Leonard Cohen

Chelsea Hotel is heavenly

Jack Garton, playing a Jokeresque bellhop, manipulates the memories and thoughts of the Writer, played by Adrian Glynn McMorran. (Sarah Race Photography)

In Paper Thin Hotel, Leonard Cohen writes, “It is written on the walls of this hotel, you go to heaven once you’ve been to hell.” Heaven is where you will be if you catch Steve Charles and Tracey Power’s 2024 iteration of their 2012 hit Chelsea Hotel, playing at the Firehall Arts Centre until March 3.

Chelsea Hotel is a loving tribute to Cohen and his poetry, which transcends time and space while touching on enduring universal topics – passion, loss, sex, religion and politics. Although Cohen has been dead for more than seven years, his music and lyrics live on and perhaps are more relevant than ever given the troubled state of our world.

I saw the world première of the show back in 2012 (jewishindependent.ca/oldsite/archives/feb12/archives12feb10-02.html) and did not think anything could make it better but, after a cross-country tour and 400 performances, like a fine wine, it has improved with age. Half of the original cast returns to reprise their roles and they, too, have only become better with time. Power does triple duty as she choreographs, acts and directs, while Charles is musical director/arranger and musician/actor.

The sung-through musical revolves around a tortured writer (Adrian Glynn McMorran) shuttered up in a shabby room in New York’s Chelsea Hotel trying to forget his past so that he can be creative again. The show opens with him outstretched on a bed towering with crumpled paper, a metaphor for his cluttered mind. Each time he writes something down and throws it away, we feel his existential angst as he searches for inspiration from his life’s memories. Five actors, playing multiple characters, move in and out of his various visions, reminding him of his past romantic entanglements and indiscretions through songs like “Suzanne,” “Take this Waltz,” “First We Take Manhattan,” “Tower of Song,” “Dance Me to the End of Earth,” “Bird on a Wire” and, of course, “Hallelujah.”

All the scenes play out in the Writer’s mind – illusions in a carnival-like setting guided by a Jokeresque bellhop (a terrific Jack Garton) who pops in and out of the set as he manipulates the Writer’s memories and thoughts.

This truly ensemble production is a fusion of dance, music and theatre, with the multi-talented cast of six all triple threats – each capable of singing, dancing and playing the myriad instruments used in the show, ranging from the traditional – guitar, violin, keyboards and drums – to the more unconventional – banjo, ukulele, accordion and even a kazoo (showcased in the very erotic “I’m Your Man” number).

McMorran is sensational as the Writer. His vocals run the gamut from softly crooned ballads to frenetic rock ’n’ roll numbers. Power, Marlene Ginader and Michelle Bouey play the lovers and the muses, moving through the various vignettes in dreamlike, ethereal fashion. Ginader, in her blue raincoat, is touching in her portrayal of the jilted lover trying to get back into the Writer’s heart. Hovering quietly in the shadowy background, Charles switches effortlessly from instrument to instrument, until he emerges front and centre stage to sing a poignant “Famous Blue Raincoat.”

The staging is sublime. Kudos to set and costume designer Drew Facey for his fragile, paper-like set and simple costumes. John Webber’s mood lighting completes the surreal atmosphere.

As you unwrap the layers of this performance, so ably packaged by this wonderful cast, the pleasure only increases. There is so much to like in this production – don’t miss it.

As a bonus, on Feb. 23, the theatre is holding a special event, Endless Love, toasting the legacy of Cohen, which includes pre- and post-show receptions, cast mingling and, of course, the show. Tickets can be purchased at firehallartscentre.ca or by calling the box office at 604-689-0926.

Tova Kornfeld is a Vancouver freelance writer and lawyer.

Broza releases Tefila

David Broza has a new album out, and more. (photo from davidbroza.net)

This past spring, Israeli singer-songwriter David Broza, with the support of Temple Emanu-El in New York City, released Tefila, a collection of traditional prayers with new musical compositions by Broza and orchestral arrangements by his musical collaborator, Omer Avital.

Tefila (prayer in Hebrew) incorporates various forms: pop and jazz, gospel, folk and classical. While adhering to the intentions of the prayers themselves, the compositions attempt to recreate and re-imagine the experience of the typical Shabbat service, making it, as the album notes suggest, “contemplative, but also ecstatic and wholly engaging.”

