While we are busy planning the SECOND annual Boston Jewish Music Festival for March 6-20, 2011, I'd like to share some of the incredible successes we accomplished this past year. And all of it was made possible by everyone who attended events, by the artist who performed, by the volunteers, the donors both large and small, the custodians, the sound technicians, the printers. So many people had so much to do with this incredible success.

• Over 5000 participants

• 17 Concerts and Workshops 

• More than 20 Program Partners

• Events held across Greater Boston in Boston, Cambridge, Dedham, Framingham, Natick, Sharon and Waltham

• Over 8000 Web Site Visits

All this, on a just a shoestring budget.

Keep checking in on this blog for festival anecdotes and updates on future plans. And please share your favorite festival stories here, too.

We are. Tickets selling, programs printed. Some of the musicians are already in town--others on their way. We're so grateful to those who have believed and supported, volunteered and helped us make this all happen.

Great two-page spread in today's Boston Globe G section (see the online version here:

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2010/03/05/jewish_artists_see_boston_music_festival_as_a_different_way_to_explore_their_culture/

 Also, last week's Boston Phoenix: http://thephoenix.com/Boston/music/97500-jew-note/ 

 And in this week's Jewish Advocate.

 And don't miss Sunday's family concerts: Peter & Ellen Allard at the MetroWest Jewish Day School in Framingham (2 PM); Yehuda Katz at Berger Hall Temple Israel in Sharon (3 PM); and Shira Kline and ShirLaLa at the JCC in Newton (1 PM). What a weekend.

 The excitement is palpable, we're revved up, still gotta' iron a shirt. See you there!

Jim

 

 

 

 

It seems so unreal.The festival begins in less than 48 hours. There is so much running around to do tomorrow! It is so exciting. There will be a wonderful article in the Boston Globe on Friday. And the Jewish Advocate did some great coverage this week too. And the BJMF Program Book is just amazing. So hurry up and get your tickets. I'm off to the airport to pick up Yehuda Katz who will be playing  in Sharon Sunday afternoon. There are so many great events. Enjoy.

I attended the Union for Reform Judaism's Biennial a week ago (full disclosure: I'm a member of their North American Board and on several commissions for the Reform movement). Held in Toronto, more than 3,000 Reform Jews gathered for five days of learning, meetings, worship, workshops, being together...and some pretty amazing music. Kudos to Josh Nelson, in particular, who was music director for the entire week. (Josh, as you may know, grew up in the Boston area and attended BU--now he's living in Brooklyn and touring extensively; he's one of the most exciting and powerful performers in Jewish music.)

The Saturday evening highlight of the Biennial was a musical/mixed media event entitled "Faithjam," created by well-known Jewish musician Craig Taubman, and it was extraordinary. It brought together: a slew of Jewish musicians; an Arabic singer and music ensemble; an African American Gospel Choir; a Japanese drumming group; and the 50 voice biennial choir, along with dance video and spoken word. It was, as the program said, "An interfaith celebration designed to build bridges of cultural exchange between various faith communities."

And that it did! Imagine a woman cantor and an Arabic singer standing together singing; a guitar playing Jew and a Gospel choir in harmony; an imam, minister and rabbi exchanging blessings in their own languages and joining arms beneath the rabbi's tallis. The music was powerful, and the connections were palpable and strong. It brought everyone to their feet, clapping, crying, singing... together. It also kicked off an anti-hunger project, with audience members taking home bags to pack with groceries.

It was a perfect example of the power and connection that perhaps only music can bring. The spirit that enables us to transcend difference and lifts us to new heights and a different place. Which is precisely why we are planning the Boston Jewish Music Festival. Our aim is create a way to connect, lift and empower us all through Jewish music. A way to celebrate and create harmony. We hope you'll join us in this venture. (And PS: we're talking to Craig Taubman about replicating Faithjam here in Boston in the near future).

Jim

It is through our music, our literature, our art, drama and dance that we tell the story of our past and we express our hopes for the future. Our artists challenge our assumptions in ways that many cannot and do not. They expand our understandings, and push us to view our world in new and very unexpected ways….. 

"It's through this constant exchange -- this process of taking and giving, this process of borrowing and creating -- that we learn from each other and we inspire each other.

 And ... people who might not speak a single word of the same language, who might not have a single shared experience, might still be drawn together when their hearts are lifted by the notes of a song, or their souls are stirred by a vision on a canvas.

"That is the power of the arts -- to remind us of what we each have to offer, and what we all have in common; to help us understand our history and imagine our future; to give us hope in the moments of struggle; and to bring us together when nothing else will.  That is what we celebrate here today.”  

Michelle Obama,  September 25, 2009

Thank you, Mrs. Obama. You have expressed why having a Boston Jewish Music Festival is so important.  Now, more than ever, we need the creativity, the joy, and the inspiration that great art offers us.  Whether you dance down the aisle to Golem and the Klezmer Conservatory Band or bask in the beauty of Bloch's choral masterpiece, The Sacred Service, you can help make this Festival happen.

I'm one of the lucky ones. I got to grow up in Mattapan, Boston's last urban shtetl. My dad is the youngest of nine so I had an aunt, uncle or cousin on almost every street in a ten block radius. We left in 1969 so my 13 years young brother, Les, grew up in Brookline.  His was a different world.  Mine was all Jewish. His was eclectic, international.  Mine was part of an extended family.  For him, the family was already geographically over-extended.  Growing up in my world, just about everywhere you went, you ran into someone who knew you. Someone who was related to you, who went to the same school or shul as you. On some deep,personal level, that's what I hope the Boston Jewish Music Festival will be like. Over the course of a week, I hope everyone runs into someone they know as a Festival event. Maybe someone you grew up with. Or went to school with. Maybe its a distant cousin you haven't seen since you were a star of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah circuit.

There's nothing like the feeling of entering a theater or auditorium with the anticipation of experiencing something wonderful with the distinct sense that you know a lot of the other people there.

Jewish music has the power to move us individually.  But it can also unite us as a community. Get ready to listen. Get ready to shmooz. And get ready to dance, too.  That's what being a community is all about.

From casual friends to community leaders, the response to the Boston Jewish Music Festival is unanimous. "That would be an incredible program IF only you can get it funded." Well, they're right.  It will be an incredible event. But there can be no IFs. Boston is the only city with such a large Jewish population that DOES NOT have a Jewish music festival.  This is far too important an opportunity to hinge on an IF.

Yes, the economy is horribly difficult for many of us.  But we can't allow that to stop our community from innovating, from creating, and from celebrating! In difficult times, we need Jewish music more than ever. To inspire us. To unite us. And to give us pride and faith in the future.

Demographic research shows that music is an essential tool for reaching out and connecting to younger Jews. Can we afford to stop the music? Can we skip a generation or two from finding a meaningful entry into Jewish faith because the stock market is down? Can we wait a few more years to experience 88-year old National Heritage Fellow Flory Jagoda?

The answer is obviously no.

There is no IF for the Boston Jewish Music Festival. It is something we need to enrich our lives and our community. I urge you help the Festival in any way you can. We are crazy to do this. Aren't you glad it's contagious?