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Talented young singers, pianist, violinist among 2021 online Winnipeg Music Festival winners
By MYRON LOVE It was an exceptionally good Winnipeg Music Festival this year for Winnipeg voice teacher Kelly Robinson (of the Jewish Robinsons). Not only did many of her students stand out – as usual – but also her 11-year-old daughter, Juliet Eskin, had a successful debut in her first appearance in the annual competition.
The young violinist – for whom music runs in the family (her father, Josh, is a musician and music teacher, and her zaida, Michael Eskin, is a well known chazan) – stood out with performances in the Grade 5 level with violin solos in both the Baroque and Canadian Composers categories.
The Brock Corydon Hebrew Bilingual program student has been taking violin lessons for four years, has twice opened for the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and once for the Symphony.
“I like making music,” she says.
Juliet’s mother (who teaches singing and voice both privately and on staff at Ravenscourt and Canadian Mennonite University) is equally proud of Yale Rayburn-Vander Hout, Hannah Schaeffer and Gregory Hyman, three of her Jewish voice students who also stood out at the Music Festival.
At 12, Gregory Hyman is a four-year veteran of the annual Music Festival, in which he has excelled, both in voice and classical guitar. The son of Hartley and Rishona Hyman has been studying guitar since he was five and has been taking voice lessons for the past five years. And this year, he authored gold level performances in both categories – one being Vocal Solo, Folk Song, Boys, Changed Voice, 12 years and under – the other being a classical guitar solo at the Grade 4 level.
Last year, he finished first in class, performing a duet with Rachel Kraut.
The Ravenscourt student doesn’t restrict his music making just to the yearly festival. Last spring, Bernie Bellan wrote a report on the teen’s budding recording career. Last May, he released his first album – “Basement” – on all streaming platforms. He reports that over the past few months, he has been busy writing songs for his second album, which will soon be released. The songs, he says, can already be heard on his website. He also has a podcast – “Talk and Rock with Gregory Hyman” – now in its second season – in which he interviews various people in the business across Canada.
“I have several dedicated listeners,” he reports. “I have had strong support from my friends. I am still building my audience though.”
Hannah Schaeffer is also a multi-year festival winner. This is the third year that the older daughter of Marc Schaeffer and Kai Sasake has participated. Last year, she sang in a trio with sister students Eva Gould and Alessandra Pellegrino in the Vocal Trio, Musical Theatre, 16 years and under category at the Festival. The threesome finished second.
The year before, she won gold in the Vocal Solo, TV and movie musicals in the Girls 12 and under category and scored a first place finish as part of a trio in the Musical Theatre Grade B level. That year, she was also the recipient of a Winnipeg Music Festival scholarship.
This year, the Grade 8 Grant Park Student finished first in the Vocal Solo, Musical Theatre, Ballad, Girls, 14 and under and was recommended for the provincial competition. Hannah has been taking singing lessons for five years and participates in her school’s musicals.
Hannah wasn’t the only one in her family who did well in this year’s festival. Younger sister, Alexandra, who attends Brock Corydon rated a Gold performance in her first appearance in the competition in the Piano Solo, Beginner, category.
Yale Rayburn-Vander Hout has been studying voice with Kelly Robinson for five years and was scheduled to appear – with his teacher – in Rainbow Stage’s production of “the Wizard of Oz” last summer (which was cancelled due to Covid). The 14-year-old son of Samantha and Peter was runner-up this year in two categories – Vocal Solo, Musical Theatre, Up Tempo and Ballad, for males, 16 and under. The Grade 9 Gray Academy student has also taken part in his school’s musical productions.
Leaving aside vocalists for the moment, 10-year-old Noah Kravetsky earned gold ranking in three piano categories. The son of Dr. Azriel Kravetsky and Dr. Carrie Palatnick excelled in piano solos in the Sonata, Classical Composers and Own Choice categories at the Grade 3 level. The Gray Academy student – who has been studying piano for five years, also received a scholarship which can be used to enter next year’s music festival.
Our final honourable mention goes to Emma Shibou-Savoie. Unlike the other winners above, who are in various levels of elementary and high school, Emma is in her third year in Arts at the University of Manitoba. Emma is a long-time student of Brenda Gorlick, who is Associate Artistic Director of Winnipeg StudioTheatre.
Emma notes that she has participated many times in the annual music festival but, in the past, has always participated as part of a choral group. “I have always enjoyed being in the music festival,” she says. “So this year, because there were no choral groups (because of Covid), I entered as part of a duet with my friend and fellow singer, Jacob Szmon. “
The duo finished second in the Vocal Duet, Musical Theatre category. While Emma says that she enjoys musical theatre, she does not see herself pursuing a career on stage or screen. For the fall, she is applying to Red River College.
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Talented Winnipeg composer Sara Kreindler teams up with her mother Reena Kreindler to create new satirical show to premiere here in May
By BERNIE BELLAN It’s been many years since I’ve heard from Sara Kreindler. Sara’s name first appeared in The Jewish Post & News in 2002 when a satirical musical titled “A Touch of Class” was reviewed by the late Arnold Ross. That particular production featured songs from popular Broadway shows that touched upon themes such as “greed, poverty, oppression, and social unrest.”
