Adrienne's Wedding Blessings

It is with a heavy heart and unbearable sorrow that the world now mourns the passing of our sister, Adrienne Cooper z”l.

She was my mentor, my surrogate mother, spiritual guide, partner in crime and a dear, dear friend.  Adrienne lives on through her music and her words, but our community will never be the same without her sweet smile, those sparkling eyes and her warm embrace.

As the Three Yiddish Divas, Adrienne, Tova and I traveled the world together – and each city was another adventure.  We made each other laugh, toasted our successes, shared our secrets and forged unique friendships.   As I share these pictures, the memories are a comfort in this time of incredible sadness.

Zol zi hobn a likhtikn gan-eydn.   

Kovod ir ondenk… may her memory be for a blessing.

Remembering Adrienne, z”l… is a post from: JoanneBorts.com

As we enter this Season of Renewal,  let our sorrows be behind us and our best endeavors still to come. Wishing you and your families, your loved ones and our community a year of sweetness and health,  prosperity and peace, blessings and joy.

A shenere un besere velt far ale! 

A better more beautful world for all!

See you all in 5772!

A sweet and healthy new year! is a post from: JoanneBorts.com

with Frank London at KlezKanada (photo by Mookie Parago)

• KlezKamp in Madison! — What a privilege to be part of this inaugural event!  Many thanks to Sherry Mayrent, Henry Sopoznik and the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Jewish Studies for making Yiddish music and culture a part of their ongoing curriculum.

• Ot Azoy / Tumbala in London!! — This was my second appearance at the University of London/Jewish Music Institute’s festival of Jewish Language and Song.  Collaborating with Shura Lipovsky, Polina Shepherd, Helen Khayele Beer and Sonya Pincusowitz (among many others) was a huge highlight of this wonderful experience.  Also, I had the opportunity to see lots of great theatre, including London Road at the National Theatre and Anne Boleyn at Shakespeare’s Globe.

• KlezKanada in the beautiful Laurentian Mountains!!!  Besides being able to share this exciting week with my husband, it was great to be surrounded by the music of Theodore Bikel, Tamara Brooks and their groundbreaking project, Serendipity 4.

• Performing with Yiddish Hip-Hop star So-Called aka Josh Dolgin and the Klezmer Conservatory Band in Mexico City!!!!  The 90th Anniversary of the Ashkenazi community in Mexico City was a huge success.  So many languages in one room… Yiddish, Spanish, Hebrew, Ladino… listening to the audience as they sung along to all of our Yiddish favorites was remarkable…

• And finally, singing at Yiddishfest 2011 at Tompkins Square Park, NYC  with Grammy winners Arturo O’Farrill and Frank London!!!!!  The Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring continues its commitment to Yiddish culture in this final free concert of the 2011 Season.

Keep an eye out for upcoming Fall events, including Rosh Hashone and Yom Kippur Observances at the new Workmen’s Circle in New York, a Kosher Kabaret in Jericho, NY, and a return engagement at Valley Beth Sholom in Encino, California.

Hope to see you all soon!!

The end of a beautiful Summer… is a post from: JoanneBorts.com

… and I’ve got lots and lots to report!

First of all, many apologies to my followers… I’ve been remiss… mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!!  I’ve missed you to pieces…

Next up, I hope everyone will be come see me in The Adventures of Hershele Ostropolyer at The Baruch Performing Arts Center.  The Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre has revived last year’s off Broadway smash hit which stars Mike Burstyn in the title role – and I am thrilled to have joined this wonderful cast!  Visit Dani Marcus’ blog about our adventures backstage!  (beware Hershele, the Vampire Slayer…) Show schedule is on my calendar page with links to websites to buy tickets!

In other news:  Kids & Yiddish 2011 was a huge success way back in February!  We visited schools and community centers around the New York area, and hope to have more opportunities to perform in NYC and beyond!   Follow this link to find out how you can bring Kids & Yiddish to your community!

The Witches of Lublin has been having a wonderful life on NPR stations across the US and Canada!  Many thanks to creators Elizabeth Schwartz, Ellen Kushner and Yale Strom for their incredible tale of magical musicians, and to director Sue Zizza’s vision and efforts to get this beautiful piece On the Air.

Stay tuned… lots of travel, concerts and festivals coming up this Summer… I’ll be looking for you!

Anyway, I promise not to be a stranger… Joanne’ll never go away again!!

