musician

music for special events

sample program

BATMIZVAH for Charlotte Kafka-Gibbons

Friends Meeting Hall, Cambridge, MA
October 2014

Featuring the Strawberry Jam Band with Liza Kitchell, piano/vocals; Sylvia Schwartz, violin and vocals; and Mark Torgerson, guitar and vocals.

Songs of Welcome -

• "Miriam's Song" by Debbie Friedman
  (Liza, vocals and piano; Sylvia, violin; Mark, guitar)
• "Schwanenlied" by Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn
  (Liza, piano; Sylvia, violin)

Liza chants Torah excerpt with Charlotte.

Musical Wake-up Moment -

• "Bim Bam" traditional folksong
  (Liza, keyboard and vocals; Sylvia, violin; Mark, guitar)
• "Tumbalalaika" traditional folksong
  (Liza, keyboard and vocals; Sylvia, violin; Mark, guitar)

Reflective Musical Moment -

• "Ad Cethent Tulas" North African Berber folksong
  (Liza, piano; Sylvia, violin)
• "Great Heart" by Johnny Clegg
  (Liza, keyboard and vocals; Sylvia, violin and vocals; Mark, guitar and vocals)

Musical Conclusion -

• "Shalom Aleichem" by Samuel Goldfarb (lyrics: traditional liturgy)
  (Liza, keyboard and vocals; Sylvia, violin and vocals; Mark, guitar)
• "Hal'luya" by S. Or and K. Oshrat
  (Liza, keyboard and vocals; Sylvia, violin; Mark, guitar)
• "Build Me Up Buttercup" by Mike d'Abo and Tony Macaulay
  (Liza, keyboard and vocals; Sylvia, violin; Mark, guitar)
• "Old Lady Walk a Mile and a Half" by Lord Kitchener
  (Liza, keyboard and vocals; Sylvia, percussion and vocals; Mark, guitar and vocals)

Note: The family who commissioned the music for the Batmitzvah requested music centered around the theme of a young woman passing into womanhood in a supportive community of women. Charlotte's Torah reading was about Moses, therefore I chose a song about his sister, Miriam, to open the program. Fanny Hensel was a female, Jewish composer. For the Wake-up Musical Moment, I chose two upbeat, traditional folksongs. The family also wanted diverse, non-Jewish material, therefore I chose two songs from different parts of Africa for the Reflective Musical Moment - one a Berber song about young women going out to dance and another about the supporting love of the Great Heart. The Musical Conclusion included a Hebrew prayer, a celebratory pop song ( winner of the 1979 Eurovision song) and Charlotte's personal favorite, "Build Me Up Buttercup."