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Gerald Cohen, composer
Calendar of selected events:
January-February 2012
New York Premiere of Yedid Nefesh, trio for clarinet, viola and piano
Wednesday, January 18, 7:30 p.m. New York, NY
Gerald Cohen’s Yedid Nefesh, for clarinet, viola and piano, will have its New York City premiere at a concert of the Kaleidoscope Series at the WMP Concert Hall. The piece will be performed by Vasko Dukovski, clarinet; Maria Lambros, viola, and Alexandra Joan, piano. These performers have recently recorded this composition for a CD to be released later this year.
Click here for more information on this concert
Click here for more information on this composition
World Premiere of Playing for our lives for string quartet
Saturday, February 4, 5:30 p.m. New York, NY
Sunday, February 5, 4 p.m., Great Barrington, MA
Gerald Cohen’s Playing for our lives, written for the Cassatt String Quartet, will be performed by them as part of the Music of Now Marathon at Symphony Space in NYC, and on Sunday at a Music of Now Marathon in Great Barrington, MA. The composition is a memorial to the musicians and music that were an essential part of the fabric of the Terezin concentration camp in Czechoslovakia during World War II.
Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, New York, NY
Mahaiwe Theater, 14 Castle St, Great Barrington, MA
Click here for more information on this concert
Click here for more information on this composition
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PAST EVENTS
October-November 2011
Premiere of choral piece: We are loved by an unending love
Sunday, October 30, 4:00 p.m. Norfolk, VA
Gerald Cohen’s choral composition, We are loved by an unending love, with text by Rabbi Rami Shapiro, will have its premiere at Temple Ohef Sholom in Norfolk, VA on Sunday, October 30 at 4 p.m. The piece was commissioned by Temple Ohef Shalom, and will be performed by the temple choir, with Robynne Redmon, mezzo, conducted by Charles Woodward.
Click here for more information on this composition
Performance of Yedid Nefesh, trio for clarinet, viola and piano
Thursday, November 10, 8:00 p.m. Baltimore, MD
Gerald Cohen’s Yedid Nefesh, for clarinet, viola and piano, will be performed by J. Michael Richards, Maria Lambros and Audrey Andrist at a concert at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, on Thursday, November 10, at 8 p.m. The concert, Maria Lambros and Friends, is a program of “Three Centuries of Music by Jewish Composers.”
Click here for more information on this concert
May-June 2011
Performance of V’higad’ta L’vincha in Washington DC area
Wednesday, May 25, 8:00 p.m. Chevy Chase, MD
Performance, and Washington area premiere, of the Passover Cantata V’higad’ta L’vincha (And you shall tell your child) by Zemer Chai, D.C.’s premier Jewish Choir, Eleanor Epstein, Artistic Director. The concert will also feature Ysaye Barnwell of Sweet Honey in the Rock. Ohr Kodesh Congregation, 8300 Meadowbrook Lane, Chevy Chase, MD.
Click here for more information on this concert Click here for more information on this composition
Premiere/workshop performance of new one-act opera, Seed
Thursday, June 2, 7:00 p.m. New York, NY
The premiere of my new one-act opera, SEED, written with librettist David Simpatico, will be on Thursday June 2, at 7 p.m. at Symphony Space in NYC. It will be presented along with three other one-act operas by my colleagues in American Lyric Theater's Composer Librettist Development Program, of which I have been a resident artist for the past year. Symphony Space, Broadway and 95th Street, Manhattan.
Click here for more information on this concert
March-April 2011
Premiere of Evening Meditations for chorus
Friday, March 4, 7:30 p.m. New York, NY
Premiere of Evening Meditations,, for SATB chorus and piano. This piece was commissioned by the Horace Mann Chamber Choir, Timothy Ho, conductor (my son Daniel is a bass in this talented high school choral group…). The texts of the piece are two contemporary English translations of Jewish liturgical settings that focus on the sense of wonder at the daily motion of the earth, sun and stars.
