ART, PERFORMANCES & CONVERSATIONS

All New Center programs speak to Jewish audiences and to the broader community. Attracting large and diverse groups of people, our past programs have explored wide-ranging themes and ideas, including: the Exodus story told from multiple cultural perspectives; the blending of Klezmer and swing music; and the influence of a Jewish up-bringing on the lives and careers of acclaimed writers, artists, musicians, actors, political figures and humorists.

We invite everyone to come and experience the insight, passion, humanity, and humor that lie at the heart of our programs.

Spring 2012 Series Subscription

Date:

Wednesday June 29, 2011

Venue:


Admission:

For more information call:

Spring 2012 Series Subscription

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR
SPRING 2012 SERIES SUBSCRIPTION!

Patron Series Subscription: $105
Includes - one ticket in the first 7 rows to each event and
admission to post-program receptions with
the evenings featured speakers.

Regular Series Subscriptions: $65
Includes one ticket to each event

SPRING 2012 SEASON

The Post Post-Holocaust Era in America - Wednesday, February 22 @ 7:30 PM

Leon Wieseltier, one of our leading public intellectuals, talks with Noah Feldman about the role of the Holocaust in shaping post-war America and what the passing of the last generation of survivors will mean for American Jewry. Exploring questions of loss and survival, of remembering and forgetting, Weiseltier imagines what it will be like to live in a world without survivors — without their memories and their associations with another world and other forms of Jewish life. Leon Wieseltier is the literary editor at The New Republic. He is also the author of several books, including Kaddish and Against Identity, a collection of thoughts on the modern notion of identity. His essays have appeared in many publications, including The New York Times and The New Yorker.

He will be interviewed by Noah Feldman, professor at Harvard Law School and the author of numerous books, including most recently Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR’s Great Supreme Court Justices.

Eshet (wife) - Tuesday, March 20 @ 7:30 PM

Acclaimed Israeli theater director, designer, and puppeteer Elit Veber discusses Eshet, her remarkable stage adaptation of the Biblical story of Tamar. Two dancers and five puppets tell the story of Yehuda, his three sons and the woman whose fate is dependent upon them. Under levirate law, after her husband Er dies, Tamar must marry one of his brothers or remain a widow. But Onan “spills his seed on the ground” and is killed by God while Shelah, the youngest, is just a boy. Eshet dramatizes Tamar’s daring and shocking decision to dress as a prostitute and seduce Yehuda. Elit Veber talks about her attraction to this story, which she calls “the Bible’s first feminist story,” and how she set about transforming this ancient text into a modern performance. She will be joined by dancers Yuval Fingerman and Renana Raz, who originated the roles; they will perform excerpts from the production.

The conversation will be moderated by longtime Boston arts critic Joyce Kulhawik.

Classically Jewish - Tuesday, April 10 @ 7:30 PM
This program will be held at Temple Israel

Virtuoso violinist Yevgeny Kutik joins Martin Bookspan, the “voice of classical music,” for an illuminating conversation and performance devoted to the Jewish sound in classical music. Beginning with a group of composers in St. Petersburg who formed a society for Jewish Music a hundred years ago, they chronicle how musical artists as diverse as Bloch, Ravel, Gershin, and Shostakovich created works influenced by both Jewish tradition and the traumatic events of modern Jewish history. Kutik also talks about his own experiences as a Russian-Jewish immigrant and how he has found a home for himself and his music in the American Jewish community. Yevgeny Kutik has performed with orchestras throughout the world; his debut album, Sounds of Defiance, will be released in 2012.

For more than 30 years, Martin Bookspan has served as a radio host, commentator, and narrator for Lincoln Center, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, and other distinguished orchestras. They will be joined by pianist Timothy Bozarth, a recipient of the distinguished Beethoven Fellowship of the American Pianist Association, who will accompany Kutik in the performance of selected works.

TICKETS FOR INDIVIDUAL EVENTS ARE ALSO ON SALE!
Patron Seating: $45 / Regular Seating: $28