The Long Anticipated Return … is a post from: JoanneBorts.com

Marathon Kickoff in Central Park

OK, I promise I will not blog every NYRR National Anthem that I’m lucky enough to perform, but today, after singing the Anthem on a spectacular Halloween morning in Central Park … I put on my running shoes and… (drumroll please…)

I RACED!!

Ready to Run...

How ’bout that??!!  5 miles!! It was a blast, and I didn’t stop, or pass out, or even regret getting out there after a three and a half year hiatus.   Afterward, a long hot shower … and a teeny little nap … and I’m ready to get up and do it again!  Who knew?  Now, I’m not going to wax poetic –> way too tired… but I am so pumped!  And though I look like a little teapot in this picture, I finished the race in relatively good time… FYI, I’ll be singing – and running again – at the NYRR 5-miler this Friday, November 5th, 8am — so come to the Central Park if you’re around.  If I can do this, so can you!!

In Other News: The Witches are Coming!

I am so proud to be part of a wonderful new public radio program that begins recording next week.  The Witches of Lublin, a new one-hour drama by Ellen Kushner, Elizabeth Schwartz, and Yale Strom. It stars Tovah Feldshuh (Yentl, Golda’s Balcony) and features Simon Jones (Brideshead Revisited, Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) Neil Gaiman (Coraline, The Graveyard Book) and Barbara Rosenblat (Anne Frank Remembered, The Secret Garden) with a supporting cast of New York’s finest audio actors (that includes me!!) and fresh music by leading klezmer musicians.  Directed and Produced by Sue Zizza, I am totally psyched to be working with this incredible company on such an innovative project!

I sang… I ran… I lived…!! is a post from: JoanneBorts.com

The Whirlwind Tour!

Three Yiddish Divas in Vienna

We arrived on Thursday, rehearsed early Friday, then performed on Saturday night to a sold-out crowd at Vienna’s magnificent Konzerthaus, Berio-Saal.  It was all part of the Juddischer Kulturherbst 2010.

Lovingly subtitled: Humor – Weisheiten (Wisdom) – Musik. “Oj, s’is gut!” indeed, it was very, very good.   The festival presenters wined us and dined us… and the entire experience was sumptuous and grand!

600 Year old buildings and me...

If you’ve never been to Vienna, it is certainly one of Europe’s most beautiful cities.  Walking through the 1st district, every step is a complication of medieval architecture, Imperial opulence and contemporary 21st Century commercialism.  Mind boggling ~ thought-provoking ~ really expensive!  Whoa!  Vienna’s history is also a complex realm, especially in dealing with the causes and aftermath of the occupation.  As artists performing in a Yiddish festival, it was not lost on any of us that this is an ongoing dilemma.

Vienna's Konzerthaus

But Vienna’s revitalized Jewish community is alive, diverse and thriving.  We attended Shabbos services at the Stadtempel on Judenstrasse, the largest congregation in Vienna – a city known for it’s a capella choral mastery.  I didn’t know what to expect, but as we walked through the doors, the 19th Century hall echoed with the voices of an eight-man choir chanting the service with moving emotion.   My great grandparents were born into this Austrian musical tradition, and I can’t help but think my own family’s love of a capella Barbershop singing was inspired by this legacy.  It’s a thought, right?

Auf vider zehen, Wien… until we meet again!

Divas on the Danube… is a post from: JoanneBorts.com

The Staten Island Half Marathon!

The Lady in the Harbor from the SI Ferry

And what a GORGEOUS day for it!!

Indian Summer in New York is heavenly, which made waking up at 5AM to get to the Staten Island Ferry and the starting line by 8:30am well worth the effort.  So many runners crowding onto the Ferry, I thought the commuters would go a little insane… but the image of Lady Liberty and the great NYC skyline floating by is enough to calm even the antsiest of passengers.  I never understood the power of our national anthem until I started singing it before crowds of anxious athletes;  those words “by the dawn’s early light” as the sun rises over New York Harbor?  I get goose bumps just thinking of it!

