PROGRAM of 2024
All events are free of charge!
The International festival of Jewish culture “SHALOM IN ALL THE WORLD” says “Shalom” to Klaipeda once again.
Despite our deep disappointment that both the Mayor of Klaipeda and the Lithuanian Council of Culture decided not to allocate any funding for the festival whatsoever, we remain absolutely committed to bringing the festival once again to the citizens of Klaipeda this year.
So, during the festival Jewish music and culture will be celebrated and performed at the highest professional level. Of course, due to this lack of financial support at local and national level, our options will be limited and some of our anticipated events will be unable to take place. Furthermore, the festival team will work on a purely voluntary basis, without any payment.
Nevertheless, be assured,”Shalom in All The World” will go ahead!
The Festival will happen thanks to the understanding and appreciation of munificent institutions, generous-hearted people and benevolent performers.
Throughout the month of September we will invite you to become acquainted with the music of the Jewish people, to experience its beauty, richness and joyfulness. To get to know the world renowned, but rarely mentioned in Lithuania, creators, nurturers and performers of this music.
This year the festival will also take place in Salantai and Gargzdai as well as in Klaipeda.
We are very much looking forward to meeting and greeting all friends of the festival. We warmly welcome all people who respect, love and embrace the history and culture of the Jewish and its close ties and affinities with that of Lithuania.
Be with us and among us!
8 p.m.
Maluno (Trinyciu) pond
55°42’30″N 21°09’05.9″E
Duration 1 h
Sound performance
“SWIMMERS (& NON-SWIMMERS)”/„PLAUKIKAI (& NEPLAUKIANTYS)“
Trumpet, electronics and remote controlled fishing bait boats.
„And here my project starts: swimmers/non-swimmers is the very first point of discrimination for kids. We should be aware of that. And it does not feel wrong, because some kids obviously can’t swim. But it separates. (The next step is to attach some propaganda to the non-swimmers and so on and so on… And at the very end the narrative could be that ‘non-swimmers eat children for breakfast’. Following it will be allowed to lock the non-swimmers in jail.).
For me as a german artist, Jewish Culture is not barrier-free. There is always the context of the Shoah. And this context is huge and massive. Thinking of how to transform this situation into something positive, even beautiful, I have to jump on a Time Machine or to find a material which is – as material – basic and free of religious and political presets and claims.
Water might be free, because there is so much floating of it and it transforms permanently through a weather-related exchange of itself. The surface is acoustically as exciting as the moving on it – in my case by boats (there might other cases).
The boats go everywhere/anywhere and carry their own sounds wherever they go.
While moving the sounds change naturally: this could be an ideal situation of living in peace. (Guess how this might be related to Jewish Culture.)“. (Rochus Aust, 2024)
Rochus Aust – composition/trumpet/boats
Verena Barié – electronics/recorder/boats
Audience – boats/choreography
More about artists
Rochus Aust http://www.rochusaust.de
Verena Barié https://verenabarie.com
“SCHWIMMER (& NICHTSCHWIMMER)” by Rochus Aust is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia“
7 p.m.
Klaipeda St. Francis of Assisi Church
Savanorių str. 4
Duration 1 h
Concert
“Jewish Prayer”
The concert “Jewish Prayer” offers a rare constellation of two musical instruments – organ and viola. This constellation is supposed to promise an exceptional sound experience.
Following the reach tradition of the Jewish liturgy and the synagogue organ, programme of this concert unites the great classics like “Kol Nidre” by M. Bruch and “Prayer” by E. Bloch with the valuable but forgotten works that we discovered owing to our intensive research.
Main objective of research, concerts is to forge links between tradition and modernity.
https://holocaustmusic.ort.org/music/organ-music/
Semjon Kalinovsky >>>
Prof. Torsten Laux >>>
The program of the concert >>>
We thank the representative of the Stauder Stiftung, Mr. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Freiherr von Stetten for support in organizing the concert “Jewish Prayer” in Klaipeda.
5.30 p.m.
Klaipėda City Municipality Center of National Cultures
K. Donelaičio str. 6B
Duration 1 h
Concert
“Great (Viennese) Jewish women composers”
Andrea Schwab and Joanna Niederdorfer will present a selection of songs of Austrian Women Composers of jewish descent who were persecuted during the Nazi Regime (1938-1945). Their life task was enormous challenging ; To be a woman and to be jewish in a male dominated profession.
Some oft hem composed under a pseudonym. Most of their names were forgotten. Andrea Schwab and Joanna Niederdorfers‘ aim is to revital their works and bring their music into the world!
More about artist >>>
We thank the Embassy of Austria for their support in organizing the concert “Great (Viennese) Jewish women composers“ in Klaipeda.
5 p.m.
Klaipeda County Ieva Simonaityte Public Library
Herkaus Manto str. 25
Duration 1 h
Lecture
“Between poetry, music and art: the phenomenon of Arno Nadel (1878-1943)”
The event is cancelled. We are very sorry.
