• (914) 666-3133
  • Online Forms
  • Event Space
  • News
  • Contact
Voices of the HolocaustVoices of the HolocaustVoices of the HolocaustVoices of the Holocaust
  • ABOUT
    • Our Rabbis’ weekly messages
  • PRAY
    • View Our Shabbat Services
    • High Holy Days 5783
      • High Holy Day Appeal 5783
      • High Holy Days 5783 – Schedule
      • Virtual High Holidays 5783
      • High Holy Days 5783 FAQ
  • LEARN
    • Early Childhood Center
    • Living Judaism: Religious School at Shaaray Tefila
      • Class Descriptions and Goals for 2022-2023 (5783) K-7th Grade
      • Teen Center 2022-2023 (5783)
    • Youth Programs / Experiential Education
    • TST Learns Adult Education
    • B’nai Mitzvah Program & Recordings
  • CONNECT
    • Shaaray Tefila Committees
    • Caring Community
    • Sustainability/ Green Team
    • Social Awareness/Social Action at Shaaray Tefila
    • Connect with our staff
    • Social Action
    • Contact
    • Directions
    • Online Forms
    • News
    • Brotherhood and Sisterhood News
    • Temple Topics
  • CELEBRATE
    • Passover 2022/5782 Resources
    • Event Space
    • Thanksgiving Dinner Program
  • PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS
✕
Night of Light
November 4, 2022
Rabbi David Wilfond’s Message – Friday, November 4, 2022
November 11, 2022
November 10, 2022

“Voices” of the Holocaust a tremendous success!

Bravo Michael Shapiro! Your world premiere musical work on Kristallnacht brought us to tears.

Wednesday, November 9, 2022, at 7:30 pm the sanctuary at Temple Shaaray Tefila was completely full in anticipation of the World Premiere performance of Voices. The audience was welcomed by Rabbi Wilfond and composer Michael Shapiro (also a congregant of TST) for a brief and passionate introduction to Michael’s composition, Voices of the Holocaust. As Rabbi and Michael were seated, the audience was in awe as the American Modern Ensemble walked solemnly down the aisle humming the first movement of Voices.

Soloist, Daniel Mutlu, a tenor and Cantor for Central Synagogue in NYC, pierced the heart of every soul in the room with his passion and breathtakingly pure voice throughout the performance.

Each member of the ensemble from conductor Deborah Simpkin King to the Ember Choral Arts and American Modern Ensemble brought the Shaaray Tefila sanctuary to life with the memories of so many lost in the Holocaust. It will be a performance the audience will continue to hear in their hearts and want to return to over and over. Michael’s composition has so many levels, the piece deserves to be explored over and over.

The performance was made possible by the Shaaray Tefila Holocaust Remembrance Committee, led by Lori Laub. Then followed by a reception in the Jewish Heritage Hall for the audience to have a chance to meet with Michael and the artists in person.

Photography compliments of Stuart Zaro

Additional details about the performance from the original press release follow:

The World Premiere of Michael Shapiro’s VOICES took place at Temple Shaaray Tefila of Northern Westchester on November 9, 2022 which is the remembrance day of Kristallnacht. This performance featured 35 performers including Daniel Mutlu, the Senior Cantor of Central Synagogue in New York City, Ember Choral Arts, and the American Modern Ensemble, conducted by Deborah Simpkin King.  The co-world premiere of the work occured the next day, November 10, 2022, at Central Synagogue.

The concept for VOICES was born more than twenty years ago when Michael Shapiro served as Music Consultant to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. After reading poetry by Sephardic victims during the Shoah, he wrote the hour-long choral and chamber ensemble as a requiem: “not solely [as] a work of remembrance, but as a warning.” The composition is varied in tone and includes hints of cabaret, religious observance, and transcendent echoes that reflect the international impact of the Holocaust on Jewish people from different countries. According to Shapiro, “the composition delivers an ending that bespeaks longing for a Jewish homeland, through which the voices of those stilled by evil and tyranny will be heard.”

The performance marks a creative collaboration between the internationally recognized Ember Choral Arts (formerly Schola Cantorum on Hudson), which has served the Manhattan and New Jersey areas since its founding in 1995, and the American Modern Ensemble (formed by Victoria and Robert Paterson) which spotlights contemporary music via lively programming and performs a wide repertoire, using a robust combination of instrumentalists, vocalists, and conductors.

About the Composer

Michael Shapiro guest conducts internationally and is Laureate Conductor of The Chappaqua Orchestra. He has written over 100 works for orchestral, theatrical, film, chamber, choral, and vocal forces. His music has been performed by many of the world’s great orchestras and performers in North America and Europe, and much of his music is recorded and available on major platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music.  His music is regularly broadcast throughout the world, including SiriusXM, National Public Radio, BBC, CBC, ABC-Australia, Polskie Radio, and over 50 commercial radio stations in North America. His score for the classic film Frankenstein is his most popular work and has been performed over 50 times internationally including the upcoming premiere of the new operatic version at the LA Opera. For more information, please visit www.MichaelShapiro.com

About the Performance

Daniel Mutlu is Senior Cantor of Central Synagogue. A first-generation American born to Turkish Jewish parents, he has earned glowing reviews from The New York Times as a member of NYC’s The Choir of Trinity Wall Street and has performed with many premier musical ensembles including the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Ars Lyrica, Houston Bach Society, Alarm Will Sound, and Park East Synagogue Choir.  He can be heard as tenor soloist on the Naxos eight-disc set of the Complete Haydn Masses, Requiem: For the Living, Music Omnia and The Choir of Trinity Wall Street’s release of Handel’s Israel in Egypt (nominated for a Grammy Award). Mutlu tours internationally as the main soloist of the Night Holocaust Project. His singing has been featured in films such as The Song of Names and A Cantor’s Head.

Deborah Simpkin King serves as the conductor and founding Artistic Director of Ember, Director of Music and Arts at the historic Trinity Episcopal Church in Asbury Park, NJ, conductor at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, and MidAmerica Productions. She plays an active role in the vibrant Manhattan choral scene and is committed to serving the next generation in the arts through guest conducting, published work, and education initiatives. Dr. King is at the leading edge of the new music industry, working with composers and young singers through the Big Sing Jr. PROJECT: ENCORE which she founded.

Share

Related posts

January 31, 2023

 Israeli Film Festival February 2023


Read more
January 26, 2023

Refugee Shabbat


Read more
November 14, 2022

Thanksgiving Green Tips


Read more
Temple Shaaray Tefila | 89 Baldwin Road | Bedford Corners, NY 10549 | Phone: (914) 666-3133 | Fax: (914) 412-9905
© Copyright 2023 Generously designed by Cecile Rothschild I Create & Associates. Inc.
Photography by Stuart Zaro, Homepage banner photos: Photo credit to Todd Shapera
Buy now
  • Online Forms
  • Event Space
  • News
  • Contact