Alan Bern and Svetlana Kundish: Music from a Vanished World

Faces from vanished worlds leap across time and reach us today through Vishniac’s poignant photos, but what of the songs they sang?

Precious time capsules preserved in memory, on paper and recordings, they call out to be rescued and returned to life. In this unique program, soprano Sveta Kundish and pianist/accordionist Alan Bern perform and discuss songs on the horizon of memory, from family members, survivors of WWII and rare, rediscovered recordings.

Alan Bern is the creator and artistic director of Yiddish Summer and co-founder and chairman of other music e.V., both based in Weimar, Germany. A pioneer of the American klezmer revival, he is a composer/arranger, pianist, accordionist, educator, cultural activist and philosopher. He is co-founder and director of Brave Old World, founder and director of The Other Europeans and Diaspora Redux. He received his master’s degree in Philosophy and his doctorate degree in music composition. In 2009, he was given the Ruth Lifetime Achievement Award for his work as a musician and educator.

Sveta Kundish was born in the Ukraine in 1982. She began studying music at age seven. In 1995 she settled in Israel with her family. She continued her music studies in the Ironi (Municipal) Arts High School in Tel Aviv, concentrating on voice and piano. In 2008, Sveta won the 1st prize of the international vocal competition “The Golden Hanukkia” in Berlin. In 2012, she began studies at the Cantorial Department of the Abraham Geiger Kolleg in Berlin.

Ticket includes entry to Roman Vishniac: Rediscovered.