topics
tools
Expatica countries
Index Last Var.(%)
BEL 20 2119.63 0.01
DAX 6334.88 -0.08
IBEX 30 6416.8 -1.93
CAC 40 3048.26 0.01
FTSE 100 5359.57 0.15
AEX 293 0.08
DJIA 12454.83 -0.60
Nasdaq 2837.53 -0.07
FTSE MIB 13078.51 -0.58
TSX Composite 11549.98 -0.23
ASX 4120.2 0.96
Hang seng 18800.99 0.47
Straits Times 2787.22 0.52
ISEQ 20 502.01 0.21
You are here: Home News European News 100 Jewish cantors to sing in historic concert in Poland

European News

archive
Enlarge font Decrease font Text size


27/06/2009100 Jewish cantors to sing in historic concert in Poland

Cantors from around the globe including the US, Canada, various European countries and Israel are to take part in the June 30th performance.

Warsaw -- One hundred Jewish cantors from around the globe will sing in an unprecedented concert in Warsaw next week, reviving the art of Jewish liturgical song virtually wiped out in Poland by the Holocaust, organisers said Thursday.

"Prior to the Second World War, this (Warsaw) was the capital of the cantorial world... a few hundred metres from this place was the Tlomackie synagogue and that was the 'cantorial Vatican', if you will," said cantor Nathan Lam, 62, from Los Angeles, California, speaking in the concert venue, Poland's National Opera in Warsaw.

Poland was home to Europe's largest Jewish population prior to World War II -- some 3.5 million people, with a rich history of nearly a thousand years of Jewish life and culture in the country.

Historians agree that some six million Polish citizens perished under Nazi German occupation during WWII, half of them Jewish. Six million European Jews fell victim to Nazi German genocide in the Holocaust.

"To come back to this place ... almost 60 years later, with the largest number of cantors since the Shoah -- it's returning home and saying this music is still alive and well," said Lam, whose grandparents were Polish Jews from the Warsaw area.

Cantors from around the globe including the US, Canada, various European countries and Israel are to take part in the June 30th performance.

"We're here to honour this tradition and to perpetuate this tradition in the place where it was born -- we're very excited about that," Lam told AFP.

"We know that almost 1,400 cantors perished in the Holocaust, today some 60 years later we are not even near getting to those numbers -- so our numbers have fallen tremendously," David Propis, a cantor from Houston, Texas, told AFP Thursday.

"Doing this kind of outreach will hopefully energise the love of cantorial music and bring it back to its roots and I hope those numbers will grow," Propis said.

"We're also thanking all of those who helped in one of our darkest periods (the Holocaust)," he said.

AFP/Expatica


0 reactions to this article

Be the first person to add a comment

General rating: Not rated yet

Rate article:    Add my rating



0 reactions to this article

Be the first person to add a comment
Discussion Forums

Television in France

Buy fake passports, driver's licenses, identity cards

Eating & Drinking in France

Buy fake passports, driver's licenses, identity cards

Humour in France

Buy fake passports, driver's licenses, identity cards

Shopping in France

Buy fake passports, driver's licenses, identity cards

Films, Shows & Events in France

Buy fake passports, driver's licenses, identity cards

participate in the forums

Inside Expatica
Management culture in France

Management culture in France

This handy guide from Expertise in Labour Mobility includes information on business hierarchy, negotiations, and etiquette.

American associations and clubs in Paris

American associations and clubs in Paris

A listing of organizations in the Paris area that cater primarily to Americans living in France. Updated April 2011.

British associations and clubs in Paris

British associations and clubs in Paris

Our handy guide to the British community in Paris, from cricket clubs to Scottish country dancing lessons to where to find a jar of Marmite.

Anglophone services in France

Anglophone services in France

Here's a short introduction to our Banking section for those living in France, from how to open a bank account to Islamic banking and investments.