Music empowers us all

BASYA LAYE

Elders Empowering Elders is the theme of this year’s Empowerment Series presented by the Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver. Raising the profile of the value of peer support is nothing new for the 10-year-old organization. JSA offers peer counseling, home visits and a hot line, on top of their education forums, expert panel sessions and full range of resources and referral services. Sponsored by the Snider Foundation, the annual Empowerment Series has tackled subjects as heady as Judaism Has Many Faces, as practical as You and Your Money, and as lively as How to be a Super Senior. Last year, its theme was Chicken Soup for the Body, Mind and Soul.

JSA board member Shanie Levin is the co-organizer of the first seminar in the 2013-14 series, Empowerment Through Music on Nov. 29, which features longtime friends and collaborators Wendy Bross Stuart and Claire Klein Osipov, who will talk about the role music has played in their lives and then perform songs from their repertoire.

“This year, 2013-2014, the Snider Foundation Empowerment Series of the Jewish Seniors Alliance has chosen the theme of The Three E’s: Elders Empowering Elders,” Levin told the Independent. “Each year, the JSA partners with seniors groups in the community to bring seniors information, education and entertainment as part of its advocacy for seniors.”

The role that seniors play in keeping themselves – and each other – vital and engaged is invaluable, she added. “As elders, we have accumulated knowledge and life experience, but we often forget how much we know and how powerful we can be. The goal of this series is to remind us of our strength and power. There will be four ... programs this year, beginning with Empowerment Through Music. This will be followed by Empowerment Through Aging in Place, presented with the JCC Seniors, Empowerment Through Touch, with the Unitarian Seniors, and Empowerment Through the Arts, with Kehila [Society] in Richmond.”

Having Stuart and Osipov share their experiences and perform for the group “is a great honor,” Levin said. “Claire and Wendy have given a great deal to both the Jewish and the general community and are beloved by both. They love working and performing together and have recorded four CDs of Jewish music.”

Stuart is an ethnomusicologist, music director, composer/arranger, piano accompanist and vocal coach, and holds an “advanced teaching licence in Japanese shamisen and koto following many years study of traditional music in Japan,” according to her biography. Along with the four CDs she shares with Osipov, Stuart is the author of two books on music and First Nations communities, and she has published more than 20 choral arrangements in the United States and Canada. Her experience in theatre is vast, and includes work as music director, conductor, composer and arranger for companies big and small, including Electric Company, Touchstone Theatre, Intimate Theatre Productions and the Arts Club On Tour.

A typical week for Stuart “consists of rehearsals and vocal coaching sessions,” for “approximately 20 regular students, some professional, some not,” she told the Independent. For 10 years, she served as music director of Theatre Under the Stars and, though she’s no longer with them, she may return to them in future, she said.

Right now, she said, “I am working on a show for February/March which focuses on the music of Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin, etc.). Stephen and I have known each other since high school days in N.Y. [And] last February/March, I music-directed The Girl in the Frame on Granville Island.”

Stuart said there are many layers to her relationship to music.

“Music together with theatre are magical elements in my life. They bring me to another place, out of the ordinary. Besides being a means to earn a livelihood, music has kept things lively and fresh. There is always more to learn, ways to grow, people to work with. Add music to Judaism and you have a formidable combination.”

There are numerous ways in which music can empower us, she continued. “Music can connect us with the past, in the most positive of ways. We remember what we heard and what we sang many years ago. It brings us clarity,” she suggested. “The older we become, the more experiences we have had and the more we remember through music.”

Community has always played a large part in Stuart’s life and she’s had longtime associations with various festivals and organizations.

“Music and the Jewish community are wonderful connections,” she said. “We have co-produced the Yom HaShoah Commemorative Evening for many years. We have included a young ensemble of singers each year – most of whom have grandparents who are survivors. I choose, arrange and rehearse the music (mostly in Yiddish) for/with them. I hire local professional musicians to do solo work. I work with Rome Fox at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. All of this is most positive.

