Oscar Louis’ new EP ‘Ghost in the Apartment’ grapples with the very Jewish fear of being forgotten
When Oren Lefkowitz first started writing music as a solo artist in 2019, he wanted to pay homage to the Jewish artists before him who had felt pressure to change their names to better fit into mainstream society. As a thought experiment, he considered what name he might have used as an actor in 1940s […]
Sharon, Lois and Bram’s legacy lives on—with a family act for a new generation of elephant-counting fans
Like so many other Canadian kids, Ethan Ullmann and his younger brother Elijah grew up singing the words to songs such as “Skinnamarink” and “One Elephant, Deux Elephants” by Sharon, Lois and Bram. But the Toronto university students never imagined performing those 1980s and ’90s children’s music hits for modern-day audiences. Of course, the fact […]
The late Joan Beckow composed songs for stars, but they were never recorded—until now
Being Michael Bublé’s vocal coach and Carol Burnett’s music director didn’t mean she made a name for herself.
This couple from Halifax organized a music festival to raise money for flood relief in Canada
Following the recent floods that devastated Canada’s east and west coasts in November, Halifax couple Sondra Rutman and Jason Brown felt compelled to do something. A mere three weeks later, on Dec. 19 and 20, they had successfully co-organized an online music festival which raised over $20,000 for the Canadian Red Cross. “At the beginning it […]
Azrieli music awards go to an Iranian composer inspired by a Persian-Jewish poet and to a Canadian-Israeli musician
A 14th-century Persian-Jewish poet famed for his epic verses based on the Torah was the inspiration for the Iranian-Canadian who won the Jewish music prize awarded by the Azrieli Foundation. Iman Habibi, who was born in Iran in 1985 and immigrated to Canada at 17, has been awarded the Azrieli Music Prize (AMP) that commissions […]
New album from Tzimmes is a delicious mix of sacred and secular melodies
Tzimmes is the Yiddish name for the traditional holiday dish, a mash-up of carrots or sweet potatoes and dried fruit cooked in spices and wine. Tzimmes is also the name of the Vancouver Jewish music ensemble whose rich new double album, The Road Never Travelled, like their repertoire, is a mashup of secular and sacred […]
Ashkenaz Festival dedicates October to streaming four new concerts recorded in the summer
This month the Ashkenaz Festival is streaming a series of four concerts—the festival’s first shows with a live audience in way too long for everyone involved. Both visually and sound-wise, production values are high in the videos, shot north of Toronto in a barn on Bela Farm, a rural home of Shoresh, a Jewish environmental […]
Documentary pays homage to resilience of Montreal’s special-needs choir members through pandemic
Weekly rehearsals and a busy concert schedule provided a group of Montreal adults with disabilities much-needed camaraderie and opportunity to learn and develop their talents. The pandemic brought that to a sudden halt in March 2020. But under its charismatic founder and leader, Cantor Daniel Benlolo, the Shira Choir went virtual. The 35 members quickly […]
KlezKanada returns with a retreat that’s also virtual
With a few live concerts in Montreal, Toronto and New York.
Montreal’s Yiddish literary heritage celebrated in a podcast from Blue Met
Listeners are taken through the streets where writers once thrived.