Saint Jean Baptiste Church, 184 East 76th Street, (Lexington Avenue), Manhattan.
Click here for more information on this premiere
Premiere of song arrangements for voice and string quartet
Sunday, March 6, 7:30 p.m. New York, NY
Premiere of new arrangements of two of my best-known songs, Adonai Ro’i and Y’varech’cha, for voice and string quartet. Performed by Cantor Marina Shemesh and the Cassatt String Quartet, on a concert that also includes music by Andy Teirstein, and Schubert’s Death and the Maiden Quartet.
The Brotherhood Synagogue, 28 Gramercy Park South, Manhattan.
Click here for more information on this concert
Performance of V’higad’ta L’vincha in The Netherlands
Friday, March 25, 8:00 p.m. Utrecht, the Netherlands
Performance of the Passover cantata V’higad’ta L’vincha (And you shall tell your child) by Medusa, a women’s choir in Utrecht, The Netherlands, conducted by Tanya Worron.
Click here for more information on this concert
(and then click on “Concert” on their home page)
Performance of Adonai Ro’i at Fredrick P. Rose Hall, Lincoln Center
Sunday, March 27, 6:00 p.m. New York, NY
Performance of Adonai Ro’i (Psalm 23) by HaZamir, the International Jewish High School Choir, at Rose Hall, Lincoln Center. HaZamir is a network of Jewish youth choirs, founded by Matthew Lazar, that gathers each year for a culminating festival and concert in New York.
Fredrick P. Rose Hall, Broadway and 60th Street, Manhattan.
Click here for more information on this concert
Concert by Grneta Ensemble at Shaarei Tikvah, Scarsdale
Sunday, April 3, 3:00 p.m. Scarsdale, NY
The Grneta Ensemble (Vasko Dukovski and Ismail Lumanovski, clarinets; Alexandra Joan, piano), performers with whom I have collaborated much in the last two years, will perform a concert featuring my Grneta Variations and Five Hebrew Songs, both written for the ensemble. I will also perform vocal selections with the group, and the concert will also include performances of music by Bartok, Mendelssohn, Fairouz, and Grign.
Shaarei Tikvah, 46 Fox Meadow Road, Scarsdale, NY.
Click here for more information on this concert
Premiere of song arrangements for clarinet, viola and piano
Sunday, April 3, 3:00 p.m. Philadelphia, PA
Premiere of arrangements of my Five Hebrew Songs for clarinet, viola and piano. Performed as part of Nashirah’s concert in celebration of Passover, “And You Shall Tell Your Children.”
Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA.
Click here for more information on this concert
January-February 2011
Performance of Preludes and Debka for clarinet and string quartet
Sunday, January 16, 3:00 pm, Yonkers, NY
Performance of Preludes and Debka for clarinet and string quartet by the Bronx Arts Ensemble, on a program also featuring works of Debussy and Schubert.
Home of Ted and Vita Zambetti, 96 Franklin Avenue, Yonkers
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Performance of Five Hebrew Songs for clarinet duo and piano
Sunday, January 16, 6:00 p.m., New York, NY
Performance of Five Hebrew Songs, for clarinet duo and piano, as part of the concert Classicals & Supper with the Grneta Ensemble. With pianist Alexandra Joan and clarinetists Vasko Dukovski and Ismail Lumanovski. Drom, 85 Avenue A (b/w 5th & 6th) New York, NY - (212) 777-1157
Click here for more information on this concert
Performance of Grneta Variations for clarinet duo and piano
Sunday, January 23, 6:00 p.m., New York, NY
Performance of Grneta Variations for clarinet duo and piano, as part of the concert Classicals & Supper with the Grneta Ensemble. With pianist Alexandra Joan and clarinetists Vasko Dukovski and Ismail Lumanovski. Drom, 85 Avenue A (b/w 5th & 6th) New York, NY - (212) 777-1157
Click here for more information on this concert
Premiere of new opera arias as part of the Composer Librettist Development Program
Sunday, January 30, 1:00 p.m. New York, NY
“Freshly Brewed” Showcase Concert--opera scenes written by composers and librettists of the Composer Librettist Development Program of the American Lyric Theater. Performed at Opera America, 330 Seventh Avenue (29th Street). This time, I have written, with librettist David Simpatico, an aria for the character of Sarah Palin, based on her 2008 convention speech--it will be sung by mezzo Heather Johnson (my first venture into country/western music :-)). The program will also feature arias based on other historical figures, including Josephine Baker, Carlo Gesualdo and Emperor Hirohito.
