Original image by There Stands the Glass.
The Kinnor Philharmonic’s annual New Year’s Day concerts have long struck me as an ideal way to begin a new year. Somehow, I hadn’t managed to attend until yesterday. By happy chance, a generous gentleman gave me a ticket as I stood in line to purchase a seat at White Theatre.
The music director and conductor Christopher Kelts told the audience of about 400 that the Fiesta Simcha! concert consisted of the “Jewish and Jewish-adjacent” music of Spain, Portugal and Brazil. While I was familiar with George Gershwin’s “Cuban Overture” and the work of Arturo Márquez, Ladino selections including the contemporary composer Ofer Ben-Amots’ “Songs from the Pomegranate Garden” were new to me.
An unfortunate mix causing guest vocalist Hazzan Tahl Ben-Yehuda to drown out the approximately 40 musicians didn’t prevent me from enjoying almost every moment. It didn’t hurt that Kelts’s approach to conducting invites comparison to Jackie Gleason. B'ezrat HaShem, I’ll return in 12 months.