Over several days participants of the festival had the opportunity to get to know the richness and diversity of Jewish culture through various means of expression: theater, film, dance, literary meetings, Yiddish lessons, symposia, visual arts, music and exhibitions featuring the most outstanding artists from Poland and from the entire world
Since 2004 Warsaw has been hosting the Jewish Culture Festival “Singer’s Warsaw”, organised by the Shalom Foundation. This event was initiated and created by Gołda Tencer, General Director of the Foundation, actress, director, screenwriter.
Among those who have participated in the previous editions of the festival are: Nigel Kennedy & Kroke, David Krakauer, Leszek Możdżer, Sinfonia Varsovia, Urszula Dudziak, Krzysztof Penderecki, Michał Urbaniak, Giora Feidman, Klezmatics, Frank London, Mike Burstyn, Lea Koenig, Krzysztof Penderecki, John Axelrod, Samuel Pisar, Alberto Mizrahi, Jacek Kasprzyk and cantors: Joseph Malovany and Benzion Miller.
During the festival, the Próżna Street and the Grzybowski Square – a forsaken area of the capital – are transformed into a colorful shtetl from the beginning of the 20th century, full of music and dance, taverns, bakeries and stalls. We dedicate this event to Isaac Bashevis Singer who – like no one else – knew how to portray through his words the landscapes of small Jewish towns.
The Jewish Culture Festival “Singer’s Warsaw” has become an inherent part of the Polish and European cultural landscape. Not only does it give a broad audience the opportunity to get to know the beauty and diversity of prewar Jewish culture, but it also promotes the idea of tolerance and openness in a simple, accessible way, by presenting the contemporary themes of this extraordinary culture.
This year’s edition programme included a number of interesting theatrical performances, concerts, exhibitions, workshops, film screenings, meetings, art installations, and lectures. Will include: Frank London (USA) in klezmer opera "The Night in the Old Marketplace" and other projects, Brass All Stars (USA), Anna Maria Jopek & Kroke, Sisters of Sheynville (Canada), Joseph Malovany (USA), accompanied by the Choir of White Stork Synagogue in Wroclaw, Ben Zimet (France), Michael Hochman, Karsten Troyke (Germany) & Trio Scho (Ukraine), Lena Ledoff (Russia) with the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra, The Jewish Theatre of Bucharest, Raphael Rogiński, Lenka Lichtenberg (Canada), Mendy Cahan (Israel), Groove Headz (Austria), Christian David (Germany), Ran Dank (Israel) and The Ger Mandolin Orchestra from San Francisco, which was an attempt to reconstruct the pre-war orchestras mandolinists on Gora Kalwaria.
Prozna Street and the Grzybowski Square vain, forgotten corner of the capital, changes in color during the festival, singing and dancing shtetl from the early twentieth century, with wineries, bakeries and stalls. But not only in this part of Warsaw festival events took place. This year we also host to Prague, including in Stock Bottles, Sense and nonsense in Four Rooms, and not all of Prague's famous back alleys, where we will organize many concerts and various art forms. Will be hosted in their avant-garde artists of Jewish music: Paul Szamburski, Patrick Zakrocki and others.
Festival Programme
Organizer The Shalom Foundation
http://www.festiwalsingera.pl/
This event is part of the Attention Culture! Cultural Program of the 2011 Polish EU Presidency.