Members of the Clore & Roll Ensemble will perform in Vancouver on May 13. <\/i>(photo from Clore Centre)<\/i><\/p>\n
Every year, it is sobering to experience the transition from Yom Hazikaron, the day of remembrance for Israel\u2019s fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism, into Yom Ha\u2019atzmaut, the celebration of Israel\u2019s Independence Day. This year, it will be even more so. And it will be especially poignant, given that the musical group headlining the local community gathering on May 13 is an ensemble from Kfar Blum, a kibbutz in the Galilee Panhandle, in northern Israel, where some 60,000 people have been evacuated because of the threats posed by Hezbollah in Lebanon.<\/p>\n
The Clore & Roll Ensemble is an initiative of the music school of the Clore Centre for the Performing Arts, which also has a dance and theatre school. The centre was established in 1996 and approximately 1,000 students (which include adults) study there. They come from kibbutzim and moshavim in the area, as well as Druze and Arab towns.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad to say that the conflict doesn\u2019t get inside the centre,\u201d Telem Chorin, chief executive officer of the Clore Centre and director of the ensemble, told the Independent<\/i>. \u201cMusic is an international language and also an emotional language that connects people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
While the Clore Centre\u2019s offerings remain afterschool programs, the centre has played a more important role in students\u2019 lives since the Oct. 7 terror attacks that led to the current war.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor some kids, the Clore is like a second home,\u201d said Chorin. \u201cBecause, for some students, it is a more stable place than the hotel they were evacuated to, or the school that is currently closed or working partially.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite being displaced, ensemble members have been coming together weekly to practise for the show in Vancouver. Rehearsals are at the centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast week, we had matriculation exams in dance and, during April and May, we will have matriculation exams in music playing,\u201d said Chorin. \u201cIt is interesting to see how committed the students are to performing arts subjects even in such a period, and how much effort they have to invest \u2013 time, long journeys, sometimes even risking [their safety] and coming to Kfar Blum, even though it is relatively more dangerous here than in their homes or the hotels they have moved to. This shows how important it is to them and how much they don\u2019t give up on it despite everything, and maybe even this is what keeps them \u2018sane\u2019 amidst all the chaos currently prevailing in the north.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some members of the ensemble have been playing together for more than five years in different capacities, but the group that is coming to Vancouver has only been playing together for the past three months, said\u00a0Chorin. Due to the war and the evacuations, the group had to rebuild. \u201cWe\u2019ve added additional musicians to the band so that you will have an amazing show!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Coming to Vancouver are Menachem Ofri (17, singer), Yaron Shir (18, singer), Kachtan Aviv (17, flute), Maman Moria (17, alto saxophone), Moyal Ido (17, tenor saxophone), Shem Tov Ido (19, trombone), Kovesh Gil (24, drums), Primor Adi (17, electric guitar), Fitzer Tal (16, piano) and Deutscher Goni (16, bass guitar). Also coming are Ziv Greenberg (music director), Ferry Stefan (dance teacher and dancer), Malki Smadar (administrative manager) and Kashri Noam (technical manager).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOfri, Ido Shem-Tov, Aviv and Noam were evacuated from their homes,\u00a0and they are coming from all over the country to the rehearsals at the centre \u2013 sometimes, under rocket attacks!\u201d said Chorin, who will join the band in the performance, on clarinet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSome of the students have already appeared in Edmonton and Calgary,\u201d he said. \u201cI have performed in Edmonton, Calgary, Windsor and Hamilton, but this is my first time in Vancouver and I am very excited! Some of the students were in Vancouver on student exchanges with their schools in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n Of what it means for the Clore & Roll ensemble to play a Yom Ha\u2019atzmaut concert in the diaspora, Chorin said, \u201cIt is a great pride and honour to represent the state of Israel in general, and the Upper Galilee in particular, in such a show, on the eve of Independence Day, in a challenging time like now.\u201d<\/p>\n The ensemble will present a wide-ranging repertoire.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are going to play modern Israeli songs (Idan Raichel, Mizrachit<\/i> [Israeli pop]), classic Israeli songs and also some songs in English,\u201d said Chorin. \u201cA very diverse and happy program.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBringing the Clore ensemble serves as a reminder of the unbreakable bond we share across borders,\u201d said Dafna Silberstein, associate director of Israel connections and partnerships at the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver. \u201cIt is also an amazing opportunity for the ensemble of teens and young adults to take a break from what they have been through for the past six months. And, for us, it feels like it is exactly what we need this year: coming together as a community united for and with our brothers and sisters in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n Jewish Federation has supported the Clore Centre as part of the Coast-to-Coast Federations\u2019 Collective and independently, \u201cas the centre is in our partnership region of Kiryat Shmona and the Galilee Panhandle,\u201d explained Silberstein.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have wanted to bring the Clore ensemble for awhile now, to showcase the impact our support has had on its students and have been waiting for the right opportunity,\u201d she said, noting that it is \u201cwith mixed emotions\u201d that Oct. 7 created that opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year, the commemoration of Israel\u2019s 76th Independence Day holds an even deeper meaning and significance,\u201d said Silberstein. \u201cIt is an opportunity to stand together in solidarity and celebrate our shared values. Considering the spike in antisemitism, the need for community unity has become more important than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n