The album’s release coincided with a monthly Kabbalat Shabbat celebration, Friday Night Hub, at Temple Emanu-El, a Reform synagogue located in Manhattan. Both the music and the event are geared to young professional Jewish adults between the ages of 21 and 39.

In a recent interview with the Independent, Broza explained how the album came about.

“I got a call from the program director of Temple Emanu-El, Gady Levy. He asked me if I would consider writing new music to the prayers of Kabbalat Shabbat,” said Broza. “I must admit that I was somewhat reluctant as I am not very familiar with the prayers, although I know them from my father. However, after a few months of quarantine, I opened the file with the prayers and started composing the melodies. It was as if the moment had arrived and what just a few months back I thought I would never be able to accomplish, here I was composing and writing a prayer a day for 14 days. Magical.”

With this project, Broza said he ventured into the journey of Kabbalat Shabbat, the receiving of Shabbat, and he fell in love “with the Hebrew scriptures that were written so many generations ago.”

“Now,” he said, “I have given them a new interpretation from someone who was born and raised in Israel. These prayers were written long before Israel existed, and long before the culture of the Hebrew language became a common language, my mother tongue. My voice and melodies blended the words and delivered the new version of these formidable and emblematic sacred verses.”

As for how the musicians came together for the album, Broza said, “I was very lucky to meet Omer, who is an incredibly talented jazz musician, on a New York City sidewalk – literally, by chance. He knew who I was, as he is Israeli, and I love his music. So, I asked him immediately to join me on the challenge of orchestrating the 14 pieces I had just composed. This was my first obstacle and Omer agreed to take it on himself.”

The pair started meeting at Avital’s studio in Brooklyn. In the process, Avital brought in musicians he performs with – all Israeli jazz musicians living in the area.

“It was so inspiring. We would play the songs, prayers, and I got to hear them interpreted in a very lively and profound way. The whole process took about a year before we were ready to record,” Broza said.

The album features 22 musicians, including string and horn sections, piano, percussion, as well as Broza on guitar and Avital on bass. Also appearing on the album is the 25-piece Moran Choir from Israel, which is conducted by Naomi Faran and with whom Broza has worked many times in his decades-long carrier. While in New York, Broza recruited gospel singers, too, as he wanted to add that fusion to the recording.

At the time Broza spoke with the Independent, he and his fellow musicians had performed the prayers from Tefila twice in front of a live audience at Temple Emanu-El.

“We have had about a thousand people attend each time. It’s been amazing. The rabbi of the synagogue, Joshua Davidson, leads the prayer and comes on stage to tell some stories and other comments in a very tasteful way so it is all a very profound experience,” Broza said.

An internationally recognized musician, Broza’s oeuvre includes songs in Hebrew, Spanish and English, with the influence of Spanish flamenco, American folk, rock and roll, and verse.

Social justice and peace advocacy are mainstays of his work, and his 1977 song “Yihye Tov” is considered an Israeli peace anthem. He has released more than 40 albums, many of which are multi-platinum.

Broza spoke highly of past visits to Vancouver and would welcome the chance to perform here again.

The album was released on Broza Records and distributed digitally by MNRK Music Group.

On Sept. 21, Broza Records will release a cover of “So Long, Marianne,” the first track in a three-song collection entitled David Broza Sings Leonard Cohen. Cover versions of Cohen’s “Famous Blue Raincoat” and “Dance Me to the End of Love” will be released on Oct. 21 and Nov. 21, respectively.

For more information, visit davidbroza.net.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

Celebrating Leonard Cohen

Take This Waltz performers Ted Littlemore, left, and Daniel Okulitch. (photo by Victoria Bell)

Take This Waltz world premières at Rothstein Theatre Sept. 10-11.

“The concert as a whole tells a story, and each song finds its place within that story,” Idan Cohen told the Independent about Take This Waltz, which sees its world première as a Chutzpah! Plus event Sept. 10-11 at the Rothstein Theatre.

Cohen is the artistic director of Ne. Sans Opera and Dance, so it might seem odd that he’s staging a show celebrating the music of Leonard Cohen. But he’s a fan of the Canadian icon, who died in 2016, and this production piqued his interest.

