Jewish Music Commission of Los Angeles & Valley Beth Shalompresent

Saturday, March 10, 2012

7:30 p.m.

A recital by the celebrated mezzo-soprano Laurie Rubin

with Marija Stroke, piano and Jennifer Taira, clarinet

in a portrait of her life as an artist who happens to be blind

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Program

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Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-99)Cantiga Serranilla Soneto Barcarola Canción del Grumete Esta niña se lleva la flor

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)Les berceauxClair de luneEn sourdineNell

 Bruce Adolphe (b. 1955)Do You Dream in Color? (poem by Laurie Rubin)

InTeRMISSIon

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (The Shepherd on the Rock)

Aminadav Aloni (1928-1999)Set Me as a Seal

George Gershwin (1898-1937)Summertime (Lyrics by Ira Gershwin)Someone to Watch Over Me (Lyrics by Ira Gershwin)

Yiddish MedleyMusic by Abraham Ellstein (1907-63)Lyrics by Molly Picon (1898-1992)

Oi Mamme, Mazel, and Abi Gezunt

Piano courtesy of Keyboard Concepts

artist

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Laurie rubin When my parents and Valley Beth Shalom members, Arnold and Lilly Rubin, found out that their 3-month-old daughter was blind with no foreseeable treatment or cure, they realized that they were in store for a bunch of firsts. They had never known anyone who was blind or who had a blind child, and they also knew that most of their friends and family in their immediate circle would be confronting blindness for the first time. Even though the first time dealing with any situation can be daunting, it can also be a lot of fun.

Neal Schnall, who was the principal of VBS Hebrew School, took on the challenge of integrating me seamlessly into classes with sighted kids with a great deal of enthusiasm. It was he who found the Jewish Braille Institute in New York City which sent me all text books, Siddurim, and other materials I needed in Braille. Because VBS had welcomed me and the unique challenge I posed for them, I gave them one of their firsts in return. I became the first blind congregation member to become a Bat Mitzvah. I will never forget the butterflies in my stomach as I placed my large Braille books containing my Torah

portion, roughly the size of a volume of the Britannica Encyclopedia, on top of the unfurled Torah scroll, and the sense of triumph and relief as I made it through yet another bit of the chanting without messing up.

I also remember a disturbance that took place in the middle of the service, and heard people talking in whispers followed by the unmistakable sound of furniture being moved. I thought nothing of it at the time, but I soon learned that the synagogue had received an unprecedented number of congregation members entering the main sanctuary that day, so much so that they had to add row upon row of folding chairs to accommodate everyone. There was nothing particularly special about the way I chanted the prayers or Torah portion, nor any particular pearls of wisdom I had to offer that would motivate people far and wide from all nooks and crannies of the San Fernando Valley to show up. What compelled them to come was a sheer curiosity. How does a blind person read? How does Braille work? How is she able to lead an entire service?? It was the first time I had ever thought about the fact that I educate people by example, and that my simple existence was enlightening people about how different people can accomplish day-to-day tasks.

It was the Jewish community that provided some of the very memorable first experiences for me. Friends of my parents who chaired local divisions of the UJF and ADL asked me to sing at their benefit dinner soon after I started singing, thus providing the very first gigs I would ever have as a singer performing for the public. It was because of the Jewish community that I got to sing my first National Anthem on TV. Mayoral candidate Richard Riordan happened to be at a memorial event on Yom HaShoah for the 50th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising at Pan Pacific Park when I sang two Yiddish songs. He proceeded to ask me at age 14 to ring in his inauguration with the National Anthem which, much to my great bewilderment at the time, was broadcast on every single local channel imaginable.

I proceeded to become the first blind student to attend and then graduate from Oakwood School, a small college preparatory school in North Hollywood, and then went to Oberlin College and Conservatory in Ohio where I studied voice. For the very first time, I was not the first blind student to attend a school. Though being a trail blazer has its perks, it was wonderful to reap the benefits of a place that had seen other blind people be successful before, with teachers who were more laid back about my presence and were confident that I would do well without my having to put so much effort into proving myself.

Alas, the safety and protection of a university does not last forever, but it gave me a confidence to tackle the real world that I would be thrust into after graduation. After receiving my Master of Music degree from Yale University, I moved to New York and began to find my place in the classical music world. Like most young people in New York, I felt lost and frustrated for a couple years. For me, it wasn’t only that I was a singer whom nobody had heard of, but I had one missing piece to the package that any opera company takes for granted. I had no way of seeing the stage, and I was a liability. Fortunately, we all are lucky enough in life to have those who believe in our abilities unconditionally. Luckily for me, some of those people were recital presenters, opera directors, and conductors of orchestras, thus landing me some amazing gigs singing at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, the Parco Auditorium della Musica in Rome, and a handful of lead opera roles, including Rossini’s “La Cenerentola” (Cinderella).

