"Review" of NOV 25 Festival of Klezmer Music

Saskatoon's very first Festival of Klezmer Music was held on Sunday
Afternoon,Nov 25 at the Jewish
Community Centre before a large and enthusiastic audience. Opening the
concert was a group of students
from three high schools(Walter Murray,Centennial,Marion Graham).Their
appearance was followed by  the Walter Murray Klezmer Band,led by Maxim
Gertler-Jaffe.An appreciative audience welcomed both groups.

The second portion of the concert featured singers and small
instrumental groups.Chaverim,a bass/ piano duo,made their debut
appearance with a klezmer suite of  D.K.Laban. The splendid U of S
Saxophone Quartet wowed the crowd with their stunning performance of An
Evening in Lublin.Trumpets and
trombones resounded through the hall as the Meewasin Brass Quartet
premiered a Suite by DK Leon.
Pianist Annette Floyd provided contrast with her two short pieces of
Mendelssohn. Vocal music was
certainly not neglected.Donna Slusar gave a beautiful performance of a
set of Sephardic Songs sung in
Landino.Her accompanists,flute and piano,added just the right
touch.Suseia and Eli Gordon,mother and son,
played flutes and then sang the Israeli song,Zemer Atik,accompanied by
the Tzahallah Dancers.What a sensitive performance that was! Music from
Scripture was presented by soprano Susanne Kaplan and baritone Carl
Goerz. The new settings of Oseh Shalom and Mi-Chamocha are
representative of contemporary
approaches to Jewish Scripture.Monte Keene Pishny-Floyd's 1971 setting
of the Kaddish was given a sensitive performance by Donna Slusar and
Hazzan Neil Schwartz brought down the house with a rousing version of
Rumania,Rumania.

The third and final section of the concert was presented by the
Saskatoon Klezmer Band.Featured soloists  included singers Suseia
Gordon(Halleluja) and David Greeen(UnAz Der Rebbe Zingt); Brian
Unverricht
 (trombone),Bob Klassen(clarinet),Ken Pizurny(accordion),Jack
Shiffman(trumpet), Jim Gillis(French horn,and
David Parkinson(viola).The Band played a variety of
frailachs,polkas,and even Latin American music.They
closed the concert with El Sharish,an exciting interpretation of a
small village in the Middle East.

Plans are underway to present a second klezmer festival next year.This
year's event was presented by the
Saskatoon Jewish Cultural Society with financial support from the City
of Saskatoon Grants Program.

--------------Review by D.L.Kaplan,Reporter for the
Spanish Daily,Il Shnooko