Musical memorials to the Holocaust tread on sensitive ground. On one hand, they perform a crucial function for humanity’s collective memory. On the other hand, there is significant risk of belittling the topic in the name of artistic expression. Two…
Viktor Ullmann, 1924. (photo from Arnold Schoenberg Centre Los Angeles) The memories of City Opera Vancouver’s production of The Emperor of Atlantis in 2009 still resonate. Written by Viktor Ullmann (composer) and Petr Kien (librettist) in 1943-44 at Theresienstadt concentration…
Sim Shalom founder Rabbi Steven Blane leads the services and the band on the online synagogue’s new CD. (photo from Sim Shalom) Google “Canada synagogue live streaming” and a handful of choices come up, including Vancouver’s Temple Sholom. There are…
Itamar Erez will perform together with Liron Man and François Houle on Sept. 11 at VCC Music Auditorium. (photo from CWR) On Sept. 11, Itamar Erez takes to the stage with two of his “favorite musicians on earth”: Liron Man…
After having spent decades trying to visit Wilensky’s lunch counter, made famous by the Mordecai Richler novel and film The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, I finally made it to the weekday-only Mile End joint in Montreal a couple of months…
Babe Gurr’s Butchart Gardens Summer Festival concert on July 24 is the first of several in July (photo from Babe Gurr) Musician Babe Gurr has a busy summer ahead with concerts at Butchart Gardens Summer Festival, Islands Folk Festival, Harmony…
Shtreiml and Ismail Fencioglu will play at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, as well as concerts on Vancouver and Salt Spring islands. (photo from Vancouver Folk Music Festival) Shtreiml and Ismail Fencioglu will be right at home among the top…
Janie Respitz’s fascination with Yiddish, its history and its role in Jewish culture grew naturally. “My grandparents spoke Yiddish at home,” she said in an interview with the Independent from her home in Montreal. “I knew Yiddish songs and expressions.…
Ester Rada is at the Imperial on May 2 and McPherson Playhouse on June 19. (photo from Ester Rada) Ester Rada’s most recent recording, I Wish, was released in March. The EP features Rada’s interpretation of four of her “favorite…
Micha Biton headlines the community’s Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrations April 22. (photo from Micha Biton via Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver) Seven years in the making, Laura Bialis’ documentary Rock in the Red Zone premièred last October at the Haifa Film…