“I’ve admired Cohen’s lyrics and music for years,” said Cohen, who is not related to the singer-songwriter. “So, when Daniel Okulitch, one of Canada’s most appreciated operatic baritones reached out to me to directly to produce Take This Waltz, I immediately said yes. Daniel’s vision was to look at Cohen’s music through the classical tradition of the Song Cycles (Lieds). I thought that it was a really interesting way to look at Cohen’s music through a fresh, exciting lens.”

Okulitch contacted Cohen after having created a successful online concert that included some of Leonard Cohen’s work, as well as that of other singer-songwriters, which took place via Pacific Opera Victoria in winter 2020. Okulitch wanted to add dance to the concert.

“I knew that, if I was to take this on, I would want to focus on Cohen’s body of work and say something meaningful about the times we live in,” said Idan Cohen. “Ne. Sans’ mandate is to follow the operatic tradition in the full sense of it – to create work that integrates all the classical arts of theatre, music, dance, set and costume design. It is challenging to do in this economy, but I strongly believe in this type of offering.

“It took us some time to fundraise so that we can present this work as I believe it should be presented,” he noted. “We have an ensemble of cello, violin and accordion, with stunning arrangements by Adrian Dolan, and Daniel’s voice is so rich and sensitive, that it speaks straight to the heart. Amir Ofek is designing the set, Itai Erdal creating the light design and Christine Reimer the costumes. Alongside Daniel is the dancer/musician Ted Littlemore, with whom I’ve been collaborating for almost five years, who’s such a wonderful artist. I am truly blessed, and I hope that we’ll not just do justice to Cohen’s legacy, but help audiences experience it in a different, new way.”

About that legacy, Cohen added, “I had coffee with the wonderful Vancouver-based composer Rodney Sharman the other day, to discuss a future project that we’re working on, and Rodney said something that I found to be really relevant to Take This Waltz. He said that he thinks that my body of work is a variation of two core elements: love and death. And I thought to myself, that’s life, right? Cohen got it. His wisdom is so profound that it sometimes seems as if he knew the secrets of the human soul. I think it’s because he was brutally honest, a thing that we don’t see a lot in our contemporary culture. There’s so much pain and often bitterness and anger in his work, that are then composed in such generosity and love. What a beautiful combination. My work is to honour that.”

About his collaborators on Take This Waltz, Cohen said the production started at Pacific Opera Victoria, “as an intimate, beautiful concert of various music that included just a few of Cohen’s songs, and Vancouver Opera decided to support its development and creation. Jessica Gutteridge, a wonderful human and the artistic director of Chutzpah!, has given us a very generous creative residency at the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre in Vancouver’s JCC [to further develop the work]. It’s all live, no film or projections. I felt that Cohen’s work needs to be honest and direct. Having said that, there are quite a few surprises in the show – you’ll just have to come and see!”

Take This Waltz is being presented with Pacific Opera Victoria and Vancouver Opera, and Chutzpah!’s live music programming is supported by a grant from AmplifyBC. The Sept. 10-11 shows are also being supported by the Bierbrier family, in memory of Len Bierbrier, who was a dear friend of Chutzpah! board chair Lloyd Baron, said Gutteridge. Bierbrier was also a friend of Leonard Cohen, she said.

While most people cannot claim that level of connection to the legendary musician, many people do feel connected to him in some way. When asked to confirm that, indeed, he was not related to the singer-songwriter, Idan Cohen said, “We are all related, aren’t we? I first heard Cohen’s music through my dad and, in many ways, always felt that he is a father figure to me. So many of us feel that way about him and his music and poetry. I love him like family. Does that count?”

For tickets to Take This Waltz, visit chutzpahfestival.com.

Several shows to watch at Fringe Fest

Ariel Martz-Oberlander wrote and co-stars in on behalf. (photo from Julia Lank)

In the Aug. 20 issue of the Jewish Independent, there was a short article on the Vancouver Fringe Festival show A Coveted Wife of East Van, which “tells the story of Samantha Cohen as she navigates friendship, men and dating apps while making some very bad decisions along the way.” Playing at the Picnic Pavilion venue on Granville Island, the creative team includes Jewish community members Marn Norwich (poet), Ariel Martz-Oberlander (director), Itamar Erez (musician) and Hayley Sullivan (actor). Martz-Oberlander is also involved in the show on behalf, with fellow Jewish community members Tamar Tabori and Julia Lank (co-stage manager). And there are other Jewish community members to watch in this year’s festival, as well. Here are the broad strokes of the productions that were in touch with the JI.

on behalf

Martz-Oberlander’s on behalf is a conversational, humorous and lyric conversation between a young woman (Martz-Oberlander) and an ancient goddess (Tabori).

