MISHKAN TORAH TO PRESENT SPECTACULAR FATHER’S DAY CONCERT

On Sunday, June 16, at two o’clock, Mishkan Torah Synagogue will present a special Father’s Day concert. The concert brings together sixteen extraordinary Mishkan Torah artists ranging in age from teenagers to performers in their seventies. The repertory ranges from purely classical fare to comic songs and a panoply of hits from the Broadway and movie sensation “Les Miserables.”

The program features a number of performers with familial and intergenerational connections.  Grandfather Gordon Fung and Grandson Aaron Goldstein will perform the premiere of the aptly named “Generations  Medley,”  a French horn duet by Kay Meade based upon Jewish themes. There are two husband and wife teams performing; Cantor Yael Fischman and Yoni Charry; and Rachel White Greenfield and  Ben Greenfield.  Ben will perform with both his mother, flutist Carolyn Sonnen , in the “Benedictus“ from Johann Sebastian Bach’s B Minor Mass and his father, tenor Cantor Phil Greenfield in the  special  reprise of “Bring Him Home” from “Les Miserables.”.

The  mother-daughter duet, Clarinetist Rebecca Lemus, and Pianist Sheila Lemus will join together in the Second Prelude by Georges Gershwin. Two fathers and sons will also share the stage, though not at the same time.  Composer and Bass-baritone Don Juran will perform his setting of poems by his son Joshua Juran as well as a comic song, while his son Tenor Adam Juran  will sing arias from “Don Giovanni” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and “Carmen” by Georges Bizet. Master of Ceremonies and Tenor Jeffrey Rosen will share the stage with his son, French hornist and arranger Joshua Rosen.

The final two performers are from the opposite ends of the generational spectrum. Carlos Castillo is a highly talented junior in high school, who will sing “Empty Chairs and Empty Tables” from “Les Miserables,” and has arranged the reprise of “ Bring Him Home” in which he will participate. David Charney, who will play two Polonaises by Frederic Chopin, has been thrilling Mishkan Torah and the whole community with his pianistic skills.  Well-known  local pianist and collaborative artist Andrew Kraus will be returning to Mishkan Torah to accompany most of the performers. 

Tickets are available at $18 in advance or $20 at the door from Mishkan Torah Synagogue, 10 Ridge Road, Greenbelt, Maryland 20770 or on the Mishkan Torah website. See you at the big concert!