The web site is live. The tickets are on sale. The brochures will be going to the post office this week. And the Third Annual Boston Jewish Music Festival is up and running. Obviously, we’re incredibly excited about the range and quality of the programs that have been planned. And, of course, we hope you’ll buy lots of tickets to lots of events (notice we eliminated as many service fees as possible). But allow me a few moments to share some of the little personal moments that have touched me.

First, you should have seen Basya Schechter’s face when I told her she would be performing her Songs of Wonder program in a shul where Rabbi Heschel frequently spoke and his daughter still belongs. It was a wonderful combination of fear and excitement and pride. Her concert will be incredible. As will her Kabbalat Shabbat in Sudbury.

I’m also blown away by how many phone calls we’ve been getting about the Hadag Nahash concert at Johnny D’s and the Andy Statman/David Grisman Opening Night at Somerville Theater. David will also be doing a master class at Berklee School of Music while he is in Boston.  BJMF always tries to have our outr-of-town guests do something in the community besides their concerts. And most artists are all too happy to do so.

Lastly, I just want to tell you how much Jim and I appreciate all the kind words people offer us. So many people are so appreciative that Boston finally has a Jewish Music Festival. And not just any festival, BJMF is already considered a model of innovation, collaboration, and community building.  Your simple ‘thanks’ and ”this was so enjoyable’  mean so much to us. So get ready. Clear your calendars. And be sure to attend something wonderful at the 2012 Festival.

Save the date–September 15, 2011, when the BJMF and partners present a veryspecial world premiere of Galeet Dardashti’s MONAJAT (Fervent Prayer) at Tufts University. Iranian-descended composer and singer presents an evening of Middle Eastern musical poetry commissioned by the Foundation for Jewish Culture. Using texts recited as a means of reflection and spiritual preparation, Dardashti weaves these lyrical gems that are sung during the month preceding the Jewish New Year into a unique and stunning new piece. She reinvents Persian melodies and Hebrew texts with electronic soundscapes, inclduing recordings of her grandfather Yona Dardashti, a renowned cantor and Persian master singer. The piece includes dynamic video projections designed by Dmitry Kmelnitsky. It’s an evening not to be missed.

Boston is one of six cities selected by the Foundation for Jewish Culture to premiere Monajat through the New Jewish Culture Network, an initiative to bring music and other art forms to various cities throughout the U.S. This program is presented in partnership by the Boston Jewish Music Festival, the New Center for Arts and Culture, the Tufts University Music Department and Tufts Hillel.

Galeet Dardashti’s Monajat commission inaugurates the New Jewish Culture Network, an initiative to create and deliver outstanding music and other art forms to audiences in the U.S. and beyond through a selective network of venues and presenters. This collaboration fosters the Foundation for Jewish Culture’s mission to invest in creative individuals in order to nurture a vibrant and enduring Jewish identity, culture, and community.

The New Jewish Culture Network has received major support from the Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Milken Family Foundation, Sylvia M. Neil, and other individual donors. Wardrobe for the Monajat tour has been generously provided by Elie Tahari.

Tonight (Saturday, March 12), the Boston Jewish Music Festival concert rocked the Berklee Performance Center. We floated. We soared. The Divine Sparks concert was truly a magnificent experience. Featuring Frank London and an all-star band, with Cantors Yaakov Lemmer, Aaron Bensoussan, Elias Rosemberg, Gaston Bogomolni, and rabbinic student Jessica Kate Meyer, I believe they actually achieved what Allen Ginsberg tried to do to the Pentagon back in the 60s: the Berklee Performance Center was lifted several feet off the ground. It was an elevating concert, and judging from the audience reaction…well, several people floated out.

It’s exactly what our hopes for the BJMF are–to present the diversity of our people in a way that unifies us. To present the power of Jewish music to bring the many threads together in unique ways. Art breaks down barriers; music moves our souls, and we know that we are One.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make it possible. Now, on to tomorrow (Sunday)–and the Zamir Chorale of Boston and Brookline Chorus presenting an all Leonard Bernstein concert at Sanders Theater at 2 PM, and Neshama Carlebach at Temple Emanuel in Newton at 7:30 (PS–that concert is almost sold out; hope you have your tickets already).

A stunning concert tonight by Yasmin Levy at the Somerville Theater. Full house heard her passionate blend of Ladino/Sephardic/Spanish music. She has a good sense of humor, too. She moves in a slow, classic almost Flamenco style (pretty good for six months pregnant). Great band backing her up, too. An altogether thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Can’t wait until tomorrow night for Yemen Blues, again at the Somerville Theater (8  PM). There are still some tickets left, too. Click on the Events/Tickets tab at the top of the page. Be there–you will be amazed!

Sunday March 6th–what an opening! Maurice Sendak’s Pincus and The Pig at the JCC saw crowds of families make puppets, take part in a “musical petting zoo,” then enjoy the Shirim Klezmer Orchestra and narrator Fishel Bresler perform a Yiddish take on Peter and the Wolf. The JCC was filled with laughter and shouts, as bubbes and zaydes, parents and kids reveled in this unique and wonderful piece. Thanks to our partners at the JCC  and the Ryna Greenbaum Center for the Arts for a magnificent kick-off.

