Days of Jewish Music in Berlin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony

This year’s International Days of Jewish Music at the end of November in Berlin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony want to bring Jewish music and culture closer to their audience. Several concerts are planned from November 25th to 28th – in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example on Usedom and in Stavenhagen, as well as in Berlin and Görlitz in Saxony. At a time when the world needs intensive cultural exchange and mutual understanding more than ever and anti-Semitism is on the rise, the organizers said they are relying on the unifying power of music.

Concerts to take part in

The series of events starts on November 25th in Röbel on the Mecklenburg Lake District with a free workshop concert. Young people would be invited on a journey through time to traditional Jewish music from the 17th to the 20th century and to learn and sing along. The opening concert is planned for the evening in Berlin on the same day with an ensemble that combines Israeli and Iranian music.

The following day in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania there will be a free sing-along concert in the local synagogue in Stavenhagen and a concert by a klezmer trio in Heringsdorf on Usedom. On November 27th there is a concert in Berlin with a big band on the program.

The series ends with a concert on November 28th in Görlitz in the Kulturforum Neue Synagogue with a selection of music by renowned composers of Jewish descent, many of whom were forced into exile.

Prominent patron

The International Days of Jewish Music are under the patronage of Josef Schuster, President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. This year’s edition has the motto, “Kamocha – He is like you” based on a corresponding Hebrew commandment.

Director Thomas Hummel emphasized, “Music can be a means of dialogue. She has the unique ability to build bridges and bring people together. It speaks a universal language that is understood across cultural, religious and political boundaries.”