“I enjoyed working at Congregation Beth Israel under Cantor Steve Levin and Cantor Mike Zoosman. My job, for 11 years, was to direct the choir for High Holy Days and to help create the musical portion of Selichot services.”

Stuart also works with Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver on aspects of its Yom Ha’atzmaut program. “This is also with young people, and most refreshing,” she said. “For the past few years, the script was written by Heather and Jonathan Berkowitz.

“I have worked with Perry Ehrlich for the past 19 summers, on Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance!,” a musical theatre training program she co-founded with Ehrlich, she added. “We have worked with and influenced approximately 2,000 young, talented kids during this period. I love this work, and also love meeting the kids and their families. We are looking forward to our 20th summer in 2014.”

Last, but certainly not least, Stuart has been in the Chutzpah! Festival “approximately five times.”

The friendship and working relationship between Stuart and Osipov, who made Vancouver her home 60 years ago and has been entertaining audiences ever since, has lasted for decades. (Osipov was featured in “Peretz honors singer,” in the Nov. 25, 2011, issue of the Jewish Independent.)

“Working with Claire is inspiring,” Stuart said. “She has vast knowledge of Yiddish song and my 40-year ‘musical marriage’ with her has been tremendously rewarding on all levels. I arrange all her music and accompany her. We have toured throughout Canada and the U.S. My favorite CD of the four is Zing Un Lern Yidish, which includes a book with translation and assistance for grandparents to teach the songs to their grandchildren.”

She added, “Claire’s presence in my life and the rehearsals, which always took place in my house, have very much influenced our two (grown) daughters, Fiona and Jessica. Fiona loves Yiddish song and she performs when she has time. I sometimes accompany her. Jessica has become a composer, singer and player in Toronto – although not particularly related to Yiddish. I am delighted to be part of the Empowerment Series with Claire.”

JSA program and volunteer coordinator Karon Shear is elated to have Stuart and Osipov featured in this session of the Empowerment Series. The decision of a theme for the year and topics to cover is made by members in consultation with community partners. JSA, Shear said, “provides four to six mini workshops and/or educational seminars on topics that are informative and meaningful for seniors. The events are free of charge and, in order to ensure maximum access, they are held in diverse venues throughout the Lower Mainland.”

All seniors are most welcome to attend, Shear stressed. In fact, respectful inclusiveness is a must at JSA. “Aside from gaining new information, participation in the workshops allows seniors to either solidify established supportive networks or to create new social contacts,” she said. “Studies show that active social involvement has the capacity to improve individual health and quality of life. The Jewish Seniors Alliance encourages each senior to reach his/her own capacity and to remain active in the community. Although the organization has a firm belief in inclusion, it celebrates differences.

“While information and education are the main objectives of the Empowerment Series, the social aspects are of equal importance. Our organization’s celebration of differences in no way diminishes our commitment to inclusion. All JSA activities are designed to lessen social isolation and to promote community involvement,” Shear continued. “Thus, ample time is allowed for relaxation, exchanging of ideas and general interaction. Refreshments are served after each event. The extra time also encourages the participants to complete the session’s evaluation form, which is distributed at the end of the program, and to forward any recommendations for future seminars. No charge is levied for any of these programs.”

Gyda Chud, who coordinates the Sholem Aleichem Seniors program at the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture, and co-organized the Nov. 29 event with Levin, said that Peretz “is thrilled to co-sponsor this event with JSA, and has always been a strong supporter of the Empowerment Series. As the hub of Vancouver’s secular humanist community, we welcome this opportunity to join with other seniors and to enjoy and celebrate our rich Yiddish/Hebrew music! Claire and Wendy are well known to us, loved by us, and will be immediately adored by all who attend.”

Empowerment Through Music happens Friday, Nov. 29, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., at the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture, 6184 Ash St. It is free to attend. For information, call 604-732-1555, e-mail [email protected] or visit jsalliance.org.

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