Women’s Voices, Women’s Souls

Our next concert is coming up fast! We’re excited to partner with Temple Israel of Hollywood and the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music for Women’s Voices, Women’s Souls, a celebration of Jewish women’s voices, on October 17, 2021.

The centerpiece of this concert-lecture event is excerpts from Women of Valor, an award-winning cantata by composer Andrea Clearfield. Inspired by a midrash, Women of Valor highlights the stories of Jewish women of the Bible through the contemporary lens of librettists including Ellen Frankel and Sandy Shanin.

Our history with Andrea goes back to our early days – we performed the world premiere of the cantata back in 2000, with Grammy award-winning soprano Hila Plitmann as one of the featured soloists. Now, more than 20 years later, Hila will return to perform the excerpts alongside mezzo-soprano Iris Malkin, a faculty member at the Herb Alpert School of Music.

The evening will also include pieces by Maria Newman and Sharon Farber. Newman’s Shirat Hayam (Song of the Sea) was originally commissioned by the LAJS in 2006 and was dedicated to Maestra Green and longtime friend of the symphony Cantor Marcelo Gindlin. Set in two movements, the piece first tells of the Jewish exodus from captivity in Egypt and builds to a zealous expression of praise. Farber’s Only a Book, inspired by an anonymous poem of the same name, portrays the powerful tie between the Jewish people and the book of faith. A discussion between the inaugural dean of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Eileen Strempel, and the featured artists on the reinterpretation of ancient Jewish stories by contemporary Jewish women composers will accompany the performance.

The performance will take place at Temple Israel of Hollywood at 7300 Hollywood Blvd. Tickets are available now at arts.tioh.org at $36 for the general public and $18 for students and TIOH members.

Audience attendance will be dictated by COVID-19 guidelines to ensure the safety of all our patrons and performers. Given the limited capacity, tickets for a livestream of the event are available for $12, or $6 for students and TIOH members. Program and artists subject to change.

Head over to our event page for more, and stay tuned for more previews of what’s sure to be a stunning program.