Click here for more information on this concert
Click here for more information about the Composer Librettist Development Program
November-December 2010
Premiere of choral piece “An Odd Bus”
Saturday, November 6, 8:00 p.m. Beachwood, OH
Premiere of “An Odd Bus” as part of Sacred Rights, Sacred Song, a choral work of six composers, focusing on the rights of religious pluralism in Israel. Fran Gordon Immerman, Creator & Producer. Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple, 23737 Fairmount Blvd, Beachwood, OH
Click here for more information on this concert
Performance of Adonai Ro’i in Rome, as part of an interfaith conference at the Vatican
Tuesday, November 16th, Rome, Italy
Performance of Adonai Ro’i (Psalm 23) as part of a Conference on Catholic-Jewish Relations being held at the Vatican. The piece will be sung by a group of twenty cantors from the American Conference of Cantors. Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, Rome, Italy.
Click here for more information on this concert
Click here for a blog about this event
Performance of Grneta Variations and Five Hebrew Songs for clarinet duo and piano
Tuesday, November 23, 7:30 p.m., New York, NY
Performance of Grneta Variations and Five Hebrew Songs, both for clarinet duo and piano, as part of the concert "Eastern Madness" With pianist Alexandra Joan and clarinetists Vasko Dukovski and Ismail Lumanovski. WMP Concert Hall, 31 East 28th Street, (between Park South & Madison Ave.), New York, NY
Click here for more information on this concert
Premiere of new opera scenes as part of the Composer-Librettist Development Program
Sunday, December 12, 1:00 p.m. New York, NY
“Freshly Brewed” Showcase Concert—music of Gerald Cohen and other composers and librettists from the Composer-Librettist Development Program of the American Lyric Theater. Performed at Opera America, 330 Seventh Avenue (29th Street), 16th Floor, New York, NY 10001
Click here for more information on this concert
Click here for more information about the Composer-Librettist Development Program
Summer 2010
Performance of String Quartet No. 2 by the Borromeo String Quartet
Sunday, July 4, 7:30 p.m. Taos, New Mexico
String Quartet No. 2 performed by the Borromeo String Quartet, as part of the Taos School of Music Chamber Music Festival. This performance is as a result of the piece winning the 2009 Copland House Borromeo Award.
Click here for more information on this concert
Performance of Hebrew Songs for violin and piano
Sunday, July 4, 8:00 p.m., Sonoma State University, CA.
Performance of arrangements of three of Gerald’s liturgical songs, arranged for violin and piano. Performed by Wendy Sharp, violin, as part of a faculty concert of California Summer Music. Sonoma State University, CA.
Click here for information on this concert
April-June 2010
Performance of song cycle The Dogwoods
Saturday, April 17, 7:30 p.m., Rockville, MD
Rachel Brook, soprano, JJ Penna, piano, perform Gerald’s song cycle The Dogwoods, settings of poems by Maryland poet Linda Pastan, as part of a concert of Ladino, Yiddish, Operetta and new American songs. Temple Beth Ami, 14330 Travilah Rd, Rockville, MD.
