Workshops with Semer Ensemble

Germany’s Semer Ensemble will be hosting a program of workshops on Friday October 6, 10:30am-3pm, at the brand new Toronto Holocaust Museum (4588 Bathurst St). This is a rare opportunity to work directly with these world-class artists and learn more about the extraordinary music and stories behind the Semer Ensemble. The three-part program is open to all; participants are welcome to attend all three components or pick and choose which to attend, all for a single price. Registration for the workshops includes free access to explore the Museum (which is normally closed on Fridays).

Here’s what the day will look like:

10:30am – Instrumental workshop, with Alan Bern (accordion/piano, musical direction), Mark Kovnatskiy (violin) and Martin Lillich (bass): Geared to musicians of any kind, but open to observation by non-musicians as well, the artists will teach instrumental repertoire from their concert program, and explore the roles of instruments when accompanying the vocal repertoire in the program.

12:00pm – Lunch break: Bring your own or purchase from Eisenberg’s https://www.eisenbergsandwiches.com/ onsite location in Prosserman JCC.

12:30pm – Q & A with the members of Semer Ensemble. In this informal session, the group will be open to discussing anything and everything about the Semer project: the original label and artists, what happened to the recordings, how they were recovered, how/when the members of Semer Ensemble first encountered them, how they went about arranging and performing them, the musicians’ experiences playing them in different times and places, and whatever else audience members might like to know.

1:30pm – Song workshop, with Alan Bern and the four vocalists in the group, Lorin Sklamberg, Sasha Lurje, Daniel Kahn and Fabian Schnedler: The artists will teach some of the songs in their program, providing lyrics, translation and notes about the repertoire to all participants.

The program will end at 3pm

Don’t miss Semer Ensemble’s full concert performance on the prior evening (October 5) at Meridian Arts Centre. Visit https://ashkenaz.ca/event/semer-ensemble/for details and to purchase tickets.