MEDIA CONTACT: Terri Berns
561-297-1164, tberns@fau.edu

Klezmer Company Orchestra Breaks New Ground Performing "Jewish Broadway with Orchestra and Chorus" at Eissey Campus Theatre
Production Features Over 60 Performers with International Guest Vocalist Betty Silberman

BOCA RATON, FL (January 5, 2006) - Florida's innovative, critically acclaimed Klezmer Company Orchestra and Florida Atlantic University Libraries' professional ensemble-in-residence, directed by Aaron Kula, continues to break new musical ground by way of "Jewish Broadway with Orchestra and Chorus." The single performance will be on Saturday, January 21, at 3 p.m., at Eissey Campus Theatre, Palm Beach Community College, 3160 PGA Boulevard, Palm Beach Gardens. Early ticket purchases are recommended.

The production is on the cutting edge of musical programming as it presents diverse sources of creative inspiration to celebrate the musical connections of Klezmer, orchestra, Broadway, Yiddish theater and choral traditions. This collaborative event includes more than 60 Klezmer, orchestral and choral musicians, featuring international guest vocalist Betty Silverman, the 40-voice FAU Libraries' Judaica Choral Society and a string orchestra, with principle players from major local ensembles. These include former members of the Florida Philharmonic, members of the Palm Beach Opera, the Florida Grand Opera and Palm Beach Pops.

Guest artist, Betty Silberman, is an accomplished Yiddish and French vocalist from Montreal, Canada. She has performed internationally as a featured vocalist and theater actress and has recorded several CDs. Silberman has toured with Joel Grey's Broadway show "Borscht Capades," with return engagements at the Smithsonian Institution and the Montreal Jazz Festival. Betty also starred in Joseph Papp's Public Theatre in "Songs of Paradise."

The concert is to benefit the FAU Libraries' Judaica Collections, with the majority of the music selected for the performance coming from the collections' Jewish music archives.

"Aaron Kula continues to expand the range and depth of the Klezmer Company Orchestra concerts, adding new elements that challenge our comfort levels and enrich our understanding both of what Jewish music entails, and how it relates to music in general," said Dr. William Miller, director of FAU Libraries.

This program is the cumulative result of Kula's interdisciplinary career in music as an orchestral conductor, a Klezmer musician and a composer. He has been teaching, arranging and performing Jewish music for more than 29 years and, as a conductor, has toured nationally and internationally with renowned artists.

For this multi-faceted presentation, he created and arranged 10 new orchestrations of Jewish and popular music. The first half of the concert, "Klezmer on Broadway," includes a recently discovered 1927 edition of the Dybbuk Suite for Klezmer Orchestra by Joseph Engel and a Klezmer Hora by Saint-Saëns from Samson and Delilah. The chorus and soloist will sing a variety of selections in three languages: Yiddish, Hebrew and English. The second half, "Jewish Composers on Broadway," features music more in the American tradition, with songs from Bernstein's Candide and West Side Story, a Broadway medley from musicals by Jewish composers, including Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, Jerry Herman, Jerry Boch, Sondheim and Styne; and a Freylach based on music by Gustav Mahler.

"I believe the Jewish experience has always been best expressed by music, and Broadway has always been an integral part of the Jewish-American experience," said Kula. "The difference is that one can expand the definition of "Jewish Broadway" to include an interdisciplinary roadway with a wide range of artistic activities packed onto one avenue--theatre, opera, symphony, ballet, publishing companies, choirs, synagogues and more. This vibrant landscape reflects the life, times and creative output of the Jewish-American artist."

The Klezmer Company Orchestra has a reputation for high-energy performances and eclectic programming - of traditional and non-traditional music. The popular ensemble has performed before thousands at sold-out concerts and has received critical acclaim for their unique style. Maestro Kula arranges many of the original orchestrations for the performances--passionate in his approach to Klezmer music, creating productions that are culturally and musically innovative. His orchestrations and compositions combine swing, classical and folk traditions that form a hybrid of Jewish music influenced by American jazz, blues, Yiddish theater, Sephardic, Yemenite, Russian, Eastern European and Arabic music.

Kula joined the FAU faculty in 1997. In the fall of 2003, he was appointed director of music collections at FAU Libraries. Kula's activities include research, archiving, lecturing, composing and performing. He also serves on the faculty at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where he has been conducting orchestras since 1986.

The Klezmer Company was founded in 1997 under the direction of Aaron Kula and includes a roster of distinguished musicians with classical, jazz and pop backgrounds. The ensemble is composed of eight members, playing electric and acoustic violin, saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, flügelhorn, trombone, bass, drums, percussion, piano and accordion.

"A traditional Klezmer band is composed of solo-quality musicians. The Klezmer Company Orchestra musicians represent some of the best players in the region," said Kula.

Members of the group include: Randi Fishenfeld, violin; Dan Salmasian, saxophone; Chaim Rubinov, trumpet; Steve Sigmund, trombone; Jacqueline De Los Santos, double bass; Frank Derrick, drums/percussion; Steve Salo, percussion; and Aaron Kula on accordion and piano. These musicians have performed with nationally and internationally renowned artists such as: Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles, Dave Valentine, B.B. King, Clarence Clemons, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, the Bee Gees, Dionne Warrick, Natalie Cole, Arturo Sandoval, Peabo Bryson, Quincy Jones, Marvin Hamlisch, Nestor Torres, Tito Puente, Jr., David Sanchez, Melton Mustafa, Miguel Cruz, Andrea Bocelli, Neil Sedaka, Vikki Carr, The Moody Blues, Yo-Yo Ma, Tony Bennett, Randy Brecker, Burt Bacharach, Aaron Neville and Dion.

Tickets are $28, $36, and $45 for premiere seating. Group discounts are available. For tickets, call 1-877-877-7677 or visit online at www.tixops.com.

-FAU-