“on behalf challenges assumptions about what it means to survive and to be a survivor,” said Martz-Oberlander. “Rather than framing ‘healing’ as an individual, linear journey, the show frames it as a collective political and cultural act – messy, strange, circular, ancestral, shattering, transformative and ongoing. Our identities affect our visions of justice, and diaspora shapes our ability to find belonging on stolen land and within a system that views justice only as punishment.”

The inspiration behind on behalf came out of Martz-Oberlander’s own healing journey, and lack of a road map. She began looking back into her own cultural inheritance and to mine the stories of women who have survived dispossession and sexual assault across time and space, with bravery, creativity and the strength of rituals.

After three years in development, on behalf has shifted in focus and form many times. Now in a filmic state at the Fringe, it moves again. Shot in a single take with a shifting camera, the show runs less than 20 minutes. The film format invites audiences to engage with the tactile and sensory experiences linked to traditional ritual work – like handwashing and bread baking – to highlight how healing extends beyond the individual, because our wounds too extend beyond the individual experience.

on behalf is a digital presentation and can be watched anytime during the Fringe.

Everybody Knows

In this semi-autobiographical, one-woman musical, set to nine Leonard Cohen cover songs, Rita Sheena creates a spiraling narrative using contemporary dance, post-modern quirk and the haunting melodies of First Aid Kit’s Who By Fire album, which was released earlier this year.

Everybody Knows is the latest work from Sheena’s Come Emote With Me theatre series. It opens in a bright, primary-coloured hotel room. When we meet the smug captain, we are reminded that “everybody knows the dice are loaded, everybody rolls with their fingers crossed, and everybody knows the war is over, everybody knows the good guys lost….” Next, we meet a woman in a 1960s-style secretary dress who answers every telephone call ringing for death with “… and who shall I say is calling?”

Cohen enthusiasts will appreciate the esoteric nuances that Sheena emotes. Folks who love dance and movement artistry will enjoy the unique style of storytelling.

Everybody Knows is at the Revue Stage on Granville Island Sept. 11-18.

A Toast to Prohibition

International performer Melanie Gall comes to the Vancouver Fringe with her new historic musical, A Toast to Prohibition. Her previous shows include Piaf and Brel and off-Broadway’s Ingénue.

Celebrate the 101st anniversary of Prohibition with flappers, gin fizz and a speakeasy cabaret. Join Gladys in her secret gin joint, the Tipsy Sparrow, as she tells the story of when intoxicating liquor was forbidden and lawlessness ruled the day. From secret cellars and doctor-prescribed alcohol to a teetotaller attacking saloons with a hatchet, there’s a song about it! This show features, among other songs, forgotten 1920s hits “Lips That Touch Liquor Shall Never Touch Mine” and “Everybody Wants a Key to My Cellar.”

Performances of A Toast to Prohibition take place at Performance Works Sept. 10-19.

The Fringe Festival runs until Sept. 19. For tickets and the full schedule, visit vancouverfringe.com.

Exhibit returns virtually

The exhibition Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything was the most popular in the history of the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MAC), recording 315,000 visits over its year-long run. The massive multidisciplinary show, produced by MAC, opened in November 2017 on the first anniversary of the Montreal-born singer-songwriter’s death. A scaled-down version then went on an international tour planned through to 2022, first at the Jewish Museum in New York in 2019 and then at Copenhagen’s GL Strand art centre, where it ran until the COVID pandemic hit. Last month, MAC launched a virtual exhibition of the same name that will be up for three years and available free of charge, but within Canada only.

As was the case with the original, visitors can easily spend hours, if not days, trolling through this exhibit, which blends much of its real-world components with hundreds of related images and music, audio and visual extracts, texts and background information. About 50 artworks from MAC’s permanent collection are also imaginatively linked to Cohen’s poetry, songs, interviews and, sometimes, drawings of himself.

For the original show, MAC director John Zeppetelli and guest curator Victor Schiffman commissioned some 40 Canadian and international artists to find inspiration in Cohen’s life and work. Given a free hand, they produced visual and performance art that drew heavily on multimedia, using technology that often allowed the audience to interact. These unconventional tributes drew mixed critical reaction, but an adoring public, still mourning his loss, was just happy to immerse themselves in all things Cohen.

