Music on Jewish Themes

[photograph of Temple Victoire in Paris]

Daniel Kazez’s interest in Jewish music is at once personal and professional. His father was an eminent physicist and Sephardic Jew who emigrated to the U.S. from Turkey after World War II in search of further education. His mother, an accomplished artist and internationally recognized triathlete, is of Ashkenazic descent. Dan lives in central Ohio with his wife, Anne, and their two children, Benjamin and Rachel. Daniel Kazez has performed concerts of Jewish-inspired music for cello and piano at the largest Jewish synagogues and JCC’s of Toronto, London, Paris, Rome, Prague, and many other cities around the world—as well as sites throughout the United States.

Click the play button (at left) to listen to Daniel Kazez performing David Popper’s Fond Recollections. If the play button does not work in your browser, then click this link instead.

Concert Venues
Rome, Italy
Italian Center for Jewish Culture

Florence, Italy
Great Synagogue

Lodz, Poland
Herbst Palace

Other concert venues
Prague, Czech Republic: Jerusalemska Synagogue (1)
Prague, Czech Republic: Jerusalemska Synagogue (2)
Prague, Czech Republic: Jerusalemska Synagogue (3)
Rome, Italy: Il Pitigliani (Italian Centre for Jewish Culture)
Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic: Jesuit Hall
Florence, Italy: Great Synagogue
Paris, France: Temple Victoire (Roschild Synagogue)
Brussels, Belgium: Cercle Ben Gourion
Cracow, Poland: Centrum Kultury Zydowskiej
Lodz, Poland: Herbst Palace
Norwich, UK: The Assembly House
London, UK: Manor House of the Sternberg Centre

Concert Flyers

London, UK
The Manor House of the Sternberg Centre

Other concert flyers and articles
Istanbul, Turkey: Neve Salom Synagogue (small article)
Istanbul, Turkey: Neve Salom Synagogue (large article)
Norwich, UK: The Assembly House
Lodz, Poland: Herbst Palace
London, UK: Manor House of the Sternberg Centre
Prague, Czech Republic: Congress Hall
Prague, Czech Republic: Jerusalemska Synagogue
Czestochowa, Poland: Osrodek Promocji Kultury
Rome, Italy: Il Pitigliani

Concert Reviews

Kazez’s playing was utterly in sympathy with the music... To listen was nothing less than a privilege.
David Quick, The Telegraph, Leeds, England

Kazez delighted his audience.
Christopher Smith, Eastern Daily Press, Norwich, England

Passionate music dazzlingly played... A most unusual and intriguing musical event.
David Quick, Harrogate Voice, Harrogate, England

The hall was filled to the last seat.... This concert was a great artistic feast for all music lovers.
JAK, Slowo Zydowskie, Warsaw, Poland

He played with deep feeling and sensibility.
Phil Rosen, Hadashot, Nottingham, Great Britain

Kazez brings an outstanding discipline and remarkable musicality to his work. His sound is pure and strong. He knows the literature and shows real joy in playing it.
Burt Saidel, Oakwood Register, Dayton, Ohio

Other support
Daniel Kazez is a terrific cellist. He serves his audiences a rare blend of absolute artistic integrity and accessible musical pleasure.
Alex Lubet, composer, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Exceptionally gifted and articulate...consummate musicianship.
Robert Fleisher, composer/author, Chicago

Each year I attend a showcase of Ohio artists and get to see a lot of new talent. Daniel Kazez is my find of the year!
Richard W. Stroede, Director, Schomburg Artists Series

An impressive recital...I was enchanted.
Leo Hepner, Chair, Sternberg Centre, London

Kazez played with spirit,...warmth, rhythmic subtlety, and with an unquestionable regard for the music.... The audience...responded unanimously with appreciation.
Ohio Arts Council

A gifted cellist.
Richard Kapuscinski, former Principal Cellist, Baltimore Symphony

Biography
Daniel Kazez began playing cello at the age of five, under the tutelage of Leonard Feldman, cellist of the Alard String Quartet. He has performed recitals in many of the musical capitals of Europe, including the Sternberg Centre (London), Temple Victoire (Paris), Cercle Ben Gurion (Brussels), Chabad House (Salzburg), Penylan House (Cardiff, Wales), and The Assembly House (Norwich, England). His Paris and Florence debuts, in 1995, earned him standing ovations; and he performed to a standing-room-only audience at Rome’s Il Pitigliani. Kazez has performed at international music festivals in Berlin, Prague, and India.And he has performed in Istanbul, Turkey in 2002.