My CD, which was just released, entitled, “Do You Dream in Color” represents many aspects of who I am. The title track is a collaboration between me and the composer Bruce Adolphe which takes listeners on a tour of my life as an artist who happens to be blind. The CD also contains a cycle of four songs in Hebrew, setting the poetry of the late poet Leah Goldberg, and those pieces contain a deep cry that Jews around the world recognize in one another, making us all family.

In just a few months, my autobiography, also entitled “Do You Dream in Color,” will be published by Seven Stories Press. The book details my life of firsts from the rite of passage of becoming a Jewish woman with Hebrew Braille texts laid out on the Torah, to the emotional growing pains of being a teen made more traumatic by being the only blind student at my school, to the struggles and triumphs of coming into my own as an adult and an artist who happens to be blind.

I am always an open book for my audiences, both in the way I share music, and in the way I offer my life story to people. For it may be the first time they will see a blind opera singer on stage, and I certainly hope it will not be the last.

comPoserBRuce AdoLphe, COMpOSER (B. 1955)

Recently named Composer-in-Residence at the Brain and Creativity Institute at USC, Bruce Adolphe has composed music for some of the world’s greatest musicians, including Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Sylvia McNair, the Beaux Arts Trio, the Brentano String Quartet, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Miami Quartet, Chicago Chamber Musicians, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

A key figure at The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 1992, Mr. Adolphe is currently the Society’s resident lecturer and director of family concerts. His lectures are filmed and available on the Internet from The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has appeared weekly on public radio’s Performance Today since 2002, performing his Piano Puzzlers. The program, hosted by Fred Child, was originally broadcast by National Public Radio, and is now produced by American Public Media has over 175,000 podcast subscribers.

Mr. Adolphe has been a featured commentator in nationally broadcast Live from Lincoln Center television programs. From 2001 to 2005 he was a lecturer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. His lecture series at Lincoln Center, Inside Chamber Music, is now in its 19th season. He has received numerous commissions in the United States and Europe, including the Washington Performing Arts Society to compose a one-act opera about Marian Anderson with a libretto by novelist Carolivia Herron, and the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence to compose a work based on texts and paintings by Bronzino in conjunction with exhibitions at both the Palazzo Strozzi and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The work, Of Art and Onions: Homage to Bronzino, was premiered at both institutions in 2010.

In the 2011-12 season, Adolphe’s cantata about social justice and civil liberties — Reach Out, Raise Hope, Change Society — was premiered by the Chamber Choir and musicians of the School of Music of the University of Michigan conducted by Jerry Blackstone. It was commissioned to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the School of Social Work.

Recordings of Adolphe’s music have been produced by the Telarc, Delos, CRI, Summit, Koch, Naxos, Albany, and PollyRhythm labels. A recording of Mr. Adolphe’s music produced by The Milken Archives of Jewish Music on the Naxos “American Classics” label won a Grammy for producer David Frost in 2005. Adolphe’s film scores include the permanent documentary at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

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artists

Marija StrokeS Pianist Marija Stroke has performed in chamber music and solo recitals throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Russia and Hong Kong. Described by the New York Times as “delightfully extroverted, Ms. Stroke’s playing was splendid,” Ms. Stroke performs at such music festivals as Caramoor, the City of London Festival, Soirées des Junies in France, Chamber Music Virginia, the Moab Festival in Utah, La Jolla Summerfest, Juneau Jazz and Classics, and Chamber Music Northwest. She has made concerto appearances in the United States, France, Germany and Austria.

The Apollo Trio, in which Ms. Stroke plays with violinist Curtis Macomber and cellist Michael Kannen, has performed to critical acclaim in the United States and in Europe. In addition to frequent appearances at American music festivals – from the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York to Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon (most recently with the world premiere of David Schiff ’s Borscht Belt Follies, written for the Apollo Trio, David Krakauer, Dave Taylor and Michael Sarin) and on chamber music series throughout the United States – the trio has also performed at prominent New York venues, including Caramoor, Bargemusic, Avery Fisher Hall, Weill Hall at Carnegie, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Ms. Stroke is also co-artistic director with Bruce Adolphe of the Garden City Chamber Music Society.

Marija Stroke is married to composer Bruce Adolphe and they live in New York City with their daughter Katja and their opera and jazz singing parrot Polly Rhythm.