Cohen’s children, Adam and Lorca, cooperated with the MAC project, and the man himself is said to have given his go-ahead for the concept the year before he died.

With the virtual exhibition, visitors control how much they sample, as they meander through the different portals. The site’s main page has an otherworldly feel, as links drift in a black cosmos and (optional) ethereal soundscape. Visitors can explore the four main themes about Cohen: Poetic Thought; Spirituality & Humility; Love; and Loss & Longing. Or. they can head to the Gallery to search by contributing artist; the two other sections are Echo, audio and transcribed impressions offered by visitors to the original exhibition, and Context, a biographical sketch of Cohen.

With respect to navigating the site, if one wants, for example, to delve into the source of the title, which comes from Cohen’s 1992 masterwork “Anthem” (with the lyrics, “There’s a crack in everything / That’s how the light gets in”), a link under Spirituality & Humility leads to the Montreal electronic band Dear Criminals’ interpretation of the song. Related to that recording is a video of Cohen performing the song in London in 2008, a transcript excerpt of a radio interview he gave for Sony Music in 1992, explaining what the lyrics mean, and a video clip of his rendition of it that year on television in France.

The exhibition stresses how influential Judaism was to Cohen, who was born into a prominent Jewish family in 1934. “A strong spiritual presence inhabits much of Leonard Cohen’s work,” reads an entry. “Raised in the ancestral tradition of Judaism, Cohen discovered and developed an interest in poetry as a child while listening to the Hebrew Bible reading cycles and the sung prayers of the Jewish liturgy.”

Although he left Montreal in the 1960s, Cohen maintained a lifelong membership in Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Westmount, where he grew up. He turned to its cantor, Gideon Zelermyer, and men’s choir for traditional backup to the title cut from his final album, the haunting “You Want it Darker,” released just weeks before his passing. The choir had a small part in the original exhibition, which has been carried over to the virtual. It appears in South African-born Candice Breitz’s panoramic video installation in which 18 elderly men, fans of Cohen but lacking his talent, were recorded covering “I’m Your Man.”

MAC invites visitors to continue the conversation via social media at #cohenetmoi. The virtual exhibition Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything is accessible at expocohen.macm.org until Feb. 12, 2024.

This article originally was published on facebook.com/TheCJN.

Musical tribute to dear friend

Perla Batalla brings the music of Leonard Cohen to the Rothstein Theatre March 11. (photo from Chutzpah!)

I didn’t choose singing. It chose me,” Perla Batalla told the Independent in an email interview. Batalla brings her personal and moving tribute to her good friend, Leonard Cohen, to the Chutzpah! Festival March 11.

“He was not only a mentor and a friend, but also a very great inspiration. Being as I was young when I worked with Leonard – I was in my 20s – I watched him like I was watching a master and learning as much as I possibly could,” she said. “His need to always seek the comfort of his audience was truly generous – and all too rare. We began working together in the 1980s and we never lost touch, even after I was touring on my own.

“In Leonard’s earlier tours,” she said, “he would tell stories before every song – very funny, honest stories about his life. Each night he’d tell similar stories, but they always seemed fresh – like I’d never heard them before – I think that was because of his honesty, and his ability to show up and always be authentic, be authentically Leonard Cohen.

“He had a huge impact on what I do and how I perform. If I approach a song with unconditional honesty, the meaning is not static – it can ebb and flow as I relate the words to my own life and experiences.”

In Vancouver, Batalla – who lives in Ojai, Calif. – will be joined by pianist Michael Sobie.

“He recently returned after touring as assistant conductor and pianist with the Game of Thrones Concert Stadium Tour,” Batalla said. “Michael also performs as the principal pops pianist with the Grand Rapids Symphony and has toured internationally as pianist/conductor with Broadway musicals like Les Misérables, Wicked, Aïda and tons more. He is a dream to work with.”

Perla Batalla in the House of Cohen features songs and personal stories that “reveal Cohen’s lighter side,” notes Batalla’s website. It also shows “her sincere respect and deep love for the music, the poetry and, most of all, for her dear friend, Leonard Cohen.” Cohen passed away Nov. 7, 2016.

Batalla released her first recording in 1994, an eponymous CD on the Warner/Discovery label, and has since produced six CDs on her own label, Mechuda Music, one of which, Bird on the Wire, was a tribute to Cohen. Internationally known, Batalla composes and performs in both English and Spanish. The names of two of her CDs, Discoteca Batalla and Mestiza, more than hint at how important her heritage is to her.

