Bracha

The Music of Meira Warshauer

Fall 2005 Volume III, Number I

S. Carolina Artist Fellow Award

Meira Warshauer was named 2006 Artist Fellow in Music Composition by the South Carolina Arts Commission. As one of five new Fellows from various disciplines selected by the Arts Commission through an out-of -state jury process, she received a $2,000 award and an honor earned by few state artists. This is the second such award for Meira, who received the Artist Fellowship in Music Composition in 1994.

Meira in the Concert Hall –

Premieres and Performances

As always, Meira Warshauer’s music is being performed across the U.S. and around the world. Recent and upcoming premieres and performances include:

"Ashirah Lashem," a setting of Psalm 104 for SATB chorus and piano, commissioned by Mak'hela, the Jewish Chorus of Western Massachusetts, Kayla Werlin, director; and Sinai Temple, Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler, was premiered April 19, 2005 at Sinai Temple, Springfield, Massachusetts.

The Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, Noreen Green, conductor, performed "Like Streams in the Desert" at the Ford Ampitheatre, Hollywood, California, August 21, 2005.

Ina Esther Joost performed "In Memoriam" for solo cello in Hannover-Gehrden, Germany, March 16, 2005. The same composition, in a version for clarinet and bass clarinet duo, was performed by Michal Beit and a colleague for the festival "Clarinet and Klezmer in the Galilee" in Israel, August, 2005. According to Beit, "Giora Feidman (Artistic Director of the festival) commented to the audience after we played that the sounds of the two instruments portrayed the bare soul of human kind."

"Spirals of Light" for flute, cello, and piano, was presented at the Jewish Museum of Florida in March, 2005, in a concert featuring Southern Jewish composers. Meira was present at the concert, and introduced the music to the audience prior to the performance.

Meira performed a piano improvisation at her Harvard-Radcliffe Reunion in June, to accompany classmate Nina Bernstein's reading from her new children's tale, "Magic by the Book."

The Jerusalem Lyric Trio continues to perform "Yishakeyni (Sweeter than Wine)" to enthusiastic audiences. Concerts this fall included the Jewish Center, Forest Hills, New York (in a private home) Sept. 17; Adath Jeshurun Synagogue, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, Sept. 18; and Beth El Temple, Bethesda, Maryland, Sept. 24. Wendy Kashy, flutist and manager for the trio, reports that audiences are in love with "Yishakeyni," saying it is a "truly sensuous, breathtaking" setting of the Song of Songs.  The trio is planning another American tour in February/March, with at least one performance of "Yishakeyni" at Gratz College, Elkins Park (outside Philadelphia), Pennsylvania on Tuesday, February 28, 2006. Other engagements to be announced.

Visit the trio online at http://www.jerusalemlyrictrio.com/.

"Yishakeyni" will receive its European premiere at a Festival of American Music in Wroclaw, Poland, presented in conjunction with the Lipinski University of Music, March 7, 2006, in the Oratorium Marianum.

Meira on the Air and on CD

Daniel Pearl World Music Days broadcasts October 1-10 will include the following Meira Warshauer compositions as part of the International Association of Women in Music’s "Lullabies for Free Children" project:

“Bati l'gani”

“Yishakeyni (Sweeter than Wine)”

“Shevet Achim (Brothers Dwell)”

“Enter the Sacred Space”

“Arise into Radiant Grace”

“Open Your Gates”

“Revelation”

Joan Yakkey of the IAWM newsgroup writes, “From 1 - 10 October we are participating in the Daniel Pearl Music Days satellite broadcast of lullabies and poetry readings. The contents of the broadcasts repeat twice a day…Please listen in when you can. 1 - 2.30 pm and 9 - 10.30 pm California time.”

You can find many, many online stations carrying the broadcasts in your area at http://www.live365.com/index.live.

"Land of Promise: the Jews of South Carolina," with soundtrack by Meira, was broadcast on SC-ETV again in Spring, 2005.

Flute Network’s monthly webmagazine (http://www.flutenet.com/julyaug05rec.htm) recommends the new Paula Robison CD/book package “Places of the Spirit; Music and Images inspired by the Berkshires”, which includes Meira’s “I Have Come Into My Garden.” They refer to her music as a, “a lovely piece especially written for this recording.” The package is available from Pucker Gallery, 171 Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116 - telephone: (617) 267-9473. or online at: http://www.puckergallery.com/publications/publications.html.

Artist Residency

Meira spent 3 weeks this September at the Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, Georgia, where she began work on a symphony co-commissioned by a consortium of orchestras including the Dayton Symphony Orchestra, South Carolina Philharmonic, and Western Piedmont (NC) Symphony.

On the Web

For more information about Meira Warshauer, including a complete catalog of her works, visit her website at http://home.sc.rr.com/meirawarshauer/.

On the Phone

For any other information about the music of Meira Warshauer, please contact Jeffrey James Arts Consulting at 516-797-9166 or jamesarts@worldnet.att.net.