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jennifer taira has performed extensively throughout the United States as a clarinetist and collaborative pianist. Recent performances include concerts at Carnegie Hall, the Greenwich Music Festival, National Press Club, State Department and French Embassy in Washington D.C., Ruth Eckard Hall in Tampa, Florida, West Chester University, and Zipper Hall in Los Angeles, California.

She is co- founder of Musique à la Mode Chamber Music Ensemble and the Music at the Bowery Series in Manhattans East Village. She has performed with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, New Britain Symphony,

and the Royal Hawaiian Band. She has been the recipient of many awards and scholarships, including a full fellowship to study at the Kent/Blossom Music Festival, winner of the Winnetka Music Club Scholarship, and prize winner in the Evanston Music Club Scholarship Competition.

Jennifer is one of the founders of Ohana Arts, an exciting new performing arts festival and school in Honolulu, Hawaii where she serves as Artistic Director. She is music director for the Ohana Arts Summer Musical Theater Workshop for youth ages 8-18, and conductor of the culminating productions pit orchestra.

Jennifer is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she received a Bachelor of Music degree and studied with Russell Dagon. She received a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music, where she studied with David Shifrin and Lawrence McDonald, and was a recipient of the Keith Wilson Scholarship.

Jennifer is also a multimedia artist, and in her spare time runs her own multimedia production company, Studio Cloud Nine.

soNgs BY roDrigoCantiGa (1925) GiL ViCente (Ca. 1465 – 1536)

Muy Graciosa es la doncella. So Graceful Is the Maiden.

You, nobelman, say Whether the arms you bear Whether the horse or the arms Or war is as beautiful.

You, sailor, say Whether the ships you sail in Whether the ship or the sail Or the star is as beautiful

You, little shepherd say Whether the sweet herds you watch over,Whether the sheep or the valleys Or the mountain is as beautiful

So graceful is the maiden.

Soneto (1934) juan bautiSta de MeSa

My pretty shepherdess was sleeping in a meadow,And around her wandered, among the flowers,From flower to flower, drawing nectar,A bee, happier than I.

It saw her lips, where love rested and to whom the dawn sends her colors and, making a mistake, bit her lips, as if they were a rose.

O, lucky error, shrewd deception! The rash bee touched Where I wouldn’t even dare to imagine!

If you have sensed my envy because of your sad mischief, Share with me the nectar you robbed. I owe you love what I do not ...

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soNgs BY roDrigo

barCaroLa (ViCtoria kaMhi) 1948Barcarolle

Go jauntily, little boat, glide through the high water,Clear and sweet is the sky, and the ocean flows well.Carry me to the hut where I will find my loved one,Blow on the white sails, fresh, good wind!Go jauntily, little boat, sail heavenward,Today I will hold my beloved sweetheart tightly to my heart!

SerraniLLa (1928) MarquéS de SantiLLana (1398-1458)

Such a beautiful girl I’ve not seen on the border As the cowgirl of the Finojosa. Taking the road from Calatraveño To Santa Maria, conquered by sleep, Over rugged terrain I lost my way, When I saw the cowgirl of Finojosa.

In a green meadow of roses and flowers,Guarding her herds with other shepherds I saw her so full of grace that I hardly could believe That she was a cowgirl of Finojosa. I do not believe the roses of spring areAs beautiful nor of such manner. Speaking plainly, had I known before Of that cowgirl of the Finojosa I wouldn’t have seen her as so beautifulAs she left me in my aloneness. But I said “Donosa” (to know who she was That cowgirl of the Finojosa)

While laughing she said “I have my revenge, for I understand what you demand” She does not want to love, nor hopes for it,That cowgirl of the Finojosa.

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CanCión deL GruMete (1938) anonyMouS Song of the Cabin Boy

In the sea there is a tower,In the sea there is a tower,And in the tower, a window, a little girl,Calls to the sailors,Calls to the sailors.

Along comes my ship,Along comes my ship,For I know it by its sail,And on its mast, it wafts,The curls of my tan-skinned love,The curls of my tan-skinned love.

In the sea there is a tower,In the sea there is a tower,And in the tower, a window, a little girl,Calls to the sailors,Calls to the sailors.

Along comes my ship,Along comes my ship,For I know it by its sail,And on its mast, it wafts,The curls of my tan-skinned love,The curls of my tan-skinned love.

eSta niña Se LLeVa La fLor (1934) franCiSCo de fiGueroaThis Girl Carries the Flower

This girl carries the flowerThat the others do not.This beautiful girlWhose curls are the cradleIn which the day lays rest the sun.Dawn snowed polished flakesOn her white forehead.Then in body and hands,Dawn’s hand gave herSnow-covered crimsonSuch as no one has ever seen.Ah, this girl carries the flower

—Continue

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LeS berCeaux Cradles

Along the quay, the great ships, That ride the swell in silence, Take no notice of the cradles. That the hands of the women rock. But the day of farewells will come, When the women must weep, And curious men are tempted Towards the horizons that lure them! And that day the great ships, Sailing away from the diminishing port, Feel their bulk held back By the spirits of the distant cradles.

