About this project
FLASH! We made it to $8,000! Thanks to everyone who pledged this week...2 more days!
A generous friend has made a wonderful offer: if we could reach $6,000 in pledges by Wed. Oct. 26 at 9pm Eastern, we would get a new pledge for $2,000. And so we did...people pitched in with $5, 18, 250, and in two days we raised the pledges from $3500 to $6000 to get the additional funds. Now we need the last $4000. Listen to the excerpts below, and if you like what you hear, please pledge!
ABOUT THE OPERA
ESTHER is an hour-long production is based on the Bible story of Hadassah (Esther), a courageous Jewish woman who becomes the Queen of Persia, and then risks her life by approaching the king, unbidden, to keep her people safe from the wicked Haman. Jews throughout the world celebrate this event through the festive spring holiday of Purim, with singing, dancing, and costumes.
ESTHER, with a libretto by my dear friend Sari Magaziner, premiered on Purim in March 1977 to an enthusiastic audience in Huntington, Long Island, and was later presented at synagogues and Jewish centers around the New York metropolitan area, as well as on WQXR radio. The original production consisted of six singers, a narrator, and piano accompaniment. ESTHER has a simple story and brings a message of the power of owning one's identity and standing up to evil, whatever the personal risks. The score is tonal and upbeat and the wry and poignant lyrics add to its appeal to audiences of all ages. The inclusion of a narrator/juggler, dancing, and some fun antics make ESTHER especially appealing to children. In synagogues, the holiday is one of the only times in the Jewish calendar where it's OK to be silly, dress up in costumes, and especially to be charitable.
A GENEROUS GRANT
Thanks to a generous grant last year from the Wassermann-Streit Y’DIYAH Memorial Fund, administered by the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, I was able to have the piano/vocal score digitized, making distribution very easy.
HADASSAH TURNS 100!
ESTHER is at the heart of the Purim story. And March 2012 coincides with the centennial of the founding of Hadassah, one of the largest Jewish charitable organizations. What better way to celebrate Hadassah and Purim and, coincidentally, my mother’s 90th birthday? Mom has been a lifetime member of Hadassah, a true Woman of Valor, who has championed the role of women in Jewish life.
Please click on the links below to hear excerpts from a 1978 studio recording with members of the original cast (more details in the notes on each recording).
Thanks and Happy New Year!
OTHER MUSIC...
My other Jewish opera that has been seen around New England is "A Parakeet Named Dreidel," based on the delightful I. B. Singer story, written with Leslie Elias of the Grumbling Gryphons Children's Theater. Other Jewish music includes three psalm settings for chorus, now on YouTube in the orchestral version premiered by the Jerusalem Symphony in 2009. Watch it here while you pledge!
FAQ
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We will hold auditions in New York and Boston for talented young opera singers. You can listen to the vocal excerpts on this page to hear the types of voices necessary. Esther is a soprano, Shula/Rula/Zeresh is a mezzo, Ahashuerus is a tenor, Mordecai a baritone, and Haman a bass. In addition there is a narrator whose lines are spoken, who can be played by either male or female actors.
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We'll be happy to answer any questions about any aspect of this project. Simply click on "send message" at the top of the page and someone will get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks so much!
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Remember the ad, "You don't have to be Jewish to love Levy's?" Good Rye bread, I actually preferrred Grossinger's. And you certainly don't have to be of any religious persuasion to enjoy ESTHER, which is a classic story anyone can relate to, with its theme of standing up for one's rights in the face of oppression. School groups, churches, community organizations and opera lovers would all be suitable audiences for this piece.
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
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$12,001
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on October 28, 2011.
Pledge $1 or more Pledge $1 or more
Thanks! We appreciate every donation, large or small!
Pledge $5 or more Pledge $5 or more
Thanks for helping out, we'll send you a signed thank you card!
Pledge $18 or more Pledge $18 or more
Thanks so much, we'll send you a card and a signed poster of the premiere, wherever it takes place.
Pledge $36 or more Pledge $36 or more
Thank you! You get the card, the poster, an advance copy of the DVD, and a private link to the complete recording of the original 1977 production.
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
Wow! You get the card, the poster, an advance copy of the DVD, a private link to the complete recording of the original 1977 production, and an autographed, limited edition CD of some of my other instrumental and vocal music
Pledge $250 or more Pledge $250 or more
Thank you, thank you! In addition to everything at the $100 level, I will send you your choice of one of the following silent films on DVD with my score: THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, NOSFERATU, SIREN OF THE TROPICS, HAROLD LLOYD shorts Vol. 2, or SPIES. For more information on these and other titles, visit www.newmoviemusic.com/featured-dvd-video.htm
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
What a great gift, we can't thank you enough. But we'll try...you'll get all of the above PLUS a gragger so you can drown out Haman's name as you watch. You'll get credited in the program if you like, PLUS two reserved seats at the premiere, wherever it takes place. You'll have to get there on your own, however.
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
Thank you so much! Along with everything above, we will credit you in the program and on the DVD as associate producer. We'll also send you a box of yummy homemade hamentaschen.
Pledge $2,500 or more Pledge $2,500 or more
Well, what can we say? We are beyond words, so we will write a song in your honor and send you a personalized CD of us singing your praises. Truly. In addition to everything listed in the other rewards. You'd have to be meshugah not to take us up on this offer.
Project By
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Donald Sosin has written music for theater, films, concerts, synagogues, churches, children's theater, videos, websites, you name it. He wrote background cues for ANOTHER WORLD, ONE LIFE TO LIVE, and other music on NPR and PBS. He grew up in Rye, NY and Munich, Germany and has degrees in composition from the University of Michigan and Columbia. He's one of the world's leading silent film musicians, and performs at film festivals all over the US and Europe. Donald is married to singer/writer Joanna Seaton, who frequently joins him onstage for film performances and in the songwriting and film music workshops they teach at colleges all over the country. They live in Lakeville CT with their daughter Mollie. Their son Nick shot the intro video.
