“Sacred Rights, Sacred Song: A Concert of Concern” is November 23

Westminster Choir College presents a performance titled “Sacred Rights, Sacred Song: A Concert of Concern” on Sunday, November 23 at 3 p.m. in Bristol Chapel on the campus of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J. Performers will be Westminster Choir College students and the Westminster Chamber Orchestra, conducted by J. A. Kawarsky. Admission is free.

The program, underwritten by the Sacred Rights, Sacred Song Project, will feature original works by Jerome Kopman, Naomi Less, Gerald Cohen, Benjie Ellen Schiller, Francine M. Gordon, J. A. Kawarsky and Elliott Levine, and the premiere of a new work by the students of Westminster's Analytic Theory class. The music, including orchestration and narration, addresses serious issues within Israel stemming from the lack of religious pluralism in the public sphere. The objective of the project is to raise awareness of the issues and raise voices in concern.

Sacred Rights, Sacred Song (SRSS) envisions Israel as a healthy Jewish democracy in which the spiritual civil rights of all Jews are protected; Judaism is expressed and celebrated freely and equally by men and women and in its myriad forms of observance; and matters of personal status and spirit are governed by a Public Jewish Law that welcomes vibrancy and creativity. Its mission is to educate the North American Jewish community about challenges to religious freedom in Israeli society and motivate them to provide moral, visible and financial support to promote a Jewish democratic society based on the notions of gender equality and freedom of worship.

Sacred Rights, Sacred Song’s Director Francine M. Gordon is a Jewish communal activist, creative philanthropist and artist with nearly 25 years of involvement in the local, national and international Jewish community. SRSS combines her years of Jewish activism with her belief that music in general, and choral singing in particular, can be transformative. In her role as artist/activist, Ms. Gordon has collaborated with a group of Jewish composers, spanning generations and genres, to compose the nine original songs that make up “A Concert of Concern.”

Westminster Choir College faculty member J. A. Kawarsky is well known as a conductor, arranger, composer and pedagogue. As a composer, he has written for all genres including solo instrument, orchestra, band, choir, vocal and theater.  Recently, he received his sixth Composer Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).  His 40- minute work Prayers for Bobby for choir, orchestra, narrator and soloists, has received numerous performances throughout the United States and Canada. 

Westminster Choir College is located at 101 Walnut Lane in Princeton, N.J. For more information, visit www.rider.edu/arts. For more information about the Sacred Rights, Sacred Song Project, visit sacredrightssacredsong.org.