10 Hebrew Folk Songs and Folk Dances by Lazare Saminsky

Sidney Krum Young Artists Concert Series The Sidney Krum Young Artists Concert Series is made possible by a generous gift from the Estate of Sidney Krum.  This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.  Admission: Free Watch on Facebook Watch on Youtube

Join us for a performance of Lazare Saminsky's Ten Hebrew Folk Songs and Folk Dances Op. 22 (c. 1924). This collection of 10 works for solo piano features arrangements of Yiddish and Hebrew folk melodies, wordless nigunim, and instrumental dance melodies.

Born in Vale-Gotzulovo, Ukraine in 1882, Saminsky was one of the earliest members of the Society for Jewish Folk Music in St. Petersburg – a group of composers committed to forging a new national style of Jewish classical music infused with Jewish folk melodies and liturgical music. Saminsky immigrated to the United States in 1920 where he co-founded the League of Composers in 1923, and was the music director of Temple Emanu-El in New York City from 1924-1958. Saminsky’s musical oeuvre represents a broad cross section of Jewish music ranging from sacred to secular.

This collection of 10 pieces will be performed by pianist Thomas Kotcheff.

Sheet music for this work can be found here.
 

About the Performer

Thomas Kotcheff (b. 1988) is a Los Angeles based composer and pianist. His music has been described as “truly beautiful and inspired” (icareifyoulisten.com) and “explosive” (Gramophone magazine). His compositions have been performed internationally by The Riot Ensemble, New York Youth Symphony, wild Up, Sandbox Percussion, Trio Appassionata, Argus Quartet, Lyris Quartet, Alinde Quartett, USC Thornton Edge, The Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, HOCKET, Peabody Percussion Group, Latitude 49, and the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble amongst others. As a new music pianist, Thomas has dedicated himself to commissioning and premiering new piano works. His playing has been described as “dazzling” by Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times and “outstanding” by Steve Smith of Night after Night. In 2020, Thomas released the world premiere recording of Frederic Rzewski’s 75-minute solo piano work Songs of Insurrection in which Rzewski hailed his performance as “magnificent.” He is the pianist and founding member of the Los Angeles based piano duo HOCKET.