“I grew up in Venice, Calif.,” she said. “Our family owned a Mexican record shop called Discoteca Batalla, which served as an important hub for Latino culture in West L.A. I constantly feel the push and pull of the Afro-Mexican influence from my father and the Euro-Argentine-Jewish elements from my mom. This is my own mestiza, mix – I wouldn’t trade it for the world. From all sides, theatricality is in my bones, my roots. I don’t only use my voice to sing a song. To completely engage, I have to use my entire body. And it has to be sincere. It has to come from within.”

She said she comes from a long line of musicians on her father’s side in Mexico and theatre people on her mother’s side in Argentina. “My father was a singer and my uncle, Cipriano Silva, was a trumpet player with the world-famous Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán,” she added. “My desire to sing came early – when my family took a camping trip, I can remember sitting by myself among the redwoods singing to them. I made up a song and it felt strange, but good. Trees are a very attentive audience.

“When I was a little older,” she continued, “I remember watching my uncles and my father (who were usually pretty scary) singing traditional songs after dinner and openly weeping as they sang – and it occurred to me at the time that music seemed to have a unique power. By the time I was in my teens, I was studying opera privately and singing in clubs at night; I have never wanted to do anything else.”

When asked about her creative process, how a song comes to her, she said, “Research and serendipity. My current Frida Kahlo project, Blue House, is an example. I wanted this song cycle to be a love letter to the creative spirit. My songwriting partner, David Batteau, and I began by reading everything we could get our hands on; we spent a lot of time in museums; I even started to paint and do art pieces. Through research and discussion, ideas begin to appear like ghosts. It starts as a thread, and then we follow the thread to wherever it leads; destinations we had no idea were even there when we embarked.

“I am also inspired by stories. When I keep my ears open, I can hear stories everywhere. Sometimes there can be a great story hidden within a painting, a black-and-white photograph, or a symphony.”

Not only has Batalla been recognized for her work in music, but she also has been awarded for trying to heal the world in other ways, as well.

“I am most grateful for having the opportunity to do educational outreach with at-risk youth in underserved communities around the U.S.,” she said. “I take a lot of time to talk with the students about how being creative can give you power. Sometimes young people just need to be given permission to explore the artistic horizon.

“Passing on love and appreciation for music, poetry and the beauty of the Spanish language to the next generation of artists is paramount. I want young people to discover the magic of song. When words and music collide with honesty and humanity, the result is the foundation on which everything of life is built. At a time when art and music are marginalized in the education of youth, I am now more than ever committed to educational outreach as I travel throughout the world. Exposing young audiences to the beauty of art, music and poetry through music and live theatre may be our best defence against the current onslaught of cynicism.”

As for her love of Cohen’s music?

“For me, it is his imagery, use of metaphor and painful honesty, which gives Leonard’s lyrics such depth of meaning,” she said. “His poems and songs are also intrinsically personal. When I sing his songs, Leonard’s lyrics help sustain me – I reinterpret them with each performance. Plus, his lifetime dedication to his craft at the expense of all else is the epitome of devotion to beauty.”

She added, “For an artist, reading reviews or caring what everyone thinks is the kiss of death. Since I’m human, I do care what some people think, but, in the end, I do what will satisfy my creative goals and desires. I am grateful every day that I have the freedom to take chances and continue my own journey.”

Perla Batalla in the House of Cohen is at the Rothstein Theatre for one performance only, on March 11, 7:30 p.m.

For all of the Chutzpah! music offerings and the full festival schedule, visit chutzpahfestival.com.

Fêting Shemer, Cohen

Mauro Perelmann is coming from Brazil to lead a Dec. 17 musical tribute to Naomi Shemer and Leonard Cohen. (photo by Natan Guterman Fotografia)

On Dec. 17, Congregation Beth Israel will host a tribute concert to Israeli singer songwriter Naomi Shemer. The brainchild of Brazilian musical director, composer and arranger Mauro Perelmann, who appeared at Or Shalom last winter, the tribute show was originally created for a performance in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Following its success there, Perelmann is bringing the show to Vancouver, featuring local singers Stephen Aberle, Debby Fenson and Wendy Rubin.

