The Choir of Rome’s Tempio Maggiore to Make Their U.S. Debut 5/22

On Sunday, May 22 at 2:30 p.m., special guests from the Choir of Rome's Tempio Maggiore will perform in La Roma Ebraica, a concert celebrating the unique spirit of Jewish Italian music throughout the ages. This once-in-a-lifetime performance, which will include as its centerpiece Verdi's beloved Hebrew Chorus from Nabucco, will take place at the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.

Tickets are $15 and $10 for Museum and Centro Primo Levi members. Tickets are available online at www.mjhnyc.org or by calling the Museum box office at 646.437.4202.

Featured performers will include conductor Claudio Di Segni; cantor Alberto Funaro, the hazan of Rome; and organist Federico De Sordo. Musicologist Francesco Spagnolo will offer introductory remarks.

This program is presented by the Museum, Centro Primo Levi, the Italian Cultural Institute, Divinamente New York Festival, the Jewish Community of Rome, and RAI Italian Broadcasting Company in collaboration with the American Society of Jewish Music, and is made possible through the support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 150th Anniversary of the unification of Italy.

About the Concert

The concert will open with Giuseppe Verdi's "Và Pensiero," the Hebrew Chorus from Nabucco. This magnificent choral work recalls the story of the Babylonian exile after the destruction of the First Temple. The program will also include unique examples of late 19th century compositions from the Jewish communities in Florence, Livorno, and Rome. In honor of the 150th anniversary of Italian reunification, the performance will also highlight patriotic themes. The concert will close with the 1920 Armando Sorani version of "Hatikva," Israel's national anthem, in Italian, along with "La Mantovana," the original source for the melody by Giuseppino del Biado, who wrote it in the 17th century.

About the Performers

Maestro Claudio Di Segni studied music at the Rome Conservatory S. Cecilia where he currently teaches. As tenor he trained with the legendary Franco Corelli, among others. He received important awards for his opera roles including Riccardo in Verdi's Ballo in Maschera, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto.

Rabbi Alberto Funaro is the hazan of the Tempio Maggiore and of the Tempio Spagnolo of Rome. He has recorded several CDs of Roman and Sephardic liturgical music.

Federico Del Sordo studied organ, piano, composition, and conducting at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome, where he is currently a professor of organ and harpsichord. He also teaches at the Pontificio Istituto di Musica Sacra di Roma. A renowned organist, he regularly appears in concert at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia and the Arena in Verona. He has been featured at organ music festivals around the world and has recorded for several labels. He has also been featured in more than 700 radio performances at the National Broadcasting Company, RAI.
Francesco Spagnolo, Ph.D., is the Curator of Collections at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life in Berkeley, California. In 1997, he founded the Jewish music archives in Milan, and between 1998 and 2002 was responsible for the preservation and publication of Italian Jewish sound recordings at the Ethnomusicology Archives of the National Music Academy in Rome and the National Sound Archives in Jerusalem.
About Italian Jewish Choir Music

Choirs have been an integral part of Roman Jewish liturgy since the 15th century. With a few notable exceptions, like the Mantuan composer Solomone Rossi, most composers were non-Jewish professionals, hired by wealthy community members to set to music texts and liturgical ceremonies often connected to Kabbalah. The resulting pieces were then presented to both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences. Italian liturgy is unique as it features different melodies and chants from Sephardic and Ashkenazi liturgical tradition. The Italian Minhag is thought to be the oldest.

As early as the late 18th century, choral music - accompanied by the organ and the harmonium - became a banner for Emancipation. Choirs included younger community members, and, beginning in the mid-19th century, children and young women. Thus, through choral music, liturgical innovation gave way to political aspiration and social change. The music of this era, which often sounded very much like that of the neighboring Catholic churches or of the opera, is an important factor in the overarching narrative of the Italian Jewish Emancipation, and in the creation of new Jewish cultural icons inspired by modernity and social integration with Italian society.

After the anti-Semitic legislation of 1938, when the director of the choir of Teatro La Scala, Vittore Veneziani, was let go, he established a Jewish choir with children and young adults at the Jewish day school of Milan. After the Holocaust, synagogue music was reshaped in each of the major Italian cities according to a newly established tradition that eliminated instrumental accompaniment and greatly reduced the role of synagogue choirs. Today, the repertoires of these choirs is being rediscovered and presented in concert form.

Please contact us for additional historical information about Roman Jewish history and the history of Italian Jewish music.
About Centro Primo Levi
Centro Primo Levi is the English Language portal for Italian Jewish studies and community news connecting the Italian Jewish worlds in Italy, Israel, and the U.S. Based at the Center for Jewish History in New York, CPL serves the academic and the general public through resources, programs, networking, exchange opportunities, and educational initiatives. For more information, visit www.primolevicenter.org.

About the Museum of Jewish Heritage
The Museum's three-floor Core Exhibition educates people of all ages and backgrounds about the rich tapestry of Jewish life over the past century-before, during, and after the Holocaust. Special exhibitions include Last Folio: A Photographic Journey with Yuri Dojc, opening March 25; Fire in My Heart: The Hannah Senesh Story, on view through August 7, 2011; and The Morgenthaus: A Legacy of Service, on view through September 5, 2011. It is also home to the award-winning Keeping History Center, an interactive visitor experience, and Andy Goldsworthy's memorial Garden of Stones. The Museum offers visitors a vibrant public program schedule in its Edmond J. Safra Hall and receives general operating support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.