When she appeared in that show, Ross noted, Kreindler had just recently returned to Winnipeg from England, where she had obtained a doctorate in Social Psychology from Oxford University.
While at Oxford, Kreindler found time to compose a satirical musical titled “Charity,” which played to rave reviews there, and was performed five times.
Continuing in the theme of writing satirical musicals, Sara has now teamed up with her mother, Reena, to write a new musical titled “A Perfect Man,” which is set to run at the Gargoyle Theatre from May 6-17.
According to a press release we received, “A Perfect Man” is “a satirical musical, set on a fictional analogue of ‘The Bachelor’.
“The story follows an anthropologist who arrives to research TV’s hottest reality-dating show — only to discover she’s been made a contestant, and the bachelor is her high school crush. Past and present collide against an exuberant pastiche score that uses vintage musical styles to highlight modern absurdities.”
“Praised as ‘a musician [who] can make biofuels funny’ (CBC), Sara is known for whip-smart satire on a panoply of topics. Her digital musical, ‘Larry Saves the Canadian Healthcare System, created during her former life as an academic, has garnered over 84,000 YouTube views. Naturally, she had a field day with the subject of reality dating.
“The topic just begs for campy zaniness, which I think we all need in these times — but also for a more cerebral critique of what these shows say about the culture that spawned them,” says Kreindler. And thanks to the romance context, the satire is woven into a deeper, more personal story. “It’s satire with a heart.”
Here is some more information about Sara Kreindler, taken from a 2009 article I wrote about her:
“Born in Israel, Sara’s precocious talent was nurtured by her mother, Reena, whose own particular talent is literary, not musical. According to Reena, however, Sara was singing from the time she was a baby, and she began to study piano at the age of four.
“As a young girl, Sara began writing her own songs and poems, along with the “occasional musical”, notes Reena. Yet, Sara’s rare talent put her at odds with the typical interests of other children her own age, on top of which she attended a school to which she was exposed to a fair degree of antisemtism.
“As a result, Sara says, being bullied was a common aspect of her childhood. On one occasion, when she was nine, she notes, Sara fought back against one particular bully by reciting the following little ditty:
“I write so many epigrams to you that all the people laugh.
I’m tired of writing epigrams.
I want to write your epitaph!”
“Sara went on to compose a musical titled ‘Flutesong’ while she was a student at Vincent Massey Collegiate, she says. After doing her undergraduate work at the University of Manitoba, majoring in Psychology, Sara won a Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University.
“Sara eventually earned a doctorate in Social Psychology and returned to Winnipeg, where she began teaching at the University of Manitoba, but she said she didn’t enjoy the “mass production” style of teaching upwards of 300 students at a time, so she switched careers and began doing health research for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.”
All the while Sara has been continuing to compose and perform her own songs, often teaming up with her mother, as she has for “A Perfect Man.”
Showtimes and ticket information for The Perfect Man are available at:
http://www.thegargoyletheatre.com/upcoming-events/the-perfect-man
Local News
Rabbi Kliel Rose to leave Congregation Etz Chayim for new post in Ottawa
The following email from Congregation Etz Chayim Executive Director Morissa Granove was sent to members of the congregation on Friday, April 10:
“Dear Members and Friends,
“As we know, Rabbi Kliel recently spent a weekend with Kehilllat Beth Israel where he has since been offered a position. After much thought and consideration, he has made the decision to sign a contract in Ottawa. He will continue to lead our congregation through Yom Kippur.
“This news marks a significant ending for our Etz Chayim community, and at the same time with change comes opportunity. Congregation Etz Chayim will soon embark on our own Rabbinical search with excitement as we look for our perfect candidates and explore the new possibilities that will help us to continue to shape a strong future for our synagogue and members.”
Kliel Rose took up the position of rabbi at Etz Chayim in August, 2018.
In an article announcing his appointment to the position in the June 6, 2018 issue of The Jewish Post & News, Myron Love wrote:
The congregation has been without a permanent rabbi since last summer when Rabbi Larry Lander chose to retire – after ten years here – and relocate to Toronto.
Kliel Rose is already a well-seasoned rabbi. He was ordained in 2004 by the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.
He previously served as spiritual leader at the West End Synagogue in Nashville and Temple Enamu-El in Miami Beach. His current posting is Beth Shalom Synagogue in Edmonton.
Following the example of his parents, Kliel Rose has been active in interfaith dialogue and human rights work for which he was honoured in 2014 with the Human Rights Hero Award by Truah: The Rabbibic Call for Human Rights.
He has also participated in the Kellogg Management Education for Jewish Leaders program at Northwestern University and was most recently chosen to be among 20 rabbis from different denominations chosen to train in the Clergy leadership Incubator – a two-year program, under the leadership of Ranni Sidney Schwarz, intended to educate younger rabbis in innovative thinking, change management and institutional transformation.
In Edmonton, Rose also served as Jewish chaplain at the University of Alberta and took the lead on a program called “Faith and Inclusion”, whose mandate was to support individuals with cognitive and physical learning challenges to feel more welcome within various faith communities.