In June-July 1999, Kazez presented a concert tour in Eastern Europe, with performances in the Czech Republic (Congress Hall, Prague; Jesuit Hall, Cesky Krumlov), Poland (Herbst Palace, Lodz; Osrodek Promocji Kultury, Czestochowa; Centrum Kultury Zydowskiej, Cracow), and Hungary (Balint Zsido Kozossegi Haz, Budapest). Kazez’s first performances in Africa, in 1998, were in Casablanca (Abbon al Abdullah) and in Morocco’s three “imperial cities”: at the Centre Maïmonides in Fez, the Royal University Moulay Ismaïl in Meknes, and the National Conservatory of Music in Marrakesh. Kazez has been heard by radio and television audiences in Europe, Asia, and North America.

In 1993, Kazez’s performance of J.S. Bach’s first Cello Suite was broadcast on ABC television, to an audience of over 20 million. He has performed to critical acclaim: “Kazez brings an outstanding discipline and remarkable musicality to his work. His sound is pure and strong.” (Dayton). “An impressive recital...I was enchanted” (London). Exceptionally gifted...a consummate musician (Chicago). “Passionate music dazzlingly played...” (Harrogate, England). “To listen was nothing less than a privilege.” (Leeds, England).

Kazez is the author of two books and a dozen editions of music (mostly English and Italian Baroque) with five publishers: Alfred, Presser, Southern, Ludwig, and MMB. His book Rhythm Reading: Elementary Through Advanced Training (W.W. Norton), now in its second edition, is the most widely used rhythm textbook in the U.S. He is the author of more than a dozen scholarly articles on music theory, pedagogy, and performance.

Over the past five years, Kazez has appeared in most of the major metropolitan areas of the United States: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York City, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C. Kazez has given talks at twenty-five of the leading U.S. schools of music, including the Manhattan School of Music and University of Texas. In 1997, he traveled to India, where he conducted research in classical Indian music and gave a series of 14 lectures and performances, including appearances in Bombay (Indian Institute of Technology and the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research), Madras (School of the Krishnamurti Foundation in Madras, for a one-week residency), and Pune (1997 Kala Chhaya Festival). As editor and principal contributor, Kazez published Imprints of India: A Brief Guide to Indian Music, Dance, and the Visual Arts (Aronoff Center), commissioned by the 1996 Cincinnati Performing Arts Festival of India, at which he was keynote speaker.

Kazez has conducted research in Java and Bali (gamelan music, dance, and shadow puppet theater) and in Turkey and Greece (urban folk music). Kazez’s activities have been supported by grants from the Lilly Foundation, the Wray Foundation, and the Ohio Arts Council. He was the recipient of the 1996 Matthies Award and a 1996-97 University of Chicago/Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship. Kazez has written program notes and has delivered pre-concert lectures for many major musical events, including the Guarneri String Quartet, Broadway on Tour, pianist Emanuel Ax, the New York City Opera, the Vienna Choir Boys, and the Beaux Arts Trio.

Kazez earned music degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory, the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, and a doctorate from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), where he was awarded three consecutive Rackham Fellowships. He is a professor at Wittenberg University.

Daniel Kazez has performed and lectured at educational institutions around the world:

INTERNATIONAL: Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay, India), Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (Bombay, India), Kala Chhaya Academy (Pune, India), National Conservatory of Music (Marrakech, Morocco), Royal University Moulay Ismaïl (Meknès, Morocco), School of the Krishnamurti Foundation (Madras, India), The Canadian School of India (Bangalore, India).

U.S.A.: Antioch College, Baldwin Wallace College, Ball State University, Berklee College of Music, Boston Conservatory of Music, Bowling Green State University, Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Institute of Music, Central State University, Chicago Musical College/Roosevelt University, Clark Technical College, College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Dayton Art Institute, Defiance College, Denison University, Duquesne University, Johns Hopkins University/Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies, Manhattan School of Music, Miami University, New England Conservatory, Northern Illinois University, Valparaiso University, Walsh University, West Virginia University, Western Michigan University, Wilmington College, Wittenberg University, Wright State University-Lake Campus.

Sample Program

Music on Jewish Themes
Daniel Kazez, cello
David Hapner, piano

Israel
Joachim Stutschewsky (1891-1982), Five Israeli Melodies

1. Kinnereth (melody: Hanina Karaczevski)
2. Raindrops
3. You, The Earth (Bedouin melody)
4. Oriental Melody
5. Wanderer’s Song (Persian-Jewish melody)

Harvey Gaul (1881-1945), A Yigdal from Yemen

Europe

Ernest Bloch (1880-1959), Prayer (From Jewish Life)

David Popper (1843-1913), Wie einst in schöner’n Tagen

The United States
Alex Lubet (born 1954), 3 Short Pieces after Webern

3. “Hatikvah”

Julius Chajes (1910-1985), Israeli Dance

Laurence Sherr (born 1953), Elegy and Vision

Canada
Moshe Denburg (born 1949), For the Peace of My People

Ben Steinberg (born 1930), Ma Tovu

Four Songs
Naomi Shemer (born 1926), Y’rushalayim Shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold)

Abraham Goldfaden (1840-1908), Rozhinkes mit Mandlen (Raisins and Almonds)