Claudette Colvin, Civil Rights Pioneer, To Receive Congregation Kol Ami’s “Be the Light” Award for Social Justice
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Congregation Kol Ami, of White Plains, New York will honor Claudette Colvin, the “young woman before Rosa Parks,” as part of a special program to be presented on Sunday, April 28, 2019 (2:00-3:00 P.M.). Ms. Colvin’s brave and dramatic protest in 1955 against bus segregation laws in Montgomery, Alabama ushered in an era of civil rights activism.
Not a week goes by without the tragic news of a school shooting, wrongful incarceration, or personal scandal. The news is often so overwhelming that it leaves us numb, exhausted and frustrated. But for Claudette Colvin, she hopes such injustices make us so angry that we stop standing on the sidelines and take the action needed to drive progress -- just as she did on March 2, 1955.
Only 15 years old at the time, Ms. Colvin, refused to accede to a bus driver’s demands that she move to the back of a public bus. “Pride in black history and the many heroes that I had studied about in school, simply glued me to the seat,” she said. For her defiance, the police hauled her off the bus, arrested her, and threw her in jail. The courageous Ms. Colvin acted without the help of others, and did so 9 months before Rosa Parks. Colvin’s act of rebellion helped spark the Montgomery Bus Boycott and a federal lawsuit challenging Alabama bus segregation laws. Ms. Colvin went on to become one of five plaintiffs in a State and then Supreme Court case that sought to end segregated bus system practices in the south. They won, but the battle was tough, and on many levels continues today.
Ms. Colvin will present her story of bravery and share what motivated her to stay put in her seat that fateful day. She hopes that her tale will continue propelling young people to standup for what they know in their hearts to be true.
The Calvary Baptist Church choir will honor Ms. Colvin in song, and a group of young people, led by Kol Ami congregant George Guidall, the preeminent audiobook reader in the United States, will read excerpts from the biography, “Claudette Colvin, Twice Towards Justice.”
Ms. Colvin will be honored on April 28, from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM at Congregation Kol Ami located at 252 Soundview Avenue, White Plains.
The program is open to the public free of charge and geared for all ages. A reception and question and answer period will follow this important program.
Opera, Jewish Style, at Westchester Reform Temple
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Cantors, a Broadway star and members of the WRT Adult Choir will host an evening of opera at Westchester Reform Temple on Sunday April 7 at 4 pm featuring Cantor Jill Abramson, Rabbi Jonathan Blake, Cantor Amanda Kleinman, Kelly McCormick, Danny Mendelson, Rabbi Dan Sklar, Cantor Shirah Sklar, and Pianist Lachlan Glen. This annual concert is held in memory of Cantor Stephen Merkel z”l.
This talented company of singers made up will join together to offer music that expresses the connection between Jewish life and the opera stage. Pianist Lachlan Glen, an alumnus of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, will share his operatic expertise. Enjoy the natural acoustics of the beautiful Westchester Reform Temple sanctuary as you experience the simplicity and grandeur of the human voice.
A Jewish Encounter with Opera is the brainchild of Cantor Jill Abramson, who is fascinated with the nexus of Jewish culture and the operatic repertoire. For more information, see Cantor Abramson’s piece,
There will be a wine and cheese reception following the program. A suggested contribution of $15 supports continued programs for the community.
Here is the program:
“Zion’s Walls” (Copland): Adult Choir and Soloists
“Olympia’s Aria” (the Doll Song) from Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Offenbach) - Kelly
“Dudele” (Dan & Shirah)
“King David” Herbert Howells (Amanda)
"Laurie's Song" from Aaron Copland's The Tenderland (Shirah)
“Un Moto di Gioia” (Mozart) from Marriage of Figaro (Jill)
Mozart’s librettist was Jewish and Stephen Merkel loved Mozart: he had a huge painting of him in his office.
