Shabbat Shirah Concert 2012

WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?

Join Cantorial Soloist Re'ut Ben-Ze'ev, Music Director Joyce Rosenzweig, the CBST Community Chorus, and an assortment of noted guest performers in this concert in celebration of the most powerful and primal of all human emotions. From songs of parental love to passionate, romantic love, from the pure love of a beloved pet to the sacred love of God, this program will include arias and art songs, gems from musical theatre, Song of Songs, and more. Come and be swept away by the beauty, mystery, heartbreak, ecstasy, and utter joy in this "love-ly" evening of song!

This year’s concert will also honor CBST member Pierre Vallet. Pierre has given his musical talents to CBST by coaching singers, serving on our cantorial intern search committees and producing Shabbat Shirah in 2007. This year he conducted the opening of the season at the Barcelona Opera and made his conducting debut at the Metropolitan Opera on December 17th. We are pleased to be highlighting a member of our community for the musical gifts he brings both to CBST and the larger musical world.

We're adding an addendum to the concert journal honoring Pierre Vallet. It's not too late to purchase a journal ad!

Business card size message in the journal and 1 ticket - $180.

Business Card size message in the journal - $150.  

One line entry in the journal - $100.  

Once you pay for journal ad, click here  to submit your message for the 2012 Shabbat Shirah Journal, in honor of Pierre Vallet.

Concert tickets are available through the Merkin Concert Hall Box office -- $40 general admission and $20 for students. To purchase tickets, click here  or call 212-501-3330.

About the Artists

Joyce Rosenzweig  is a frequent recitalist in concerts throughout the US, Canada, Europe, and Israel. She has collaborated in chamber music recitals with ensembles from the New York Philharmonic and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and appeared as soloist with the New Orleans Philharmonic and Texas Festival Orchestra. She has been featured at the International Jewish Music Festival (Amsterdam), the Jewish Cultural Festival (Berlin), the Ashkenaz Festival (Toronto), the Chicago and Charlotte Yiddish Institutes, Klezkamp, and the North American Jewish Choral Festival. She was the featured conductor at the URJ Biennial in San Diego, and was the Scholar-in-Residence at the American Conference of Cantors’ Annual Convention in 2009. Ms. Rosenzweig is a dedicated educator of cantors and synagogue musicians, having served for over twenty-five years on the faculty of Hebrew Union College-School of Sacred Music in New York, where she holds the title of Artist-in-Residence. She has also been a faculty member at the Jewish Theological Seminary since 2004, and has served as Music Director of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in Manhattan since 1994.

Israeli mezzo soprano Re’ut Ben-Ze’ev  won critical acclaim for her “impassioned…”  “…bold, committed account…” (The New York Times),  “intense expression and pure voice” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung  ),  “emotionally and vocally masterful performance” (New Music Connoisseur  ) and “outstandingly beautiful voice and performance” (YIVO News.) Passionate about music of many genres, she has performed operatic and concert repertoire as well as cutting-edge collaborations and is an avid promoter of a wide range of Jewish music. Re’ut appeared throughout Canada, Europe, Israel, and the United States in venues such as Lincoln Center, Jerusalem Music Centre, Spoleto Festival, USA, Center for Jewish History-YIVO, Der arbiter Ring (Workmen’s Circle), Lucille Lortel Theater, The American Academy in Berlin, the Israel Vocal Arts Institute, the Tel-Aviv Museum of Art, on Robert Sherman’s Young Artists Showcase on WQXR and on Kol Hamusika.  She collaborated with and/or premiered works by composers such as Pulitzer Prize winning composers David Del Tredici and Yehudi Wyner, Samuel Adler, Matthew Greenbaum, Gil Shohat and Dalit H. Warshaw among many others.

The CBST Community Chorus  is recognized as one of the leading synagogue choirs in the United States. The Chorus plays an integral part in the spiritual life of CBST with its participation in High Holy Day, Shabbat, and life-cycle services, in addition to special services for Chanukah, Kristallnacht, Sephardic Shabbat, World Aids Day, Yom Ha’atzma’ut, GLBT Pride, etc. In addition, it represents CBST at community-wide Yom Hashoah and Martin Luther King commemorations, GLBT Pride events, interfaith choral festivals, and at nursing homes and other synagogues, in addition to being featured multiple times at the North American Jewish Choral Festival to great acclaim. The Chorus has recorded two CDs: Psalms and B’chol L’vavcha (based on the new CBST siddur for Shabbat), which are available through the CBST office or website.