Music

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Collection

Release of "Free To Be You and Me"

November 27, 1972

Free To Be You and Me, the album of non-sexist stories and songs that helped shape the self-understanding and world view of a generation of children, was released on November 27, 1972.

Debut of singer Alma Gluck

November 16, 1909

Alma Gluck first appeared on stage with the Metropolitan Opera on November 19, 1909 in the role of Sophie in Massenet's Werther.

Roberta Peters debuts at the Met

November 17, 1950

Roberta Peters has achieved international fame for her soprano voice and performing success.

Birth of musician, writer, journalist, Eugenia Zukerman

September 25, 1944

The multi-talented performer and writer Eugenia Zukerman was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on September 25, 1944.

Birth of entertainer Kitty Carlisle Hart

September 3, 1910

Born on September 3, 1910 [some sources say 1911, 1914], Kitty Carlisle Hart began a musical career at a young age and kept performing into her nineties.

Death of early music pioneer Wanda Landowska

August 16, 1959

Born in Warsaw in 1879, Wanda Landowska studied piano at the Warsaw Conservatory, from which she graduated at age 14. In 1900, she moved to Paris, where she taught piano and performed.

Jennie Tourel sings on Mt. Scopus

July 9, 1967

On July 9, 1967, mezzo-soprano Jennie Tourel joined Leonard Bernstein for a concert on Jerusalem's Mount Scopus to celebrate the end of the Six-Day

Birth of Broadway lyricist Dorothy Fields

July 15, 1904

Dorothy Fields, who wrote lyrics to over 400 songs over half a century, was born on July 15, 1904.

Award for Yiddish actress, Molly Picon

June 28, 1980

Born in New York in 1898, Molly Picon moved with her family to Philadelphia before she was three.

Carole King Releases "Tapestry"

February 10, 1971

Singer-songwriter Carole King achieved stardom with the release of her album Tapestry on February 10, 1971.

Birth of opera star Beverly Sills

May 25, 1929

Born on May 25, 1929 as Belle Miriam Silverman, Beverly Sills began singing in public at the age of four, when she appeared on the Uncle Bob's Rain

Singer Alma Gluck is born

May 11, 1884
Born in Romania, opera and concert singer Alma Gluck went on to become a major performing and recording star in the United States

Opera singer Roberta Peters is born

May 4, 1930
Soprano Roberta Peters had the longest tenure of any Metropolitan Opera soprano and has worked throughout her career to popularize opera.

Singer Sylvia Blagman Syms dies during standing ovation

May 10, 1992
Jazz singer Sylvia Syms dies of a heart attack at age 74 while receiving a standing ovation after a performance.

Debut of Beverly Sills at the Metropolitan Opera

April 7, 1975

The New York Times reported that although the Metropolitan Opera's staging of The Siege of Corinth was impressive, "everything ...

The "New York Times" reports on Barbra Streisand's Broadway debut

March 23, 1962

"The evening's find is Barbra Streisand, a girl with an oafish expression, a loud irascible voice and an arpeggiated laugh.

Sophie Tucker records signature song

March 2, 1911

Sophie Tucker, the self-proclaimed "Last of the Red Hot Mamas," was born on January 13, 1884.

Shulamit Ran's "Verticals" premieres

March 2, 1983

The New York Times called Shulamit Ran's Verticals "rhapsodic and intriguing" when it was premiered by pianist Alan Feinberg at New York's Merkin Concert Hall on March 2, 1983.

Lyricist Dorothy Fields is inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame

March 8, 1971

The ten people inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame in its first induction ceremony on March 8, 1971, included some of the most well-known names in American music: Duke Ellington, Ira Gersh

NY Times hails Carnegie Hall performance by Rosina and Josef Lhévinne

January 14, 1939

Critics hailed Rosina and Josef Lhévinne's two-piano recital, held at Carnegie Hall on January 14, 1939, for its "remarkable precision, subtle tinting, and the most carefully perfected detai

Debbie Friedman plays Carnegie Hall

January 7, 1996

On January 7, 1996, Debbie Friedman gave a sold out concert at Carnegie Hall, commemorating twenty-five years as one of the Jewish community's most well-known and influential contemporary musicians

Yiddish Musical Theater in the United States

Jewish women on stage in America took on a variety of musical roles and performed all kinds of songs, including religious hymns and liturgical chants. In its heyday, the Yiddish stage mirrored American Jewish life. An amazing range of women’s woes were highlighted, discussed, and often resolved across the footlights, presenting the reality that immigrant women faced to an extent not paralleled in the English-language theatrical world during those years.

Yemenite Women in Israel: 1948 to 2005

The transition of Yemenite women from a traditional religious society to a western-secular society upon immigration to Israel was marked by a certain ambivalence. Their status and gender roles changed, and they became integrated both economically and socially into Israeli society. However, the new values underwent a certain degree of filtration as Yemenite women accepted some elements while rejecting others.

Vaudeville in the United States

Jewish women in vaudeville helped to cultivate a unique American Jewish identity. Headliners Sophie Tucker, Belle Baker, and Fanny Brice were prominent, as were performers such as Nan Halperin and Nora Bayes. Molly Picon was a star of Yiddish theater, and Sarah Bernhardt a star of the stage. The reign of Jewish female vaudevillians ended in the 1930s, but their voices continue to be heard.

Rosalyn Tureck

Pianist Rosalyn Tureck toured the world as a consummate interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Tureck made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1935 before touring in Europe, South America, Israel, Turkey, South Africa, and Australia. In 1994 she founded the Oxford-based Tureck Bach Research Institute.

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