Jewish Music Series

L’Chaim! To Life!

Jewish/music characters combined

The Jewish Music Series at Sonoma State is a presentation of the Department of Music and the Jewish Studies Program. Now in its 8th year, the series is widely acclaimed for its breadth, depth, and musical excellence as it poses the eternal question of “What makes music Jewish?”
The concerts, a component of the “Survey of Jewish Music” class, run about 90 minutes in length, are Free and open to the public, $5 parking fee applies.

For more information contact the Department of Music at 707-664-2324 or Jewish Studies Program Director Brian S. Wilson.

If you would like to donate to the Jewish Music Series, please go to our DONATION PAGE and write "For the Jewish Music Series" in the comments. Thank you for your consideration! 

Past Jewish Music Series performers 

Singers

  • Sharon Bernstein
  • Scott Gerber
  • Heather Klein
  • Jewlia Eisenberg
  • Jeanette Lewicki
  • Stephen Saxon
  • Anthony Russell
  • Sharon Goldman
  • Roslyn Barak
  • Richard Neil Kaplan
  • Jeremiah Lockwood
  • San Francisco Choral Artists

Chamber Musicians

  • The Bridge Players: Randy Weiss, violin; Michael Graham, cello; Marilyn Thompson, piano
  • Kristie Janczyk, piano
  • Roy Zajac, clarinet
  • Daniel Nebel, horn
  • Matthew Vincent, violin
  • Jill Brindel, cello
  • Jennifer Wilsey, percussion
  • Noam Lemish, piano and Amos Hoffman, oud/guitar 
  • Brian S. Wilson, conductor

Bands

  • Veretski Pass
  • The Big Galut(e)
  • Safra
  • Qadim Ensemble
  • Frank London, Glenn Hartman & Jake Marmer
  • Invisible Guy
  • The gonifs
  • Kugelplex
  • Rebbe Soul
  • Isle of Klezbos
  • Lion Ben Hur
  • Trio Sefardi

 

The logo of the Jewish Music Series combines musical notation with Hebrew letters in a modern representation of "L' Chayim!" (To Life!). Concept and graphic design by Jerry Wilson.

Thursday, September 1, 2022

Saul Goodman's Klezmer Band holding instruments and walking through a forest

Jewish Music Series: Saul Goodman's Klezmer Band

Schroeder Hall

It’s always a simcha with Saul!

Led by Mike Perlmutter, clarinet, get to know Klezmer music, the roots music tradition of Ukraine, Poland, Central and Eastern European Ashkenazic Jewish people played for life-cycle events. It’s the music for weddings, rituals and celebrations.

Saul Goodman's Klezmer Band Website

Jewish Music Series: Saul Goodman's Klezmer Band Digital Program View Event Details

Thursday, September 15, 2022

conductor standing in front of ensemble in front of slide show with picture of Viktor Ulmann

Jewish Music Series: Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezin Composers

Schroeder Hall

A concert-drama created by conductor Murry Sidlin showcasing music by 15 composers imprisoned in Terezín during WWII, combines video, performance and narrative. Aware that their lives were fragile, Hours of Freedom explores those composers’ need to create new music as affirmation of a future.

Defiant Requiem- Hours of Freedom webpage

Jewish Music Series: Hours of Freedom Digital Program View Event Details

Thursday, October 6, 2022

Cookie Segelstein headshot with instrument

Jewish Music Series: Veretski Pass

Schroeder Hall

Veretski Pass is truly the “house band” of the Jewish Music Series, having shared their artistry with us each year since 2015. Taking its name from the mountain pass through which Magyar tribes crossed into the Carpathian Basin to settle what later became the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Veretski Pass offers a unique and exciting combination of virtuosic musicianship and raw energy that has excited concertgoers across the world.

Veretski Pass Website

Veretski Pass Digital Program View Event Details

Thursday, October 20, 2022

Cantor Arik Luck

Jewish Music Series: Cantor Arik Luck: The Jewish Soul

Schroeder Hall

In July 2015, Cantor Arik Luck became the ninth cantor of Congregation Emanu-El, San Francisco's landmark temple established in 1850. On tonight's program, Cantor Luck will sing a variety of music which explores his personal history and relationship to Judaism. A member of the American Conference of Cantors, Luck has appeared as a principal soloist in numerous concerts throughout the country.

Temple Sinai- The Jewish Soul: Cantor Arik Luck in Concert webpage

Cantor Arik Luck: The Jewish Soul Digital Program View Event Details

Thursday, November 3, 2022

The Qadim Ensemble holding instruments in a courtyard

Jewish Music Series: The Qadim Ensemble

Schroeder Hall

Led by Eliyahu Sills, Qadim is a word found in both Arabic and Hebrew meaning ‘ancient’ as well as ‘that which will come.’ The ensemble’s repertoire includes Arabic, Jewish, Turkish, Sufi, Hebrew-Yemenite, Armenian, Greek, Ladino and Moroccan music. Qadim celebrates the common musical and spiritual heritage of the region’s cultures and honors the great diversity found within them.

Eliyahu Sills- The Qadim Ensemble webpage

Qadim Ensemble Digital Program

Save time - purchase and print out your daily parking pass from home.View Event Details

Thursday, November 17, 2022

Kurt Weill black and white photo

Jewish Music Series: Kurt Weill Songs

Schroeder Hall

Voice majors from Sonoma State will present a concert of vocal music by Kurt Weill (1900-1950), the German-born American composer whose operas created a revolutionary kind of sharp social satire. Weill and his librettist Bertolt Brecht became synonymous with the radical politics and cultural innovation of the Weimar Republic. Weill composed many songs of lasting popularity, including the infamous "Mack the Knife" from The Threepenny Opera .

Kurt Weill Foundation for Music Website

Jewish Music Series: Kurt Weill Songs Digital Program

...View Event Details