And it was Standing O time at  Temple Israel when A Besere Velt, the Boston Workman’s Circle Yiddish Chorus, presented a moving, tearful yet proud original tribute to the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire–en event 100 years ago that changed American labor history and had a profound impact on Jewish immigrants. A sold out house at the concert witnessed history unfold before their eyes and ears, with actors, projected images and the 80-person choir weaving an emotional, moving story of the fire, the strike that followed and the changes that ensued. Kudos to the choir and  director Lisa Gallatin, accompanist (and BJMF Board member) Hankus Netsky, and Festival friend Cantor Roy Einhorn. Special thanks to Temple Israel for hosting us. I’m not sure there was a dry eye by the end, and the obvious lessons to current events were not lost. It was powerful!!

Can’t wait for the next concerts–especially Thursday, March 10th: Yemen Blues at the Somerville Theater. Ravid Kahalani’s band is making waves throughout the world music community and garnering rave reviews wherever they appear. This is their New England premiere. Don’t miss out–you’ll be able to tell your friends you were there for this rising star!

The Klezwoods were evidently a big hit at Phillips Academy when they played at the recent Jewish Cultural Weekend. And a guest, Jessica Kate Meyer, sang with them (and played a violin duo with Klezwoods leader Joe Kessler). Read all about it here in the student newspaper:

http://phillipian.net/article/10305

Why are we telling you this? Well, both the Klezwoods and Jessica Kate Meyer are appearing in the Bosotn Jewish Music Festival this year! The Klezwoods open for SoCalled at the BJMF’s Ultimate Purim Party pt. 1 on Thursday, March 17 at 8 PM at Veronique. Based on this review, it promises to be a fantastic time! AND, Jessica Kate Meyer, currently a Hebrew College rabbinic student, performs on the BJMF Divine Sparks concert at Berklee Performance Center, Saturday, March 12 at 8 PM. She’ll be there along with Frank London of the Klezmatics, Cantors Yaakov Lemmer and Aaron Bensoussan, Gaston Bogomolni, and Elias Rosemberg. So you better hurry up and get your tickets!!

We’ll have more reviews and articles for you to read in the coming days leading up the Festival, so be sure to stay tuned. Tweet this blog to let others know.

We’ve posted photos and web sites for most of pour performers in the 2011 BJMF. It’s on our web site under the menu item 2011 Artists. Click on their sites to find all kinds of goodies–music, videos, links to more. Make sure to check out SoCalled and One Ring Zero, who have very interesting material up. See you soon.

The BJMF joins with so many thousands of others in mourning the loss of our friend and teacher, Debbie Friedman. Debbie helped open new doors in Jewish worship and practice; her music enabled thousands (dare I say even more?) to find their hearts in prayer and bring their spirits to Judaism in profound, personal ways.

Some scoffed at her songs as “camp music” and “touchy feely.” But her ability to join text and music and weave a melody that could be sung brought a new dimension to the synagogue for so many. More than any other person, she changed the course of synagogue music and congregational participation for generations. Her “Mi Shebeirach” and “Lechi Lach” are standards; indeed, it was the “Mi Shabeirach” that was sung across the country this past weekend to pray for the healing of Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords, shot by a gunman in Arizona.

Debbie gave voice to a generation of people who longed to infuse a greater spirituality into their Judaism. She combined the musical trends of the 60s and 70s with the traditions of our people in unique ways that enabled people to find themselves and community at one time.

And she was a talented and giving teacher to so many cantors, song leaders and aspiring musicians, always willing to speak and teach. She was a regular at each summer’s Hava Nashira conference, which brings together song leaders, cantorial soloists and Jewish musicians from across the country to learn and exchange from one another.

Despite her fame, she often came across as a simple and heart-felt person; some found her shy, and she could come off that way on stage. But she would be transported by the music, eyes closed, that smile on her face—a pose she often struck as she listened to the audience singing her words back to her.

A memorial tribute is being planned for later this month, with many of Debbie’s friends from the Boston area performing. Check back here for more information soon.

We will miss her terribly. But we will sing her songs for generations to come, and that will ease the pain in our hearts a little. The memory of the righteous is a blessing.

TABLET, an online Jewish magazine, has published their list of the 100 Greatest Jewish Songs. An intriguing subjective list, of course (one of the writers is a friend’s step son), that’s sure to start many an argument. For instance, including Sammy Davis, Jr.’s “I Gotta Be Me,” or Beck Hansen’s “Loser”, or Billy Joel’s “Anthony’s Song (I’m Movin’ Out)” seems stretching it to my mind. And they didn’t include a true classic written by BJMF Advisory Board member Cantor Jeff Klepper (and partner Rabbi Dan Freelander), “Shalom Rav.” Some might say it’s a shanda.

Regardless–the list is fun and runs the gamut from Rabbi Akiva to Amy Winehouse. You can find it here: http://bit.ly/hmk7X4

Let the comments begin!