New
York, NY - February 23, 2004- The
American Sephardi Federation/Sephardic House in conjunction with Congregation
Beth Simchat Torah will present an evening to celebrate the story of the
Iranian-Jewish experience examining its art and history and how these elements
became integrated into the culture of the United States. Light refreshments and a sampling of
Iranian delicacies will add to the experience of the evening. This event will take place on Wednesday,
March 3rd, 2004 at 6:00 pm at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West
16th Street, New York City.
Dr.
Houman Sarshar, Director of Publications at the Center for Iranian Jewish Oral
History, Los Angeles, and co-editor of three volumes of The Contemporary History of Iranian
Jews, and a contributing author to the Encyclopedia Iranica, will present a
slide presentation based on his most recent book, Esther's Children: A Portrait of Iranian
Jews (2002). The second half of
the evening's program will be a performance, "Persian Rhapsodies" by pianist and
composer Tania Eshaghoff and her ensemble including Edward Smaldone, electric
bass; Ali Bello, violin; Sky Steele, violin; Swiss Chriss, percussionist and
Christopher Hoffman on the cello followed by a question and answer period.
"The most significant influences in both
style and substance of Tania's music stems from the Persian tradition of the
santur, with its elaborate rhythmic and melodic figuration, here translated into
a distinctive pianistic technique. Her music also embraces the layered
ornamentation of the Persian "avaz" tradition, a vocal style of great rhythmic
subtley; her right hand "sings" as she plays this music, synthesizing the basic
harmonies of the Persian tradition with a heterophonic melodic line, which
appears to float with every performance. Her music is a virtual ethnography of
Persian culture through the lens of her modern perspective." Anthony
DeRitis
The cost
of admission is $25.00 for adults and $20.00 for members of American Sephardi
Federation/Sephardic House, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, students and
seniors. Reservations are
required. For more information,
please call the box office at (917) 606-8200 or visit www.cjh.org.
About
American Sephardi Federation
The American Sephardi Federation is
a national Jewish organization dedicated to strengthening and unifying the
American Sephardic community and promoting its spiritual, cultural and social
traditions. ASF serves as the
coordinating body and resource for all of the American Sephardi communities.
Since its arrival to the Center for Jewish History, the archival holdings and
library of ASF have been enriched with valuable records of personal and
community history. For more information, call 212-294-8350 or visit www.sephardichouse.org.
About
the Center for Jewish History
The
Center for Jewish History, (www.cjh.org), is
the central resource for the cultural and historical legacy of the Jewish
people. Located in the heart of Chelsea, NYC, it is within a ten-block radius of
one of the largest populations of college and graduate students in the country.
The Center serves the worldwide academic and general communities with combined
holdings of approximately 100 million archival documents, a half million books,
and tens of thousands of photographs, artifacts, paintings and textiles. The
Center is comprised of a partnership of five major institutions of Jewish
scholarship, history and art: American Jewish Historical Society, American
Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum and the YIVO
Institute for Jewish Research. In addition to its exhibit halls, classrooms,
auditoriums and banquet facilities, the Center houses the Reading Room, the
gateway to accessing the collections of the five partner organizations, and the
Genealogy Institute, a research center where Jewish descendants can uncover
information about their ancestors. The Center for Jewish History will interest
all who wish to explore the richness of the Jewish past and the promise of the
Jewish future. For more information on The Center for Jewish History, visit www.cjh.org or call (212) 294-8301.
... Payvand News - 2/26/04 ... --
