UK: Liverpool Jewish Cemetery restoration

Restoring Jewish cemeteries through lottery funding is a possibility in the UK.

According to the Liverpool Echo, the city’s historic Deane Road Jewish cemetery has applied for such funding to aid its restoration.

Deane Road Jewish cemetery in Kensington is the final resting place of some of Liverpool’s best-known entrepreneurs including David Lewis, pioneer of Lewis’s, and Moses Samuel, founder of H Samuel.

The cemetery, which has around 750 gravestones, opened in 1837 but the last burial was in 1929 and it had become derelict before a new campaign to refurbish it was launched three years ago.

Patrons include Liverpool solicitor Rex Makin, Lord Lieutenant Dame Lorna Muirhead, and the well known actress (and Jewish genealogist) Miriam Margolyes.

The group has put in a bid for £220,000 which should fund a total restoration, including replacement, repair or refurbishment of boundary walls, gateposts, railings and front archway, as well as to re-erect all gravestones in good condition.

The Old Liverpool Hebrew Congregation owns the site, which has an ornate Greek-revival style archway entrance and a driveway flanked by cast iron railings.

Burials include Liverpool’s first Jewish mayor Charles Mozley, and painter John Raphael Isaac. For more on notable Sephardi and Ashkenazi personalities who rest in Deane Road, click here.

These detailed biographies include family histories, illustrations, links, and other references.

Supporters hope that once restoration is complete, the cemetery will be added to Liverpool’s heritage trail.

For more details on the cemetery, click here. For the history of the cemetery, click here.

Estonia: Music series in Tallinn synagogue, March 1

A concert of Jewish composers’ contribution to world musical culture will be performed in the Tallin, Estonia synagogue. The first concert, part of a six-concert series, takes place Sunday, March 1.

Themed “As long as I Can Remember,” the program includes Soviet songs, ballads and musical scores from movies, created by composers of Jewish origin, including Isaac Dunayevsky, Oscar Feltsman, Yan Frenkel, Isaac Schwartz, Veniamin Basner and others.

Television and radio journalist Irina Stelmakh is director of the series, which will feature Russian Philharmonic Society soloists Alexander Nekrasov (baritone) and Natalia Troshina (mezzo-soprano), with accompaniment by Vladimir Ignatov.

For more, click here.

New York: Sephardic music concert, March 7

New Yorkers are in for a treat with the Spirit of Sepharad concert, with Gerard Edery, concert set for 8pm, Saturday, March 7.

The Caravan Ensemble group includes:

Gerard Edery
Moroccan-born singer and guitarist; winner, Sephardic Musical Heritage Award
Amir Vahab
Iranian master vocalist of Persian folk and sacred music
Glen Velez
World-renowned, three-time Grammy Award-winning master drummer, composer
Ara Dinkjian
Foremost Armenian oud virtuoso
Barbara Martinez
Flamenco star dancer, singer and actress
Peninnah Schram
Internationally acclaimed storyteller

A soul-stirring program, The Spirit of Sepharad traces the unique migration of the Sephardim from medieval Spain, across North Africa, to the Middle East and beyond. Combining music, dance, narration and illuminating projections, this dynamic mixed-media performance brings to life all the rich cultural strains of the Sephardic Diaspora.

Featuring an array of virtuoso musicians from multiple disciplines, the CARAVAN ensemble traces the surprising and exotic musical synergies between Christians, Arabs and Jews from Medieval Spain to the present.

This program includes songs and instrumental music of secular and liturgical origin from Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria, Greece, Syria, Turkey, Ancient Persia, The Balkans, Israel and Kurdistan (then, as now, part of Iran, Turkey and Iraq).

Tickets $35 Senior $33 Multi-Show $30 Student $20

The venue is the Queens Theatre (Claire Shulman Playhouse), in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. For tickets, click here; ($35, senior $33, student $20).

UK: Liverpool Jewish Cemetery restoration

Restoring Jewish cemeteries through lottery funding is a possibility in the UK.

According to the Liverpool Echo, the city’s historic Deane Road Jewish cemetery has applied for such funding to aid its restoration.

Deane Road Jewish cemetery in Kensington is the final resting place of some of Liverpool’s best-known entrepreneurs including David Lewis, pioneer of Lewis’s, and Moses Samuel, founder of H Samuel.

The cemetery, which has around 750 gravestones, opened in 1837 but the last burial was in 1929 and it had become derelict before a new campaign to refurbish it was launched three years ago.

Patrons include Liverpool solicitor Rex Makin, Lord Lieutenant Dame Lorna Muirhead, and the well known actress (and Jewish genealogist) Miriam Margolyes.

The group has put in a bid for £220,000 which should fund a total restoration, including replacement, repair or refurbishment of boundary walls, gateposts, railings and front archway, as well as to re-erect all gravestones in good condition.

The Old Liverpool Hebrew Congregation owns the site, which has an ornate Greek-revival style archway entrance and a driveway flanked by cast iron railings.

Burials include Liverpool’s first Jewish mayor Charles Mozley, and painter John Raphael Isaac. For more on notable Sephardi and Ashkenazi personalities who rest in Deane Road, click here.

These detailed biographies include family histories, illustrations, links, and other references.

Supporters hope that once restoration is complete, the cemetery will be added to Liverpool’s heritage trail.

For more details on the cemetery, click here. For the history of the cemetery, click here.

Estonia: Music series in Tallinn synagogue, March 1

A concert of Jewish composers’ contribution to world musical culture will be performed in the Tallin, Estonia synagogue. The first concert, part of a six-concert series, takes place Sunday, March 1.

Themed “As long as I Can Remember,” the program includes Soviet songs, ballads and musical scores from movies, created by composers of Jewish origin, including Isaac Dunayevsky, Oscar Feltsman, Yan Frenkel, Isaac Schwartz, Veniamin Basner and others.

Television and radio journalist Irina Stelmakh is director of the series, which will feature Russian Philharmonic Society soloists Alexander Nekrasov (baritone) and Natalia Troshina (mezzo-soprano), with accompaniment by Vladimir Ignatov.

For more, click here.