The Vancouver concert – which will also include a tribute to Canadian icon Leonard Cohen, who passed away since the initial plans were made – is the result of extensive collaboration both internationally and within the Jewish community here. With the help of Perelmann’s friend Yom Shamash and sponsored by Congregation Beth Israel, Limmud Vancouver and Or Shalom, the concert features Shemer’s “best and most beautiful songs,” said Perelmann.

The archetypal Sabra, Shemer was born in 1930 at Kvutzat Kinneret, the Galilee kibbutz her parents helped found. Like other celebrated artists, she served in the Israel Defence Forces as part of the Nahal entertainment group, and went on to study at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem, now the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.

After studying both classical and folk guitar in his home city of Rio de Janeiro, Perelmann followed in Shemer’s footsteps at the Rubin Academy. He studied there for a period of four years, 1976-1980, and it changed his life.

Raised in a secular Jewish home, both he and Shamash were members of Hashomer Hatzair, the Zionist youth group. Perelmann described his time in Israel as “a very touching experience, very important to my life.” On returning to Rio, he said, “I began to work as a musician, composer, arranger in Brazil. I returned to klezmer, to Hebrew and Israeli music. I began to work here in the Jewish community.”

Nowadays, Perelmann’s work follows “three branches,” he said: Jewish music; vocal music for choirs and other groups; and soundtracks for television and movies.

With only two weeks between his arrival in Vancouver and the concert, Perelmann has rehearsed with the three local singers via Skype. It was the first time he had used this technology to rehearse music.

“I sent them the scores with the voices written down and we used the technology to shorten the distance between us. It worked well! They went to the same place, I heard them singing, gave them feedback. When I arrive in Vancouver, we’ll rehearse with the whole band.”

Perelmann speaks passionately of Shemer’s compositions. He referred to her as “the voice of Israeli culture until the 1970s: the love of nature, of the people,” and added, “any Jew raised with music must know Naomi Shemer.” He described a wide-ranging repertoire, from touching love songs like “Umbrella for Two,” to lyrics describing scenes of everyday Israeli life, childhood and nature. Shamash described Shemer as the representation of “our idealized vision of a just, socialist and Zionist Israel.”

Concert-goers can, of course, look forward to hearing Shemer’s most celebrated work, “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav.” Made famous by Shuli Natan’s passionate renditions, it is a hauntingly nostalgic work, commemorating the end of the Six Day War of 1967. Combining a magical mix of open-hearted optimism and steely conviction, Shamash commented, “it was a kind of national anthem,” which united both a country and a generation of Jews around the world.

While it is widely regarded as a second national anthem of Israel, the song is not without controversy. In response to questions about the origins of the melody in Basque folk music, Perelmann said, “it happens in music; it wasn’t a conscious decision.”

And Shemer is known to have raised questions from Amos Oz, and others, over the perceived politics in “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav.” Describing the Jerusalem marketplace as “empty” without Jews, one might imagine that Shemer’s song disregards the presence of Arab Israelis. However, as Perelmann explained, Shemer clarified, “If there are no Jews there, then it is empty to me.”

Among the other Shemer songs to be featured at the Vancouver concert are “Al Kol Eleh,” “Hurshat Ha’Eucalyptus” (her song about the trees of Kvutzat Kinneret), “Lu Yehi,” “Orhim Lakayitz” and “Mahar.”

Vancouver singer Fenson treasures memories of “sitting around a campfire singing songs,” and described a lifelong relationship with Shemer’s music. “I received a book of Naomi Shemer songs for my bat mitzvah,” she shared. “Part of learning to speak Hebrew came from reading and singing those songs. Later, I used Naomi Shemer’s songs (and others) to help a friend who was also learning the language.”

As for the Cohen component of the concert, Shamash said, “The idea to add a small tribute to Leonard Cohen came from the Canadian singers…. The news of Leonard Cohen’s passing hit everyone hard, especially because it came two days after Donald Trump’s election. All of a sudden, the world looked darker and the need to grieve and mourn became more urgent. We all needed to see the light through the cracks of the broken world. I was asked to call Mauro to add a few Leonard Cohen’s songs. He understood. Hallelujah.”

The Shemer and Cohen tribute at Beth Israel on Dec. 17 starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at brownpapertickets.ca or at the door.

Shula Klinger is an author, illustrator and journalist living in North Vancouver. Find out more at niftyscissors.com.