Welcome to our website.
The New Jewish Chamber Philharmonic Dresden's principal aim is to present to our audience works by Jewish composers, or composers of Jewish descent, who were persecuted, banned from performance, exiled or murdered in the camps by the Nazis. This forgotten cultural heritage contains many musical riches, works entirely neglected or at best very rarely performed on German concert stages. We wish to preserve these compositions and prevent their being completely forgotten.
Upcoming concerts:
Our Dresden International Music Festival Debut – May 29 2012
The 2012 edition of Dresden’s preeminent music festival (Dresdner Musikfestspiele) will be presenting our ensemble to an international public; other orchestras appearing at the festival include the Vienna Philharmonic with D. Barenboim, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Mariinsky Orchestra with V. Gergiev, and the Filarmonica della Scala. We are honoured to be a part of this wonderful festival! Our program will include works by Schreker, Rózsa, Haas and Zeisl; the soloist in Mendelssohn’s concerto in d minor will be the acclaimed young violinist Arnaud Sussmann.
Festival Website link:
Our next concert:
On November 9 the Jewish Chamber Philharmonic will play a memorial concert in memory of Kristallnacht, at Dresden’s New Synagogue. This event has been a regular feature of the orchestra’s season since 2007. Michael Hurshell will conduct works by Mendelssohn, Schulhoff and Weinberg.
On November 13 parts of this program will be repeated at the Gala Concert commemorating the 10th anniversary of the synagogue’s consecration.
Recent concerts
“Ecumenical Gala”
On June 4, the orchestra performed at the Grand Hall of Dresden’s Hygienemuseum, under the auspices of the 33. Deutschen Evangelischen Kirchentag (33rd German Protestant Congress). On the program are works by Lavry, Schreker and Bloch. The capacity audience gave the ensemble and its conductor an ovation.
“Gala Opening Concert”
On April 7 the ensemble played a gala concert for the opening of the 52. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Pneumologie und Beatmungsmedizin (52nd Congress of the German Respiratory Medicine Society) in Dresden. The audience was enthralled by Schreker’s and Bloch’s music.
2010
„Music memorial“
Monday, Nov. 08 at the Great Synagogue, Rykestrasse, Berlin
Ernest Bloch: Concerto grosso Nr. 2
Erica Muhl: Elegy “Disinherited Souls” for String Orchestra, in remembrance of the victims of the Shoah (world premiere, the work was commissioned by the Jewish Chamber Philharmonic Dresden)
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Symphonic Serenade op. 39
The highlight of the season was the concert in the Great Synagogue in Berlin. This was the third year running that the orchestra was invited to perform in Berlin by the Saxon State Chancellery, commemorating Kristallnacht. In Germany’s largest synagogue, music director Michael Hurshell
(conducted works by Bloch and Korngold; the program also included American composer Erica Muhl’s Elegy for String Orchestra. The capacity audience gave the artists, including the L.A. composer who had flown in for the occasion, a standing ovation . Introductions were spoken by Dr. Jürgen Martens, Saxony’s Minister of Justice; Lala Süsskind, chair of the Berlin Jewish Community; Heinz Joachim Aris, chairman of the Saxon Federation of Jewish Communities; and Dr. Nora Goldenbogen, chair of the Dresden Jewish Community. This concert was recorded by MDR Figaro (the Middle German Radio) and broadcast on the following day. An estimated 50,000 listeners tuned in – an important step in the public’s awareness of the ensemble and its aims.
(Photos from the event are posted here).
“Commemorating Kristallnacht”
Tuesday, Nov. 9 at Dresden’s New Synagogue
The program of the Berlin concert was repeated in Dresden, to a full house. At the conclusion, the orchestra was presented with the “Distinguished Venue of Germany” Award (Ausgewählter Ort Deutschlands) including a decree signed by German president Christian Wulff, received by the orchestra’s board. (Photos are posted here).
“Zukunft Heute” (The Future Today)
Sunday, April 25 at the Semperoper, Dresden
The orchestra’s debut at one of the world’s most beautiful opera houses crowned the event presented by the Max Planck Institute. Music Director Michael Hurshell conducted works by Schreker and Zeisl, and also gave a lecture on “The Healing of Musical Wounds.” (Photos are posted here).
2009
„Music memorial“
Tuesday, November 10, at the Saxon State Chancellory's venue in Berlin, the "Representation of the Freestate of Saxony to the Federation."
Felix Mendelssohn: Sinfonia for Strings in D major
Erica Muhl: "Trucco" for string orchestra (Berlin premiere)
Marc Lavry: Al Naharot Bavel (On the banks of Babylon) (Berlin premiere)
Eric Zeisl: Variations on a Slovak Folksong (Berlin premiere)
„Banned and Forgotten“
Saturday, Sept. 12, at the concert hall of Dresdens University of Music
Felix Mendelssohn: Sinfonia for Strings in C major
Eric Zeisl: Andante for String Orchestra (arr. Hurshell)
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Lento religioso from the Symphonic Serenade
Franz Schubert: Allegro from Death and the Maiden
Franz Waxman: Sinfonietta for String Orchestra and Timpani
Gala concerts „60th Anniversary German Constitution“
Sunday, May 17 at the Jewish Community Center, Chemnitz
Monday, May 18 at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Mendelssohn Hall
Sir William Herschel: Sinfonia 2 in D major, Sinfonia 4 d minor (Saxon premiere)
Miklos Rózsa: Andante for Strings
Marc Lavry: Al Naharot Bavel „On the Banks of Babylon“ (European premiere)
Felix Mendelssohn: Concerto for Violin and Strings in D minor
Soloist: Ilya Konovalov, Israel
The orchestra has a unique mission among in Germany. No other orchestra focuses on this repertoire.
Since the founding of the board on November 1, 2007, the orchestra has presented 23 concerts. The programs, performed as a concert series at the New Synagogue in Dresden have also been presented in Leipzig, Chemnitz, Görlitz and Berlin.
So far, performances have included a number of Saxon concert premieres, several German concert premieres, as well as a number of world concert premieres. The programs featured, among others, works by Bloch, Haas, Korngold, Rózsa, Schreker, Schulhoff, Waxman and Zeisl. A special feature is a continuing cycle of lesser known works by Mendelssohn.
