{"id":39230,"date":"2022-07-22T01:34:35","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T08:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=39230"},"modified":"2022-07-20T12:03:49","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T19:03:49","slug":"a-composer-for-the-queen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2022\/07\/22\/a-composer-for-the-queen\/","title":{"rendered":"A composer for the Queen"},"content":{"rendered":"

British-Israeli composer Loretta Kay Feld. (photo by Michal Sela)<\/em><\/p>\n

Loretta Kay Feld was asked by someone close to Queen Elizabeth II to compose three tributes, which, said Kay Feld, \u201cwere gifted to Her Majesty to honour her 70 years on the throne, a life filled with grace, fortitude and dedication to her country.\u201d<\/p>\n

One work is a personal song, called \u201cThe Queen\u2019s Soliloquy,\u201d that premi\u00e8red last February. The second is \u201cA Symphonic Medley of Music for Her Majesty\u2019s Platinum Jubilee,\u201d which includes four instrumental segments \u2013 from \u201cSoliloquy,\u201d the pieces \u201cWe Never Felt So Glorious\u201d and \u201cThe Lord Chamberlain\u2019s Processional March and Song,\u201d and the third tribute Kay Feld composed for the Queen, which premi\u00e8red last month, called \u201c70 Years a Queen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kay Feld was born in London and trained in music composition and drama at the Royal College and Guildhall School of Music. She toured with plays and musicals in the West End of London and has published several books. She is a prolific, award-winning composer, lyricist and author, who now lives in Ra\u2019anana, Israel. She made aliyah 11 years ago and is in her final year of a master\u2019s at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to come here [Israel] since I was a child in Hebrew school but life has a way of changing your plans,\u201d she said. \u201cI got married and lived in America. I gave concerts all over New York, from 1973 into the \u201980s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kay Feld wrote for a children\u2019s television network and composed music in many genres. She has written about 900 songs and musical compositions. One of those is the song \u201cHymn for Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wrote it after the Yom Kippur War [in 1973] and I received letters from Moshe Dayan and Menachem Begin thanking me. The \u2018Shabbat Song\u2019 I wrote is also on YouTube and is sung in communities all over the world. \u2018I\u2019m Going to Keep America Singing,\u2019\u201d she said, \u201cwas performed at the inaugurations of presidents Obama and Biden, played by the Marine band.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making aliyah was one dream come true. Composing for the Queen was another.<\/p>\n

When Kay Feld was 19, she performed for the royal family at the Variety Club for Great Britain at Victoria Palace and, after the show, was escorted to the box where the royals were seated. She remembers speaking with Princess Margaret and shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth II.<\/p>\n

The opening lyrics of \u201cThe Queen\u2019s Soliloquy\u201d are: \u201cYou may ask me what I\u2019m thinking on my Platinum Jubilee \/ And of all these celebrations, what they really mean to me \/ Well, my mind keeps drifting backwards, to a life yet unforeseen \/ Trembling at my coronation, unprepared to become a queen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we make it to threescore and 10,\u201d said Kay Feld, \u201cwe\u2019re considered by Judaism to be filled with wisdom, and the Queen is definitely filled with wisdom. They say the Queen learned five languages when she was young, and one of them was Hebrew.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kay Feld said she was offered a singer from the Royal National Opera House for \u201cThe Queen\u2019s Soliloquy\u201d but instead chose classical and contemporary singer Shlomit Leah Kovalski, who was born in Jerusalem to parents who made aliyah \u2013 her father from Montreal, her mother from New York.<\/p>\n

Jamie Clarkston Collins and Eli Schurder of SoundSuiteStudio in Jerusalem do post-production of Kay Feld\u2019s music and the videos are directed and edited by Jason Figgis.<\/p>\n

Describing her creative process, Kay Feld said, \u201cI compose when I\u2019m out walking along the sea or in nature, and I think about what I\u2019m composing and usually it just comes to me as if from the air. I write all the music in my head and the lyrics usually come at the same time and I go home and write out the manuscript.\u201d<\/p>\n

For her third royal tribute, \u201c70 Years a Queen,\u201d Kay Feld said, \u201cI tried to write a song that I felt everybody throughout the world would be able to sing if they desired to. The melody is simple and the lyrics memorable with a tinge of humour.\u201d Such lyrics as \u201c\u2026 70 years a queen \/ Four children in between \/ The Grandmama of future kings \/ Elizabeth, our Queen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The music is accompanied by the singing of renowned baritone Noah Brieger, who, Kay Feld said, \u201cHas an outstanding voice with a great tone. He sang the lyrics with meaning and emotion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brieger, like Kovalski, was born in Israel. He graduated from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and continued his training in the United States. An award-winning performer, he has sung in dozens of productions at the Israeli Opera, including lead roles in Don Pasquale <\/em>(Donizetti), La Cenerentola<\/em> (Rossini), La Boh\u00e8me<\/em>(Puccini), Romeo et Juliette<\/em> (Gounod), Schitz<\/em> (Rechter) and more. He also has performed in Germany, the United States, France, Italy and China.<\/p>\n

Kay Feld is excited about a new project she has been working on for a number of years \u2013 1897, The Musical<\/em>. There are 27 original songs and the choreography is by her daughter, Dorothy Eisdorfer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe story is about the degrading things they did in Victorian times, but I want to tell the story with dignity,\u201d said Kay Feld. \u201cIt expresses the desires of two women, one in the lower and one in the higher class.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her plan is to hire an all Israeli cast and crew, \u201cto showcase all the wonderful talent we have here in Israel,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019d like to find enough funding so I can pay all the performers fairly.\u201d<\/p>\n

She wants to film the musical and livestream it globally \u201cfor all the world to see. It will be a most splendid performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

For someone whose music has been performed for presidents and queens, Kay Feld remains humble. \u201cI just believe everyone has a gift,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd if one can use the gift to make the world a better place, that\u2019s what matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toby Klein Greenwald<\/strong> is an award-winning journalist, educational theatre director, teacher and the editor-in-chief of wholefamily.com. Anyone interested in supporting <\/em>1897, The Musical can write to Loretta Kay Feld at lorettakayfeld@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British-Israeli composer Loretta Kay Feld. (photo by Michal Sela) Loretta Kay Feld was asked by someone close to Queen Elizabeth II to compose three tributes, which, said Kay Feld, \u201cwere gifted to Her Majesty to honour her 70 years on the throne, a life filled with grace, fortitude and dedication to her country.\u201d One work […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[788],"tags":[724,4330,21682,4893],"class_list":["post-39230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-aliyah","tag-israel","tag-loretta-kay-feld","tag-queen-elizabeth-ii"],"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\/39230","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=39230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}