The exceptional artist Arnas Nadel (1878-1943) was born in Vilnius, where he spent the first twelve years of his life. Afterwards, he would go on to live in Karaliaucius and Berlin. Arnas Nadel was renowned for his multifarious talents, and his wide-ranging aesthetic abilities. He was a poet, playwright, musicologist, music composer, collector, publicist, choirmaster, pianist, organist and painter. Delving into the musical heritage of European Jews, which he cared deeply about, Arnas Nadel never lost his Lithuania roots (evident in his work), while also authentically absorbing German culture.
More about lecturer >>>
5.30 p.m.
Klaipeda City Municipality I.Kant Public Library Pempininkai department
Taikos ave. 81A
Duration 1 h 50 min
Film
“Our Jewish Musicians”
2017 | Lithuania | directed by S.Sondeckis (jaun.) | documentary
The documentary film “Our Jewish Musicians” (2017), directed by Saulius Sondeckis (Jr.) is dedicated to the memory of the world-famous conductor maestro Saulius Sondeckis, who passed away 2016.
The film uses abundant documentary and iconographic material collected in Lithuanian, Israeli, USA, and Russian archives, museums, and private archives. It presents 26 Lithuanian musicians from the first half of the 20th century to the present days.There are even 882 photos in the film. and excerpts from 50 works by 33 composers.
5 p.m.
Salantai Cultural Center (former Synagogue)
A. Salio str.4
Duration 1 h
Concert
“Valeria’s Klezmer Chariot”
Hop into the wonderland of Valeria’s Klezmer Chariot for a journey through joyous Eastern European moods! Let your feet jump high and your hands clap tight following the beats of playful accordion and tuba topped by virtuosic and passionate clarinet improvisations. The ensemble’s repertoire includes exotic arrangements of Klezmer and Balkan melodies, Yiddish and Hebrew songs, as well as original Klezmer compositions, written by the lead clarinettist, Valeria Conte, an Italian musician who lived across all of Scandinavia and halted in Stockholm to create an energetic Klezmer band with vibrant and eclectic musicians.
Valeria Conte – clarinet and vocal
Isabel Douglass – accordion
Stian Grimstad – tuba
Tomas Norberg – drums
More about artists >>>
SPONSORS
Kulturrådet (Swedish Arts Council) https://www.kulturradet.se/
Paideia – The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden https://paideia-eu.org/
Foto: www.valeriaclarinetta.com
5 p.m.
Gargždai Regional Museum
Sodo str. 5
Duration 1 h
Lecture
“To sing life. Nechama Lifsicaite”
5.30 p.m.
Klaipėda City Municipality Center of National Cultures
K. Donelaičio str. 6B
Duration 1 h
Lecture
“Keys from Spain: on History and Culture of Sephardic Jews”
My talk concerns the history and the culture of Sephardic Jews. In its first part, I will present the main facts about the expulsion of Jews from medieval Spain, the formation of the Sephardic Diaspora, and the changes that it underwent in the 19 th and 20 th centuries. In the second part, I will speak about the characteristics of the Ladino language and its current situation. It will be shown as one of the main keys to understanding Sephardic culture. I will focus on the relations between the language, literature and music as well as some chosen customs connected with or reflected in them.
Agnieszka August-Zarębska is an assistant professor in the Taube Department of Jewish Studies at the University of Wrocław, Poland. She has a degree in Spanish Studies, and her current research interests include contemporary Ladino poetry and contemporary literary translations into Ladino and Sephardic children’s literature. She also worked on critical editions of the early 20th-century Judeo-Spanish literature.
More about lecturer >>>
We thank the Polish Institute in Vilnius for their support in organizing the lecture.
5 p.m.
Klaipėda City Municipality Center of National Cultures
K. Donelaičio str. 6B
Duration 1 h
Lecture
“Hazanut. The great cantors of the 20th century”
Hazanut (or chazonos) refers to traditional cantorial singing in Judaism. This lecture will focus on the great Ashkenazi cantors of the 20th century. The lecture, which will be given by one of the leading klezmer violinists, Mark Kovnatskiy (Germany), will feature archival recordings, videos and
photographs.
More about lecturer >>>
7 p.m.
Klaipeda St. Francis of Assisi Church
Savanorių str. 4
Duration 1 h
Concert
“Di Yidishe Neshome”
Klezmer & Klezmer-inspired classical music for violin and piano
Two virtuosos take you on a deeply moving journey through the soul of Yiddish music. Pianist/accordionist Dr. Alan Bern has been a pioneer in the international revival of Yiddish music for 40 years. He has performed with Itzhak Perlman and Brave Old World, among others, and in 1999 founded Yiddish Summer Weimar, the most important summer institute and festival for Yiddish music worldwide. His younger colleague, violinist Mark Kovnatskiy, plays with the Hamburg Klezmer Band and the Joel Rubin Klezmer Ensemble, among others. He is at the forefront of a
klezmorimfor the present day. The duo shines with traditional klezmer pieces, composers such as Joel Engel and Josef Achron, and with their own compositions.
More about artists >>>
Foto: Shendl Copitman
We thank the German Embassy in Vilnius for their support in organising the concert “Di Yidishe Neshome” in Klaipėda.
Photos and videos will be taken during the events.
The participants may be seen in photos and videos that will be posted on social networks and media.