“Rozhinkes Mit Mandlen” (From the opera Shulamis by A. Goldfaden)
Audience sing-along
Ching-a-Ring-Chaw (Copland) - (Dan)
Tombe degli avi miei (Donizetti) from Lucia di Lammermor (Danny M)
“Va Pensiero” or Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Nabucco (Verdi): Soloists
https://www.thoughtco.com/va-pensiero-lyrics-and-text-translation-724034
“A “ Simple Song,” Bernstein (Jon)
Note: Leonard Bernstein’s centennial last year, and note the irony that, following his overtly Jewishly-themed Symphony No. 3 (“Kaddish”) (1963) and Chichester Psalms (1965), Bernstein chose the Roman Catholic Mass as the subject of the work he composed for the inauguration of the Kennedy Center. “Mass” (1971) is a massively scaled, eclectic pastiche of classical, pop, Broadway, jazz, and blues elements; but “A Simple Song” belies all of that, and the Christian liturgical conventions of the Catholic Mass, by declaring a universal devotion to God with lyrics drawn from Psalms (co-written with Stephen Schwartz of Godspell, Pippin, and Wicked fame).
“See the Conqu’ring Hero Comes” (Judas Maccabeus): Adult Choir and Soloists
Encore: “Chad Gad Yah” (DM solo) Moishe Oysher, arr. Jacobson: Adult Choir and Soloists – as Passover is coming up.
Westchester Reform Temple is located at 255 Mamaroneck Road in Scarsdale, New York. For directions or information, call 914-723-7727, email to [email protected] or visit the website at www.wrtemple.org.
For more information about this program, please contact Cantor Jill Abramson at Westchester Reform Temple, 914-723-7727.
Bronx River Documentary Film Screening
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The Scarsdale Historical Society is proud to announce a new documentary film, A River Returns, a History of the Bronx River. The event will be held at the Little Theater at Scarsdale High School on Sunday, March 24th at 3pm. This screening is sponsored by the Scarsdale Historical Society, The Scarsdale Forum, The Scarsdale Public Library and the League of Women Voters Scarsdale.
The beloved Bronx River has played a significant role in the rise of towns and modern suburbs in Westchester and the Bronx. Our film tells the story of the river’s remarkable history, sorrowful decline and the unique efforts to reclaim the river by the communities it flows through.
The Bronx River travels from Valhalla in Northern Westchester for 16 miles through towns in Westchester and for 8 miles in the Bronx before it flows into Manhattan’s East River. Once teeming with fish and wildlife, the Bronx River Valley was the hunting grounds for Native Americans and the fur traders. The river powered the mills of the first colonists and factories. However, by the 1890's the Bronx River had become a toxic brew of industrial and human waste.
The first efforts to protect the river resulted in the construction of the Bronx River Parkway and a greenbelt of parks in the early 1900's that transformed towns in Westchester. The second major clean up began in the 1970's when local activists from blighted neighborhoods in the South Bronx and river advocates joined forces to restore the river.
Today, the Bronx River continues to be cared for through an alliance of private and government groups and by the efforts of volunteers, students, educators and environmentalists. Those efforts have become a model for the restoration of urban rivers across the nation.
Join us for the inspired story of the return of the Bronx River and a Q&A with the filmmakers and the historians interviewed in the film.
This is the third film produced by the Scarsdale Historical Society with the combined teamwork of Barbara Shay MacDonald, the Society's Historian, and Lesley Topping, a New York based filmmaker, who grew up in Scarsdale. The two previous films include A Tour of the Cudner-Hyatt House and Scarsdale in the 18th and 19th Century: From Hardscrabble Farms to Gracious Estates. They can be watched on the Scarsdale Historical Society’s website: www.scarsdalehistoricalsociety.org.
SHS Drama Club to Present "The Laramie Project"
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The Scarsdale High School Drama Club will present, their spring play, The Laramie Project on Friday March 29 and Saturday March 30 at 7:30 pm.
The Laramie Project is a documentary-style play that analyzes the death of Matthew Shepard, an openly gay college student who was brutally murdered because of his sexual identity. The play was created by playwright/director Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project.
The theater group traveled from New York to the town of Laramie, Wyoming - just four weeks after the death of Shepard. Once there, they interviewed dozens of townspeople, collecting a wide array of different perspectives. The dialogue and monologues which comprise The Laramie Project are taken from interviews, news reports, courtroom transcripts, and journal entries.
The interviews delve into the reactions of people who knew Matthew, people who knew his murderers, and other citizens of Laramie who perhaps did not personally know Matthew or his murderers personally, but can still speak about the reactions of the town as a whole.
Performances will be in the Scarsdale High School auditorium on Friday, March 29th and Saturday, March 30th at 7:30pm. Tickets are available at scarsdalelaramie.eventbrite.com or at the door.
