Thu 2/20 @ 7:30PM
Fri 2/21 @ 8PM
Sat 2/22 @ 8PM
Sun 2/23 @ 4PM
Tues 2/25 @ 7:30PM
Jews have always wandered, chased from country to country by people who viewed them as outsiders, or even dangerous or evil.
The next series of concerts by Apollo’s Fire, Cleveland’s Baroque Orchestra, tells in music the story of the Spanish Sephardic Jews as they trekked from Spain to Italy to Turkey to North Africa, absorbing musical influences at each stop.
In “Sephardic Journey: The Wanderings of the Spanish Jews,” Apollo’s Fire director Jeannette Sorrell and her ensemble will be joined by soprano Nell Snaidas who is internationally acclaimed for her mastery of baroque Spanish music.
Snaidas is the co-director of the program, which also features tenor Karim Sulayman, baritone Jeffrey Strauss, percussionist Rex Benincasa, hammered dulcimer player Tina Bergmann, and the Apollo’s Singers.
Like some of Apollo’s Fire’s other programs, this one blends traditional folk music and early sacred music to draw a vivid sonic picture of a time and place. Among other things it will include highlights from the choral piece Songs of Solomon, written by 17th-century Italian Jewish baroque composer Salamone Rossi.
The concert will be performed at the Fairlawn Lutheran Church on Thu 2/20, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights on Fri 2/21, at The Temple — Tifereth Israel on Sat 2/22, at the Rocky River Presbyterian Church on Sun 2/23, and again at the Temple — Tifereth Israel on Tue 2/25.
Lutenist Dr. Daniel Shoskes will give a pre-concert talk an hour before each performance. He’ll be joined by Rabbi Roger C. Klein for the two performances at The Temple — Tifereth Israel.
Tickets are $21-$68.