Thursday, June 29, 2006 8:00 p.m.

Detroit Symphony Orchestra – Yoel Levi, Conductor
Ittai Shapira – guest violin soloist
Vanguard Grand Chorus – G. Kevin Dewey, Director
Evergreen Blues – G. Kevin Dewey, Director

with soloists
Cantor Meir Finkelstein, Cantor Michael Smolash, Cantor Stephen Dubov,
Neil Michaels, Margarita Boshoer, Inga Filippova

Orchestra Hall, Max M. Fisher Music Center, Detroit
Tickets: 313-576-5111 or www.detroitsymphony.org

Program Notes

“Liberation” 1945-2005
Originally composed in 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps in Europe, Meir Finkelstein’s cantata Liberation was revised in 2005 to not only memorialize the victims of the Holocaust, but also to focus on the ongoing genocides that continue to plague mankind all over the world. There is an urgent need to focus on the many millions across the world who are in desperate need of liberation from hunger, poverty and torture. Liberation is scored for orchestra, chorus and soloists, and is an uplifting and moving work. The composer utilized eclectic and diverse musical styles, ranging from classical to gospel, to express the joy and exhilaration of being liberated.

The 2006 performance at the Max will be a grand communal and inter-faith event. Many of the city’s leading religious figures will participate in dramatic readings which introduce the various movements of the work. Liberation 2006 will feature the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, a 100-voice chorus, a large gospel choir and various soloists. The performance will be conducted by world-renowned maestro, Yoel Levi, Music Director Emeritus of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

COMPOSER: CANTOR MEIR FINKELSTEIN

Meir was born in Israel in 1951 the son of a Cantor. His father accepted a cantorial position in London, England and the family emigrated in 1955. Meir showed outstanding musical abilities at an early age, and along with his older brother Aryeh was soon accompanying his father at services. At the tender age of 14, Meir was appointed Cantor at a small synagogue in Glasgow, Scotland thereby becoming the youngest cantor in Europe. He, along with his father and brother, recorded two albums of original liturgical music which were subsequently released in the USA.

When he was 18, Meir took up the position of Cantor at one of London’s most prestigious congregations, Golders Green Synagogue. While serving this congregation, he also completed his musical education, graduating from the Royal College of Music, where he received his ARCM degree in Singing, Piano and Composition. His talent was discovered a few years later by Beth Hillel Congregation in Wilmette, Illinois and he subsequently emigrated to the United States.

In 1979 Meir was appointed Cantor of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, California, a congregation he served for 18 years. During this time he composed over 100 settings for the liturgy while simultaneously enjoying a successful career as a Hollywood composer/arranger. Meir scored numerous television shows including episodes of “Dallas” and “Falcon Crest” as well as many TV movies of the week. He collaborated with Steven Spielberg, composing music for the Visual History Foundation’s award-winning documentary, “Survivors of the Holocaust.” Meir is one of the best-documented composers of contemporary Jewish music, his compositions being sung in synagogues throughout the world. In 1995, he premiered his cantata Liberation, a large-scale and moving work written for the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The performance featured the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and many well-known soloists, all hosted by Billy Crystal.

Cantor Finkelstein is also in great demand as a producer and arranger and has collaborated on many of his colleagues’ albums. He was one of the “Three Cantors” along with Alberto Mizrahi and David Propis, concertizing in the USA to sold-out audiences. Meir is currently the cantor at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Michigan.

CONDUCTOR: YOEL LEVI

As Music Director Emeritus of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Yoel Levi conducts two concert weekends each season. In addition, he serves as Music Advisor to the Flemish Radio Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2001 he was named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, one of the most prestigious awards given by the French government.

While he was Music Director of the ASO from 1988 to 2000, Mr. Levi's impact on the orchestra was summed up by Gramophone magazine, which said, “Yoel Levi has built a reputation for himself and his orchestra that is increasingly the envy of his Big Five American counterparts in New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Boston, and Chicago.” Among his many ASO milestones are a highly successful performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”) featuring the award-winning ASO Chorus in New York's Avery Fisher Hall, a featured role at the Opening Ceremony of the Centennial Olympic Games in 1996, an extensive and critically acclaimed European tour in 1991, and nomination of the ASO as “Best Orchestra of the Year” for 1991-92 by the first annual International Classical Music Awards.

Mr. Levi's conducting engagements have included appearances with orchestras in London, Paris, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Rome, Frankfurt, Munich, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Israel, Korea, and Japan. In North America he has conducted the New York Philharmonic and the orchestras of Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Washington, Minnesota, Toronto, and Montreal, among others. In 1991 he was invited to conduct the Stockholm Philharmonic in performance at the Nobel Prize Ceremony.

Mr. Levi’s complete bio can be found at the Telarc website:
http://www.telarc.com/biography/bios.asp?aid=55