November 9 | 7pm start time, doors open at 6:30pm
Join us for a moving performance by Hevreh Ensemble in honor of the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht. The group’s wide and varied instrumentation includes the innovative use of Cherokee Native American flutes, along with clarinet, bass clarinet, oboe, English horn, world percussion that includes djembe, dumbek, ocean drum, balafon, kalimba, rain stick, tabla, log drum, keyboard, and shofar.
The concert includes compositions from Hevreh’s repertoire, including: “Dance of the Sheydim”; based on mischievous mythical creatures called sheydim; “Atrocity’s Shadow”, a raw dissonant work scored for two double drone flutes, oboe and keyboard; “Prentice Farm”, a beautiful and peaceful melody that conveys hope for peaceful solutions; “Too Late to Matter” which ends with the powerful and stirring sounds of the Shofar and Galijca. “Too Late to Matter” was written after the group’s trip to Poland, where they played concerts for the Krakow International Festival of Jewish Music and the POLIN Museum of Jewish History in Warsaw.
Audiophile Audition has said the following about Hevreh Ensemble: “A new sort of aesthetic that defies description… Clean, Tight, Creative — moments that are a kind of Jazz-meets-World; Jazz-meets-Classical; World-influenced-Classical.”
About Hevreh Ensemble
NYC-based Hevreh Ensemble performs compositions by group member Jeff Adler. Their concerts have delighted audiences and critics alike with appearances throughout the US and Europe, including New York City, the Newport Chamber Music Festival, Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site and concerts in Vienna, Berlin, Bonn, Amsterdam, Prague, and Krakow. They have presented concerts for the International Jewish Cultural Festival in Krakow and for the POLIN Museum in Warsaw, Poland and were invited to tour China under the auspices of their record label PARMA.
- Renée Cometa Briggs (pianist) leads an active career as a performer in the metropolitan New York area. Her solo repertoire ranges from Mozart on fortepiano to music of our time. As a chamber musician, she regularly performs with di.vi.sion and the di.vi.sion piano trio. An advocate of new music, Cometa Briggs performs and premieres works by living composers, and has participated in the American Composers Alliance Festival, Cutting Edge New Music Festival, River to River Festival and the Staten Island Composers Project. Cometa Briggs holds a DMA from SUNY Stony Brook; an MM from Mannes College of Music; and a BM from North Carolina School of the Arts. She also studied in Switzerland under the auspices of the Semans Art Fund. Cometa Briggs serves as Associate Professor on the music faculty at CUNY, Bronx Community College.
- Jeff Adler (composer, bass clarinet, Native American flutes, soprano saxophone) is a prolific composer and woodwind musician from New York City. As a clarinetist, Adler has performed with many orchestras such as: The American Symphony, The Long Island Philharmonic, The Connecticut Grand Opera and The Long Island Symphony. He was a member of the Silver Bay Music Festival, The Adirondack Chamber Players and the new music group, Infusion. He has recorded for ‘Opus One’ and ‘CRI’ records.
- Judith Dansker (oboe, English horn, Native American flutes) is a solo and chamber music performer who has appeared at the Frick Museum, Weill Recital Hall , Alice Tully Hall & the Phillips Collection. She received the Bachelor & Master of Music Degrees from the Juilliard School of Music. She has performed with numerous ensembles including the New York Baroque Consort, New York Kammermusiker, Mostly Mozart Festival, New York Shakespeare Festival, Berkshire Bach Society. Dansker is a founding member of the Galliard Woodwind Quintet. Their Library of Congress concert was recorded for American Public Radio and subsequent performances were broadcast nationwide and on Radio France and Radio Netherlands. Dansker is currently Professor of Oboe and Recorder at Hofstra University and also serves on the faculty of Simons Rock at Bard College.
- Laurie Friedman (clarinet, Native American flutes, percussion) holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She received her Master of Music Degree from Brooklyn College. Friedman was chosen to participate in the prestigious Blossom Music Festival with the Cleveland Orchestra. Subsequently she won the Principal Clarinet position with the Beersheva Orchestra in Israel. She has performed with: The Long Island Philharmonic, Village Light Opera, Connecticut Grand Opera, New Jersey Pops Orchestra, The Goldman Band, and the Tulsa Ballet Orchestra. Along with Judith Dansker, she is a founding member of the Galliard Quintet and was a Faculty/Artist for the Silver Bay Music Festival. Friedman is Professor of Clarinet and Chamber Music at Hofstra University.