CLair de LuneMoonlight

Your soul is a chosen landscape Charmed by masquers and revellers Playing the lute and dancing and almost Sad beneath their fanciful disguises!

Even while singing, in a minor key, Of victorious love and fortunate living They do not seem to believe in their happiness, And their song mingles with the moonlight.

That the others do not.

Her eyebrows are like theWounding arrows of Love,With such a pretty faceThat no one has come uponHer cheeks are cinnamon and sugarAnd her nose is like milk and rice.Dawn found its pearls in her mouthAnd there the sun found its coral. Ah! This girl takes the flower that the others do not.

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In the calm moonlight, sad and beautiful, Which sets the birds in the trees dreaming, And makes the fountains sob with ecstasy. The tall slender fountains among the marble statues!

en Sourdine Muted

Calm in the half-day That the high branches make, Let us soak well our love In this profound silence. Let us mingle our souls, our hearts And our ecstatic senses Among the vague languidness Of the pines and the bushes. Close your eyes halfway, Cross your arms on your breast, And from your sleeping heart Chase away forever all plans. Let us abandon ourselves To the breeze, rocking and soft, Which comes to your feet to ripple The waves of russet lawns. And when, solemnly, the evening From the black oaks falls, The voice of our despair, The nightingale, will sing.

neLL

Your crimson rose to your bright sun, O’ June, drunken glitter, Lean also toward me your golden cup - My heart is the same as your rose.

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Shepherd on the roCkFranz Schubert

When on the highest cliff I stand, gaze down into the deep valley and sing, the echo from the ravines floats upwards from the dark valley far away.

The further my voice travels,the clearer it returns to me from below. So far from me does my love dwell that I yearn for her more ardently over there.

With deep grief I am consumed,my joy is at an end; all hope on earth has left me; I am so lonely here, I am so lonely here.

So longingly sounded the song in the wood,so longingly it sounded through the night, drawing hearts heavenwards with wondrous power.

Spring is coming,Spring, my joy; now I will make ready to go journeying.

Under the soft shelter of the shady leaves There rises a sigh of sensual delight. More than a woodpigeon sings in the remote forest,O’ my heart its lover’s complaint

How sweet is your pearl in the firey sky, Star of the pensive night! But how much sweeter is the vivid glow That shines in my heart, in my enchanted heart!

The singing sea all along its shores Shall cease its eternal murmuring Before in my heart, dear love, O’ Nell, Your image will cease to bloom.

The Jewish Music Commission of Los AngelesFounded in 1982, the Jewish Music Commission of Los Angeles is the only organization of its kind in the United States. With commissions, international competitions and festivals held in the Los Angeles area, we create new opportunities for the performance of Jewish music, encourage the composition of new Jewish music, and bring Jewish music to new

audiences. Through seminars, scholarships and classes, we offer educational programs for those composers who wish to write authentic new Jewish music. Founded in 2010, the Max Helfman Institute for New Jewish Music has engaged an impressive group of enthusiastic composers who had not before written Jewish music to create a new body of music for the synagogue. Believing that music can be the transformative factor in bringing together disparate elements of society, we sponsor annual interfaith concerts to embrace the traditions that share common texts and visions for a better world.

Richard A. Braun, MD, Chairman/Founder Elaine Gill, Vice Chairman

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GovernorsScott Howard, Pat Kater, Paula Meichtry, Fred Warner, Fay Abramovitch Wernick

www.jewishmusicla.org

Graphic Design by Janet Djalilmand

5772—2012

15739 Ventura Blvd., Encino, CA 91436(818) 788-6000 | www.vbs.org

Upcoming Event

Sacred loveexploring the Song of SongS

8th AnnuAl InterfAIth SympoSIum of theology, Art & muSIc Sun., Mar. 18, at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church

2:00 p.m. - Symposium 3:30 p.m. - Concert

Moderator: Rabbi Ed Feinstein Panelists: Jeremy Glatstein, Art Historian,

University of Southern California (USC);

Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis, Valley Beth Shalom; Right Reverend Alexei Smith, Director of the Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the

Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles; Reverend Dr. Rev. David Worth, Senior Pastor Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church

For info, call JMCLA 907-7194 or BHPC (310) 271-5194.