Click here for more information on this concert
Performance of The Ocean of Peace lies ahead of me
Saturday April 24, 8:00 p.m., New York, NY
The Ocean of peace lies ahead of me, set to words of Rabindranath Tagore, performed by the New York Virtuoso Singers, Harold Rosenbaum, conductor, at the Festival for Universal Sacred Music, (as a winner of their 2010 Composition Contest). At Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, New York, NY. Tel: 212.501.3303.
Click here for more information on this concert
“Gerald Cohen and friends”, concert at Columbia University
Tuesday April 27, 6:00 p.m., New York, NY
Concert of the music of Gerald Cohen, performed by Cantors Gerald Cohen, Natasha Hirschhorn, Benjie Ellen Schiller, and the joint choruses of the cantorial schools of Jewish Theological Seminary and Hebrew Union College. St Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University, 116th Street and Broadway, New York, NY. Free Admission.
Click here for more information on this concert
Directions to St. Paul's Chapel, Columbia University
Premiere of new cantorial compositions at Cantors Assembly convention
Wednesday, May 5, 8:00 p.m., New York, NY
Premiere of “New Music for a New Mahzor”; Gerald was one of ten composers commissioned by the Cantors Assembly to write music for the new High Holiday prayer book being published for Conservative Synagogues. Performed by Gerald Cohen. Tickets sold at door: $35. Park Avenue Synagogue, 50 East 87th Street, New York, NY.
Click here for information on the Cantors Assembly convention
Performance of Five Hebrew Songs for clarinet duo and piano
Sunday, May 23, 3:00 p.m., New York, NY
Performance of arrangements of five of Gerald’s liturgical songs, arranged for clarinet duo and piano. Performed by the Grneta Duo (Vasko Dukovski and Ismail Lumanovski, clarinets) and Alexandra Joan, piano, as part of a concert “Music in Our Time”, presented by the American Society for Jewish Music. Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY.
Click here for more information on this concert
Premiere of Grneta Variations for clarinet duo and piano
Thursday, May 27, 8:00 p.m., New York, NY; NOTE: DATE CHANGE
Premiere of Grneta Variations, for two clarinets and piano, written for the Grneta Duo (Vasko Dukovski and Ismail Lumanovski, clarinets) and Alexandra Joan, piano. The concert, entitled “Eastern Madness", features composers that feature eastern influences in their music.
Tickets sold at door: $15. Bechstein Piano Centre, 207 West 58th Street , New York, NY.
Click here for more information on this concert
Click here for information on the Grneta Duo
Performance of V’higad’ta L’vincha, in Montreal
Sunday, May 30, 3:00 p.m., Montreal, Quebec
Performance of V’higad’ta L’vincha (“And you shall tell your child”, Passover cantata), by Concerto Della Donna, Iwan Edwards, conductor. Christ Church Cathedral, 1444 Avenue Union, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Click here for information about Concerto Della Donna
Premiere of Hebrew Songs for violin and piano
Sunday, June 13, 3:00 p.m., New Haven, CT
Performance of arrangements of four of Gerald’s liturgical songs, arranged for violin and piano. Performed by Wendy Sharp, violin, and Gerald Cohen, piano, as part of a concert celebrating Wendy Sharp’s 50th birthday. Sprague Hall, Yale University, 470 College St., New Haven, CT.
Click here for information on this concert
Jan.-March 2010
Premiere of Variously Blue for clarinet, violin and piano
Sunday, Feb 7, 3:00 p.m., New York, NY
Premiere of Variously Blue for clarinet, violin and piano, commissioned by the Verdehr Trio.
Performed by the Verdehr Trio at the Kosciuszko Foundation,15 East 65th Street, New York, NY
Click here for more information on this concert
Performance of excerpts of Sarah and Hagar
Wednesday, March 3, 10:30 a.m., New York, NY
Excerpts from opera Sarah and Hagar performed as part of the senior cantorial recital of soprano Star Trompeter.
Performed at Hebrew Union College, 1 West 4th Street, New York, NY. Free Admission.
