Saturday, June 7, 2014, 2:30 p.m.
Bronx Library Center, Auditorium (Map and directions)
Alhambra was founded in 1981 by Dr. Isabelle Ganz to transcribe, record, and perform the vast treasures of Sephardic music which have been preserved by the descendants of the Jews of Spain. The ensemble has taped the songs of native singers (primarily at the Sephardic Home for the Aged in Brooklyn), worked with material transcribed by ethnomusicologists, and then arranged this music for performance on instruments appropriate to the folk cultures of the countries of origin. Their arrangements are foot-tapping and infectious. The group has toured Andalucia at the invitation of the provincial government of Córdoba, Spain, performed to sold-out houses in London’s Purcell Room and Almeida Theatre, at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, with the New York City Symphony, for the World Music Institute and at the new Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.
Here’s a performance at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum last year:
Alhamabra was a finalist in the Concert Artists Guild Competition and has won first place honors in the Jewish Performing Arts competition held in New York. The ensemble has recorded three compact discs, two for the Global Village Music label and on the Aulos label, funded by a grant from the Maurice Amado Foundation.
The members of ALHAMBRA are:
Isabelle Ganz, mezzo-soprano, who through her study of cantorial styles and 20th century vocal techniques has matered the intricate art of Eastern vocal ornamentation; Haig Manoukian, who has appeared as oud virtuoso in Carnegie, Avery Fisher , and Town Halls; Michael Hess, classical and jazz violin soloist, who performed also onNay and Kanun; Rami el Aasser, a virtuos0 on the dumbek, riq, and fame drums; Elliot Z Levine, baritone and founder of Western Wind ensemble; Cantor Daniel Pincus, tenor, has performed at music festivals throughout the U.S.
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