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April 5, 2002
Artist brings God to Chan
Danny Maseng will highlight Yom Ha'atzmaut party.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
In the story of Passover, we are taught that Moses heard God's
voice through the flames of a burning bush. Moses' brother Aaron
used his talent as an orator to pass God's message on to Pharaoh.
While the concept of acting on behalf of God may seem unimaginable
for many of us today, it's a very realistic ideal for Israeli singer,
songwriter, poet, playwright and performer Danny Maseng.
Maseng, who has wandered through his own creative journey since
he was 13, told the Bulletin he believes all of the work
he does comes from God.
"I don't really believe that human beings create," said
Maseng. "I believe that God creates and a person's individual
talent is really just special ears or special eyes that have the
ability to access something that already exists."
Maseng will bring his God-given talent to the Chan Centre of the
Performing Arts April 16, as the featured act for the Jewish community
of Greater Vancouver's Yom Ha'atzmaut celebrations.
Born and raised in a small town just outside of Tel-Aviv, Maseng
studied classical guitar and was performing as a professional musician
by the time he was 14.
He then started singing and was acting professionally by 18. Following
that, he put his efforts into song and poetry writing before moving
to New York in 1971 to perform in the Broadway production of Only
Fools are Sad.
By 1975, Maseng was working on set design, costumes, lighting and
directing and he hasn't looked back since. These days, Maseng, who
lives in New York, combines three weekends a month of performing
around the world with a lot of composing and the odd cameo on hit
TV shows like Law and Order and One Life to Live.
"Acting is fun and nice for me but the writing is probably
the most important thing right now," he said of his career
that always seems to take adventurous turns. "The last few
years, my writing has been mainly liturgical but I didn't intend
it to be that way.
"I always wrote soulful stuff but then, at a certain point,
people started asking for more and more Jewish stuff," he continued.
"Then I started getting commissioned to write liturgical music
and that's what I've been doing the last two years. It's not because
I'm trying to make any religious points or to preach anything. It's
just because that's what I've been moved to write."
Maseng, who will be accompanied by a percussionist and a keyboardist
during his performance in Vancouver, said he's excited about performing
on Canada's West Coast for Israel's Independence Day.
"It's an honor and it's really nice to be asked," he said.
"It's a gorgeous city and it's the farthest you can fly across
the continent to be somewhere, so it's great."
According to Maseng, the local crowd should expect a retrospective
of Israel music, stories and personal anecdotes.
"We don't always get to hear the best Israeli music in North
America so I'm hoping to provide a real sampling of what I think
is the best," he said. "From really poignant stuff from
the '40s to contemporary."
Tickets for Maseng's Yom Ha'atzmaut show are $8, a price that has
been accomplished through local sponsorship. They can be purchased
through Ticketmaster at 604-280-4444.
The show begins at 7:30 p.m. and will also feature a group of Grade
2, 3, and 4 students from Vancouver Hebrew Academy, Vancouver Talmud
Torah and Richmond Jewish Day School choirs. For more information,
call the Israel Experience Centre at 604-257-5100.
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