Spring forum? What spring? Heavy rain and cold weather welcomed Jewish Senior Alliance\u2019s spring forum that took place at the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture May 15. But the forum\u2019s title, With a Song in My Heart, was more than fitting and filled the audience with warmth and, I would add to it, \u201cAnd a Smile on My Face.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first hybrid program of JSA attracted 40 people attending in-person, as well as another 40 people by streaming links. Gyda Chud, co-president of JSA, welcomed the audience and reminded them of the work JSA does in outreach, advocacy and, especially, peer support.<\/p>\n
The program featured Wendy Bross Stuart, ethnomusicologist, music director, composer and piano accompanist, and was dedicated to the memory of two musicians of exceptional talent: Claire Klein Osipov z\u201dl and Joan Beckow z\u201dl. Bross Stuart said she was pleased to have been able to engage three superb singers for the performance \u2013 Erin Aberle-Palm, Kat Palmer and Chris Adams, who delighted the audience with not only their beautiful voices but also with their charming stage presence.<\/p>\n
The program started with the beautiful title song, \u201cWith a Song in My Heart,\u201d which is a show tune from the 1929 Rodgers and Hart musical Spring is Here<\/em>.<\/p>\n Bross Stuart spoke about the Joan Beckow Legacy Project, started by Bross Stuart\u2019s daughter, musician and composer Jessica Stuart, which spotlights works of the brilliant, prolific and totally under-celebrated composer, who died in January 2021. Beckow had been Michael Bubl\u00e9\u2019s vocal coach, as well as Carol Burnett\u2019s music director. She wrote \u201cPretending\u201d to capture the sense of wonder provided by \u201cSomewhere Over the Rainbow.\u201d Burnett learned it in a day and it became part of their production.<\/p>\n The forum performance included the Hebrew song \u201cTov L\u2019Hodot,\u201d as well as George Gershwin\u2019s \u201cSomeone to Watch Over Me,\u201d which was most famously sung by Ella Fitzgerald. It continued with my all-time favourite Yiddish song, \u201cOyfn Pripetshik,\u201d which made me think of my mother, followed by \u201cRozhinkes mit Mandlen,\u201d which prompted many in the audience to sing along.<\/p>\n \u201cGuided by the Stars\u201d was a conversation between husband (Captain Cook) and wife, who pleaded him to be careful upon his forthcoming voyage. Alas, Captain Cook\u2019s life came to a fatal end on that last journey.<\/p>\n While almost all of us are familiar with the song \u201cSomewhere Over the Rainbow,\u201d how many of us know that it was written by sons of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, who escaped the pogroms to \u201ca land they only imagined in their dreams\u201d? Edgar Yispel (Yip) and Harold Alan wrote the song for The Wizard of Oz<\/em>, which came out on New Year\u2019s Day 1939, less than two months after Kristallnacht. The music is deeply embedded in the Jewish experience, and the lyrics become more about Jewish survival than wizards.<\/p>\n A medley from Fiddler on the Roof<\/em> further entertained listeners, followed by Beckow\u2019s \u201cOn the Other Side of Nowhere.\u201d Her son, David Beckow, selected his mother\u2019s lyrics to inscribe on her gravestone: \u201cWhen this life is over, we will meet somehow, on the other side of nowhere, on the far side of now.\u201d<\/p>\n The performance ended with a singalong of \u201cTum Balalaika\u201d and an encore of \u201cDona Dona.\u201d<\/p>\n Shanie Levin thanked the performers and spoke of the importance of remembering and honouring Beckow and Klein Osipov.<\/p>\n The next JSA event takes place on June 27, 1 p.m., at Congregation Beth Tikvah, and features tenor Gustavo Herrera. The hybrid event is co-sponsored by Kehila Society and the synagogue; if attending the lunch portion, the cost is $12. Register by June 24 with Toby Rubin, trubin@kehilasociety.org<\/a>, or via jsalliance.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tamara Frankel<\/strong> is a member of the board of Jewish Seniors Alliance and of the editorial committee of <\/em>Senior Line magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spring forum? What spring? Heavy rain and cold weather welcomed Jewish Senior Alliance\u2019s spring forum that took place at the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture May 15. But the forum\u2019s title, With a Song in My Heart, was more than fitting and filled the audience with warmth and, I would add to it, \u201cAnd […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[788],"tags":[21499,2406,21595,614,1719,21498,186],"class_list":["post-38967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","tag-claire-klein-osipov","tag-jewish-seniors-alliance","tag-joan-beckow-legacy-project","tag-jsa","tag-wendy-bross-stuart","tag-with-a-song-in-my-heart","tag-yiddish"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38967\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}