Upcoming Concert: "A thousand and one sephardic nights"

Upcoming concert in the framework of the 2013 Jewish Culture Weeks, Vienna - "Jewish Culture from Hungary."

When: June 16 at 7:30 pm

Where: Wiener Konzerthaus

Bea Playa is one of the most versatile singers of our time and in her music she combines elements of Hungarian and Bulgarian folk music, Indian music, Jazz and world music.

Growing up listening to Hungarian folk music, Bea Playa moved to the Hungarian capital Budapest, where she started her impressive career. The energetic singer has worked together with many different bands and ensembles and since 2001 has released eleven studio albums, including seven solo albums, which are characterized by unique compositions of oriental, modern and traditional music from her homeland.

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Upcoming Concert: Eszter Bíró Quartet

Upcoming concert in the framework of the 2013 Jewish Culture Weeks, Vienna - "Jewish Culture from Hungary."

When: June 13, 2013 at 7:30 pm

Where: KIP - Cafe Prueckel, Biberstr. 2, 1010 Wien

Eszter Bíró is a versatile artist, who is known as a singer, actress and musical performer (among other projects, she starred as Christine in “Phantom of the Opera”) in Hungary. Her music is a unique blend of musical styles, in which old Jewish melodies sung in Hungarian, Yiddish, Hebrew and Ladino take you on a trip through the millennia. Inspired by the Jewish musical tradition of her Eastern European heritage, she performs traditional Jewish songs in many different languages and interprets them in a unique way, e.g. the use of traditional Eastern European Instruments is combined with the modern technique.

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Chief Rabbi Paul Chaim Eisenberg receives Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold for the services to the Province of Vienna

Source: Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien

http://www.ikg-wien.at/?p=16639

On Monday, June 3, 2013, the Governor of Vienna Michael Häupl awarded Chief Rabbi of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien (Jewish Community Vienna) Professor Paul Chaim Eisenberg with the Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold for services to the Province of Vienna. Many officials of the city government of Vienna as well as high level representatives of the Jewish community participated in the ceremony.

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Sowing the Seeds: Schalom

“SHALOM” (Grass area, Vienna Heldenplatz)On March 15, 1938 a crowd gathered on Heldenplatz, cheered for the “Führer” and celebrated the “Anschluss” (annexation) to the German Reich.

Seventy-five years later, in March 2013, grass seeds will be sown on the field on which the masses shouted with enthusiasm in 1938. They will be fertilized repeatedly. Slowly, the word “Shalom” will gradually become legible. Peace as a wish and a path for all people. “Shalom” as a delicate, growing symbol that must be taken care of. 

An installation by Paul Divjak and Juergen Weishaeupl. For more information, visit www.sowingtheseeds.at

All Meshugge? Jewish Wit and Humor

Source: Israelitsche Kultusgemeinde Wien

http://www.ikg-wien.at/?p=16501&lang=en

Humor is an essential component of Jewish life. It refl ects relations within the community and reactions to an often hostile environment. Jewish humor is commonly warm and all too human but since the Shoah also cynical and black as pitch. It encompasses a wide spectrum from its roots in Eastern Europe to Ephraim Kishon in Israel, and Billy Wilder, Mel Brooks, or Woody Allen in Hollywood. In between is the heyday of entertainment culture in Vienna and Berlin: cabaret, revue, and fi lm, Karl Farkas, Fritz Grünbaum, Hermann Leopoldi, Friedrich Hollaender, Kurt Tucholsky, and Ernst Lubitsch, the Simpl and Kabarett der Komiker.

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Jewish History Baden

"It was very important to us to prepare the Jewish history of Baden for all ages using modern media and the latest techniques of shaping the user experience."

A new web site, jewishhistorybaden.com,  documents the Jewish history of Baden, which used to be the third-largest Jewish community in Austria before 1938.

The site offers information both in German and English:
www.jewishhistorybaden.com

Mauthausen Memorial’s new exhibitions ceremonially inaugurated

Source: APA

http://www.ikg-wien.at/?p=16466

Mauthausen (APA) – Austrian President Heinz Fischer inaugurated two new exhibitions at the memorial of the former concentration camp Mauthausen, as well as a „Room of Names“ of 81,000 people who fell victim to the cruel extermination undertaken by the Nazi regime, on Sunday, the anniversary of the liberation of May 5, 1945. They have become places of great dignity with the clear message “never again”, the head of state pointed out. The opening ceremony was marked by major international participation and observation by the media.

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