Baroque and Beyond at Hoff Barthelson
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Pianist Michael Boriskin
Baroque and Beyond, Hoff-Barthelson Music School’s week-long Festival celebrating music composed between 1600 and 1750, takes place Saturday, March 9, 2019, through Saturday, March 16, 2019. The Festival, featuring music of great Germanic composers – Bach, Telemann, and Handel – as well as masters from other lands, includes student recitals, a lecture on the life and works of J.S. Bach, presented by Michael Boriskin, Artistic Director of the Copland House, and instrumental and choral ensemble concerts. The Festival is made possible by a generous grant from the Westchester Community Foundation.
Baroque and Beyond is part of the School’s “Festivals in Style” that introduces students to music from specific periods of music. Students enjoy the opportunity for detailed study of period solo and ensemble works and are invited to audition to participate in recitals. Auditions are adjudicated by faculty panels. Executive Director Ken Cole said “Experiencing the audition process is an important learning experience for every music student, thus Baroque and Beyond and the Contemporary Festival that follows in May provide vital opportunities for students at all levels to become acquainted with the rigors of auditioning – a character building experience second to none!”
On Saturday, March 9, and Sunday, March 10, 2019, at 7:00 pm, student performances will take place at the Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 468 Rosedale Avenue, White Plains. Ensembles scheduled to perform include the Festival Orchestra (Jun Nakabayashi, director); Suzuki Strings (Barbara Berg and Erich Schoen René, coordinators); Flute Clubs (Donna Elaine and Joseph Piscitelli, directors); Symphonette and Chamber Orchestra (Robert Schwartz, director); Chamber Choir (Laura Green, director); Viola Clubs (Naomi Graf, director) and Wind Ensemble (Joseph Piscitelli, director). Admission is a suggested donation of $20. Students may attend free of charge.
Student recitals are scheduled at the Music School during Festival week. Visit the School website – www.hbms.org – for dates and times. These recitals are free of charge.
All Bach All the Time: Great Composers Lectures Series at Hoff-Barthelson
Hoff-Barthelson Music School’s Great Composers Lecture Series for music aficionados continues on Friday, March 15, 2019, at 11:00 am with All Bach All the Time.
How is it that a dutiful, local church organist, who labored diligently in his weekly duties providing music for Sunday services, came to be regarded – along with DaVinci, Michelangelo, and Shakespeare – as one of the icons of all of Western civilization? Bach’s music represents the pinnacle of intellect and beauty – both individually and combined. His body of work is immense – including not only hundreds of cantatas for his church services, but also epic musical manifestations of the mass and passions. Even his purely instrumental compositions, intended “simply” for study or “for the pleasurable diversion of music lovers” reside on an artistic Mount Olympus. Prepare to scale the musical heights of the heart and mind with Michael Boriskin, “our fearless tour guide, who always offers an adventure for the audience” (The New York Times).
The lecture takes place at the School, 25 School Lane, Scarsdale. Admission is $25. HBMS students may attend free of charge. Space is limited; reservations are strongly encouraged.
For additional information, or to reserve seats:
[email protected]; 914-723-1169; www.hbms.org
About Michael Boriskin:
Hailed by American Record Guide as “one of the most skilled and versatile musical artists of his generation,” internationally-acclaimed pianist Michael Boriskin has taken listeners in over 30 countries on provocative journeys across four centuries of music. From Berlin to Buenos Aires and Toronto to Tokyo, he has appeared at major concert halls and festivals, including the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Ravinia Festival, BBC in London, South West German Radio, Vienna’s Arnold Schoenberg Center, and Library of Congress.
He has performed as soloist with leading orchestras and as guest artist with countless chamber ensembles and has recorded extensively for SONY Classical, Naxos, New World, Bridge, and other American and European labels. He is a much-sought-after lecturer on both sides of the Atlantic, and is a familiar presence on National Public Radio as a performer, commentator, and host. He also served as Music Director of Mikhail Baryshnikov’s fabled White Oak Dance Project, and is a program advisor for the New York Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, the U.S. Department of State, and many other preeminent institutions.
He is the longtime Artistic and Executive Director of Copland House, the award-winning creative center for American music based at Aaron Copland’s National Historic Landmark home in northern Westchester.
