Join us in the Museum at Eldridge Street’s historic Main Sanctuary on Sunday, May 4th at 3pm for a special concert in honor of both Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month and Jewish American Heritage Month.
Tracing their roots back to Mizrahi merchants in Persia, the Jewish community of Kaifeng, China is over a millennium old, and an incredible example of both cultural assimilation and preservation in a new land.
Composer David Serkin Ludwig’s A Kaifeng Siddur, commissioned by Music From China, explores the intersection of the two ancient cultures of China and the Jewish Diaspora. This work imagines the sounds of Jewish holy services in Northern Song Dynasty Kaifeng, using disparate instruments (both Chinese and Western) to create a vivid and rarely heard soundscape as divergent cultures meet and mingle.
After A Kaifeng Siddur, we will hear another new piece from master erhu-player and composer Wang Guowei based on a Tang Dynasty poem by Li Bai (also known as Li Po). Like Ludwig, Wang combines Eastern and Western musical traditions. A traditional Chinese music program will follow these two contemporary compositions, telling a story of shared humanity with universal themes of war and peace, folklife, nature, and poetry.
Musicians: Wang Guowei (erhu: 2-string fiddle), Sun Li (pipa: pear-shaped lute), Susan Cheng (daruan: cylindrical lute), Hong-Da Chin (dizi: transverse flute), Jordan Dodson (guitar), Laura Cocks (alto flute), TBA (cello), Dai Wei (vocals)
Program to Include: DAVID SERKIN LUDWIG A Kaifeng Siddur (contemporary); WANG GUOWEI Drinking Alone with the Moon (contemporary); Variations on the Song of Yang Guan (traditional); Ambush on Ten Sides (traditional); Moonlit River in Spring (traditional); Wedding Processional (traditional); Song of Henan (traditional)
