[Image: Mascha Kaléko]
The Village has long been a Mecca for immigrants seeking refuge from the conflicts of war and natural disaster.
Poet Mascha Kaléko is your guide to a world of song and chamber music that explores these very timely themes. Kaleko was twice a refugee, as her family fled first from war-torn Poland, then from Nazi Berlin. Her poetry explores the feelings of loss, displacement, and isolation she experienced as a newcomer to Greenwich Village. She relocated to Israel, only to return to New York. In 2020 guitarist William Anderson began a commissioning and development project based on Kaléko’s journey and her poetry. His plan is to work with young composers and established masters in each of Kaléko’s stopping places. The result is a uniquely varied collection of songs, spanning a broad spectrum of references, styles and responses.
This program will present songs from the most recent trip to Poland with music from New York composers. Rounding out the program are pieces from Adolphus Hailstork’s “Wounded Children” Suite, written in response to recent conflicts in the Middle East and their horrific effects on young lives, and chamber music by Ukrainian refugee Leo Ornstein. New song settings and ensemble music by Jonathan Dawe, William Anderson, Robert Pollock, Victoria Bond, Kitty Brazelton, including work by young artists Gavin Cappon and Maxim Dybal - Denysenko from our mentorship program.
In Memory of Marty Boykan
Performers
Composers
