01/02/2022
WEINBERG, JACOB (1879-1956)
Born in 1879 in Odessa, Jacob Weinberg was a pianist and composer who wrote more than 135 works for the piano and other instruments. Born to a totally-integrated Russian Jewish …
25/01/2022
DYCK, VLADIMIR (1882-1943)
The biography of this composer, who was born on March 19, 1882 in Odessa and died in Auschwitz in 1943, still remains incomplete. The fifth child of a modest family, …
24/01/2022
Rubin, Ruth (1906-2000)
Born into a Jewish family from Bessarabia, Ruth Rubin has devoted her life to the preservation and dissemination of Yiddish song. Her publications, based on her fieldwork, have made her one of the world's foremost collectors and specialists of Yiddish, following in the footsteps of Moshe Beregovski (1892-1961) and Yehuda Leyb Cahan (1881-1937) …
19/01/2022
KREIN, ALEXANDER (1883-1951)
Alexander Krein (Aleksander Abramovič Krejn) was born on October 20, 1883 in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod. His father, Abraham, was a violinist with a passion for Jewish music, …
29/12/2021
ENGEL, JOEL (1868-1927)
Composer, folklorist and musicologist, Joel Engel was born in Berdyansk (Crimea) in 1868. After studying law and on the advice of Tchaikovsky, he enrolled at the Moscow Conservatory, where he …
14/12/2021
Zrihan, Emile
Born in Rabat, Morocco in 1952, Emile Zrihan (sometimes written “Zrihen”) was introduced to Jewish liturgical chant and Moroccan folk music at an early age. He emigrated to Israel with …
13/12/2021
Tounsi, El Kahlaoui (1932-2000)
El Kahlaoui Tounsi, whose real name was Elie Touitou, was born in Tunis on January 24, 1932. He spent his childhood in the popular neighborhoods which had a strong artistic …
07/12/2021
Elmaghribi, Samy (1922 – 2008)
Samy Elmaghribi, whose real name was Salomon Amzallag, was born on April 19, 1922 in Safi in Morocco, a quite symbolic day …
20/10/2021
The organ in the Jewish tradition
On May 21, 1856, the conference of the French chief rabbis, presided by the chief rabbi of France Salomon Ulmann (1806 - 1865), endorsed the use of the organ in the Consistorial temples. This decision was subject of a lively debate between the holders of Orthodox Judaism and the reformers …
11/10/2021
Levin, Leibu (1914-1983)
Leibu Levin was born in the town of Kimpelung, Bukovina, in 1914. From 1919 he lived in Czernowitz. He studied Yiddish language and literature in the Seminar of the “Yiddisher …
