellstein and Molly Picon, featuring violinist Dan Stepner and soloist Lidiya Yankovskaya

Additional Kolot Nashim Programs

Judy Pinnolis – The history of women cantors https://youtu.be/rnHjdmog_vg
Prof. Josh Jacobson – Jewish Women in Music (a historical look) https://youtu.be/EbQnar23jK0
Prof. Rebecca Cypess – Jewish women’s musical salons https://youtu.be/M5NvDJ7100Q
Composer Judith Shatin – an interview https://youtu.be/i5FBaohJCNo
Conductor Judy Campbell – an interview https://youtu.be/Zga0Te0lpNc
Conductor Julia Zavadsky – an interview https://youtu.be/tP2QbiNC0dY
Conductor Noreen Green – an interview https://youtu.be/xDo2M5x8Vko