Click here for more information on this concert Click here for more information on the opera
Performance of Variously Blue for clarinet, violin and piano
Sunday, March 7, 4:00 p.m., Washington, DC
Performance of Variously Blue for clarinet, violin and piano, commissioned by the Verdehr Trio.
Performed by the Verdehr Trio at the Phillips Collection, 1600 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC
Click here for more information on this concert
Concert of Jazz and Jewish music
Saturday, March 13, 8:00 p.m, Scarsdale, NY
Gerald joins jazz trumpeter and arranger John Sneider, who will be giving a concert of standards, originals, as well as jazz versions of my compositions. Shaarei Tikvah, 46 Fox Meadow Road, Scarsdale, NY. Email office@shaareitikvah.org for reservations.
Click here for more information on this concert
Performance of V’higad’ta L’vincha
Sunday, March 14, 4:00 p.m., New York, NY
V’higad’ta L’vincha performed by joint choruses of the cantorial schools of Jewish Theological Seminary and Hebrew Union College.
Center for Jewish History. 15 West 16th Street,New York, NY.
Fall 2009
Chamber music performance in Illinois
Friday, October 16, Chicago, IL
Performance of Yedid Nefesh, for clarinet, viola and piano, at Northeastern Illinois University. J. Lawrie Bloom, clarinet; Maria Lambros, viola; Diane Walsh, piano. www.neiu.edu
Premiere of clarinet works in New York
Tuesday, November 24, New York, NY
Vasko Dukovski, clarinettist, performs Preludes and Debka for clarinet and string quartet and Clarinet duo arrangements of Hebrew Songs at the Juilliard School. www.vaskodukovski.com
Spring/Summer 2009
Premiere of new choral piece
Saturday, March 28, 7:30 p.m., Piscataway, NJ
Dodi li va’ani lo (My beloved is mine and I am his) from the Song of Songs, (premiere), commissioned by the Cantabile Chamber Chorale and performed at a concert of songs celebrating the beauty and creation of the earth.
www.cantabilechamberchorale.org
Second performance of new choral piece
Sunday, April 26, 7:30 p.m., Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
Dodi li va’ani lo (My beloved is mine and I am his) and other Cohen compositions, performed at the annual concert of the Beth Shalom Choir. www.tbshastings.org
Cantor/composers in concert
Monday, May 11, 7:30 p.m., Scarsdale, NY
Joint concert with multi-talented Cantors Natasha Hirschhorn and Benjie Ellen Schiller, featuring many of our compositions, and Jewish, Broadway, and classical selections. Shaarei Tikvah Congregation, Scarsdale, NY Click here for more information on this concert
Chamber music performance in Maine
Saturday, August 22, 8 p.m., Portland, ME
Performance of Yedid Nefesh, for clarinet, viola and piano, at the Portland Chamber Music Festival. Todd Palmer, clarinet; Maria Lambros, viola; Dena Levine, piano. www.pcmf.org
2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008, Portland, OR Trio for Viola, Cello, and Piano performed by Michelle Matthewson, viola, Justin Kagan, cello, and Cary Lewis, piano. http://www.oldchurch.org
Friday, June 13, 2008, Baltimore, MD Yih'yu L'ratson (May the words), for cantor, chorus viola, and piano, premiere at Friday night services; commissioned by Baltimore Hebrew Congregation in honor of Cantor Judith Rowland. Cantor Rowland will sing the solo, with Maria Lambros, viola; Jimmy Galdiari, conductor. http://www.bhcong.org
Tuesday, June 17, 2008, Kerhonkson, NY Lakol Z’man (To everything a season) performed at the Cantors Assembly Convention New Music Session. Elisheva Dienstfrey, soprano; James Gloth, baritone. This piece was originally commissioned by Cantor Gloth for the dedication of the sanctuary of Congregation B’nai Israel, Sylvania, OH.