I’m in awe of the thousands of people running… ALL ages and sizes, just getting out there and making it look easy.  Not me… I’m not ready for 13.1 miles, not by a long shot… but as I left the gate to start my commute back home, I could hear the runners cheering from along the course!  It’s exhilarating!  I particularly love the feeling that we’re all sharing a kind of pre-dawn secret…  Once again, thanks to race announcer Ed Kalegi…

You can hear my next National Anthem performance at the first NYRR 5!!  A 5-miler at 8am on Friday, November 5, 2010, this race is for the family and friends of marathoners to kick off the big NYC Marathon Weekend!  Not only will I sing, but I’m planning to race as well!!  My first competition in 3 years – not since the Great Gridiron Injury Incident of 2007.  Don’t ask… my toes may never be the same, but I’m back and better than ever!  I may not win, but I plan to cross the finish line and collect my medal!!  I’ll be looking for you…

Speaking of pre-dawn races, the 6th Annual KlezKanada Loyf Tsunoyf 5K Run/Walk was particularly satisfying!

We raised over $1700 for the KlezKanada Scholarship Fund, and every participant received amazing prizes that were donated by the Jewish Women’s Archive.

Racers and generous donors also received a souvenir KlezKanada Travel Mug – which helped in the effort to make KlezKanada a ‘greener’ place by eliminating the need for styrofoam hot cups.

On your marks... get set... LOYF!!!

But for all the hoopla leading up to the race, nothing beats the sight of the fog hovering over the lake as the sun rises over camp.  It’s an image all the participants share as we wipe the sleep from our eyes and prepare for the 5K awaiting us.  I wish I could summon up the words, but I think these kinds of miracles must be experienced, not read about.  You’ll have to join in to really know what I’m talking about!

See you on November 5th in Central Park!

…the Bronx & Staten Island, too… is a post from: JoanneBorts.com

September brought many holidays…

…and the promise of a wonderful new year, 5771

For the past decade, I have had the privilege to lead Rosh Hashone and Yom Kippur observances at the Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring.  As always, the services brought people from many different places together, including my own family who was visiting from Beit Zeit, Israel.  Workmen’s Circle President, Robert Kaplan spoke about getting involved in our progressive Jewish community, and Elliot Weinstein, a 16 year old graduate of the WC/AR Midtown Shule shared his unique and insightful perspectives on growing up influenced by an ancient tradition in the 21st Century.   About 95 people attended each service, and together we shared the laughter and tears of the past year – and our prayers for a prosperous and peaceful new year.

Singin' in the Sukkah!

As an added bonus, this year I was finally home to enjoy the Manhattan Plaza Sukkah Party, right in our own backyard!  MP residents, Bob and Shera Nusbaum have been leading this amazing annual celebration for twenty-two years, and each year about a thousand MP residents (yes, you read that right–1000!!) join in the fun and mitzvot of eating in the Sukkah.  West Side Jewish Center’s Rabbi Jason Herman came for a visit and spoke about the special significance of Sukkot, and everyone enjoyed musical performances by fellow resident klezmorim – including Bob & Shera, Aaron Alexander, Spencer Chandler, Mike Ritz and little ol’ me!!  S’a mekhaye!!

Wishing you all a year of health, happiness and peace.

Try to remember… is a post from: JoanneBorts.com

Singing the Anthem at the Bronx Half-Marathon

Oh, what a beautiful morning…!!

I woke up at the crack of dawn today (4am… gevalt!) and scooted myself up to The Bronx to sing the US National Anthem for the NY Road Runners Bronx Half Marathon!   Really…!  With a 7AM start, I was chirping and warming up the whole trip!

But it was definitely worth losing a lil’ bit of sleep.  What a privilege to sing for literally thousands of runners about to embark on their 13 mile journey around the borough of my forbears… my ancestral home, da Bronix!  So, pitch pipe in hand, I did my best to inspire.  I even met a couple of Bronx City Council Politicos…  Apparently, this event is touted as the only NYRR event on the Mainland.  Go figure!!

Click here to see a video of my Anthem performance, courtesy of Salmini Films.  (1000 thanks,  Ambrose!)  And if you can’t get enough, here’s a little home video as well… Special thanks to Corey Witmer of NYRR for inviting me to sing, and to Ed Kalegi for recommending me!

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave…

O Say, can you see…? is a post from: JoanneBorts.com

Gimme an "S"!!! (photo by Jesse Ritz)

I have arrived!!

I’ve hit the Big Time!!

Yes, after years of obscurity, I’ve finally reached hometown hero status!  Idina Menzel, Natalie Portman and… ME!!

Ursula Moore, a journalist from the Syosset Patch discovered me right here on www.JoanneBorts.com!!  Who knew?  I’m getting farklemt…

Check out this article:

Borts Has More Than a Song in Her Heart

I’m totally tickled!

Local Girl makes good… is a post from: JoanneBorts.com