Shir Madness celebrates Jewish music
MELBOURNE will celebrate a smorgasbord of Jewish music at the inaugural Shir Madness festival to be held in Elsternwick on Sunday, September 6.
Festival director Deborah Conway – who will also perform during the festival – promises a rich diversity of Jewish music, ranging from Broadway to jazz, klezmer to cantorial, and Yiddish folk songs to electronic dance music.
“We will have everything from ancient chants to robotic rhythms, trying to illustrate the contribution of Jewish composers at all levels and genres,” says Conway. “It will be a real celebration of music.”
Shir Madness has been a successful fixture in Sydney since 2010, but is being staged in Melbourne for the first time under a local organising committee. The festival will be centred at the Classic Cinemas – using several cinemas for performances by more than 30 Australian and overseas acts – as well as the Kadimah hall and a marquee in Selwyn Street, where fans will be treated to more than nine hours of musical entertainment.
“Shir Madness fills a gap in the Melbourne Jewish arts scene, as we have a Jewish writers’ festival and a Jewish film festival. We haven’t had a festival that brings the spotlight on Jews and music until now,” says Conway.
“Think WOMAD in a tallis, Port Fairy with a yarmulke, Blues Fest with a plate of chopped liver.”
Among the headline acts from overseas is New York folk-world band Zusha who perform a blend of reggae, gypsy swing, jazz, folk and traditional Jewish music. The group has been labelled as neo-Chassidic hipsters due to their energetic style.
“Zusha has been selling out shows in the United States and their debut EP charted well on the Billboard world music charts,” says Conway.
Israeli singer-songwriter Tal Ben Ari (known as Tula), who was based in Spain from 2005 until this year, is also coming to Australia for the festival.
Drawing on her Israeli roots for her music, she recorded her debut album Sheela which fuses different musical styles in five languages. Earlier this year she returned to Tel Aviv where she is working on a new album.
“Tal has a gorgeous Sephardi voice and performs beautiful music,” notes Conway.
From around Australia there’s a strong line-up including triple ARIA Award-winning Sydney band Monsieur Camembert – led by Yoran Hallis – playing klezmer, gypsy and other music styles, internationally acclaimed classical pianist Simon Tedeschi and popular indie folk group Tinpan Orange.
The Leonie Cohen Trio will perform a range of Jewish music, including hits from the album Jerusalem. Cohen has just composed music for The Diary of Anne Frank, currently being staged in Sydney.
Other performers include jazz-soul singer Rita Satch, bassoonist George Dreyfus, guitarist Leonard Grigoryan, percussionist Robbie Avenaim, tango inspired music from Ruth Roshan and her quintet Tango Noir, Yiddish and gypsy love songs from the Stiletto Sisters, and the Sephardi and Balkan sounds of Saray Iluminado.
Conway and partner Willy Zygier are also on the bill, performing a selection of their hit songs accompanied by a chamber group.
“At the Canberra International Music Festival last month we were backed by a chamber group and loved it so much that we have decided to perform something similar at Shir Madness,” says Conway.
One of the festival highlights is expected to be “Song of Songs”, where 15 well-known Melbourne singers have been invited to perform their own versions of songs by their favourite Jewish composers.
The line-up includes Linda Bull, Archie Roach, Tim Rogers, Emily Lubitz, Ron Peno, Rebecca Barnard, Hue Blanes, Kutcha Edwards and Conway, backed by a band led by Jonathan Zion.
“The combination of all these different people coming together to honour Jewish composers can’t fail to be a moving experience as well as a lot of fun,” says Conway.
In addition to the music, Shir Madness will offer workshops, lectures and panel discussions.
“Jews love to debate and discuss and we will also have some stimulating panel discussions, workshops and lectures about music.”
Conway urged music fans to book early and take advantage of early-bird ticket offers.
The Shir Madness Melbourne Jewish Music Festival is on Sunday, September 6 in Elsternwick. Enquiries: www.shirmadness.com.
REPORT by Danny Gocs
PHOTO of Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier in concert.
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