The old theater saying that there are no small parts, only small actors, can also be said for opera. Just ask Australian bass Joshua Bloom, who was in town last month to begin rehearsals as Masetto for the Los Angeles Opera production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” The opera’s seven performances run Sept. 22 through Oct. 14 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra will perform at the prestigious BBC Proms in London despite calls for a boycott of its performance.
Renowned Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim will present a \”peace concert\” in the Gaza Strip. Barenboim, a Palestinian activist, will direct an organization of 25 European musicians on Tuesday, the French news agency AFP reported. The so-called \”Orchestra for Gaza\” was announced Monday by the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process.
A spokesman for Justin Bieber told JTA that the pop star is not meeting with children from Israel\’s rocket-beset south because of logistics, not politics. “Justin welcomes the chance to meet with kids facing difficult circumstances, regardless of their background, and in fact, he had already invited children from the Sderot area to join the 25,000-plus other fans at his concert in Tel Aviv on Thursday night,” the spokesman told JTA.
Music was Daniel Pearl\’s avocation, but journalism was his profession. In pursuit of a story on Al Qaeda\’s financial ties, the then-38-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter was kidnapped in early 2002 in Pakistan and beheaded by Islamic extremists.
Ever since she was a little girl, Portnyansky dreamed of coming to the United States. \”My parents used to get a magazine called Amerika. It had photos and articles about the U.S. In my mind I was already there, from the first grade.\” The opportunity came in 1991, during the last throes of the Soviet Union: She received an invitation from the U.S government to do a concert tour.
Moshav Band, which was founded as a direct result of Carlebach\’s influence, just released its first English only album — \”Misplaced.\”
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