Concert
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On what would have been Aaron Copland’s 104th birthday, his life and work will be celebrated with a concert in his Brooklyn neighborhood, Cobble Hill, at Kane Street Synagogue, the borough’s oldest Jewish congregation. The composer celebrated his bar mitzvah there in 1913 and his father once served as its president.
The performance will feature chamber players affiliated Music from Copland House, under the direction of Michael Boriskin, and the Florilegium Chamber Choir, which will be directed by Cantor Joann Rice. Mezzo-soprano soloist Joan Fuerstman will sing Copland’s 1947 setting of verses from Genesis, “In the Beginning.” Other highlights are “Sextet for String Quartet, Clarinet and Piano” (1937) and “Vitebsk,” a study on a Jewish melody for violin, cello, and piano (1929).
The synagogue has included Copland works in past programs, but this is the first concert devoted entirely to its former member. Kane Street’s president, Donald Olenick, said that current members decided that they should honor Copland and let the community know about his connection to the area.
Copland was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in music in 1944 for his ballet “Appalachian Spring,” and an Academy Award in 1950 for Best Original Score for “The Heiress.” He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964, and both the Congressional Medal of Honor and the National Medal of Arts in 1986.
He once wrote that he was born “on a street in Brooklyn that can only be described as drab. It had none of the garish color of the ghetto, none of the charm of an old New England thoroughfare, or even a pioneer street. I mention it because it was there that I spent the first 20 years of my life. Also, because it fills me with mild wonder each time I realize that a musician was born on that street.”
While the composer may have found his childhood neighborhood less than exciting, the synagogue’s president, Donald Olenick, stressed that, today, its streets are vibrant, particularly Smith Street. From klezmer music to authors’ readings to an Israeli film festival, Cobble Hill’s arts scene is thriving, Mr. Olenick said.
Sunday, 3 p.m., Kane Street Synagogue, 236 Kane St., between Court and Clinton streets, Brooklyn, 718-875-1550, $35 and $100.
