Staying Motivated

Looking back at 2023, I would love to share some of the meaningful moments I had last year with my program of Yiddish songs written in the Jewish ghettos of World War II, as well as the new possibilities I have begun to see for the year to come. The fact that Holocaust curriculum barely exists in many school districts has caused me to shift my focus. Looking towards 2024, I will not only continue to seek venues to perform my concert live, but use the music and stories as an instrument to educate young people about the Holocaust. 

In February of 2023, I was invited to present to the University Choir at the University of California Irvine. I adapted my program for the classroom setting and presented a 50 minute musical presentation. When the students began to realize that many of the composers and writers they were learning about had perished in the Holocaust, they were both disturbed and saddened. This prompted an extended Q & A with the students. After that university experience, I knew what direction my presentation was taking me.

In June of 2023, I enrolled in a week-long Holocaust education workshop for High School teachers held at California State University of Long Beach. The week began with a docent-led visit to the Los Angeles Holocaust Museum that included live testimonies of two Holocaust survivors. Back on the Long Beach State campus, Holocaust educators, the Anti Defamation League and representatives of Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation, gave teachers the necessary tools to create their own individual Holocaust curriculum for their future lesson plans. In addition to being a participant, I was also one of the presenters. Using my adapted classroom setting format, I was able to share the stories of the ghetto songs and historical photos with a click of the mouse. I was also able to show the teachers videos of me singing the songs from previous concerts. I also took advantage of the opportunity to remind the teachers attending that I was available to present my program to their classrooms. 

There were a few more live performances for me and my ensemble last year, and I was just starting to contact school districts to see about getting my program into classrooms. Then October 7th happened. I had been scheduled to participate in a concert in November that consisted of several religious denominations including Muslim. I’m not surprised, but the concert was canceled. My hunch is that there were still so many unknowns and the organizers did not know how to hold an interfaith space with both Jews and Muslims under these new circumstances.

Ever since that devastating day when Hamas murdered 1200 Israelis, followed by war and thousands being killed in Gaza, it has been very difficult for me personally to move forward. My goal of getting my program into the schools has been placed on the ‘back burner’ and replaced with my own emotions of grief, processing and constant attention on the Middle East. Even in my own voice practice sessions I have felt discouraged. I continue to take private voice lessons to keep my voice in good shape for that next performance. But, I have been having trouble getting past my feelings of despair; not having any confirmed concert dates coming up and frustrated knowing that it will take time before my program gets into schools.

Writing a blog helped me move forward during the pandemic, and now I am hoping that by writing a recap of 2023, I will find the motivation to start reaching out to school districts again. Also, I do not want to lose sight of continuing to promote my live concert of Tears, Joy, and Hope: Yiddish Songs Written in the Jewish Ghetto.

Thanks to my supportive family Joe, Jessica and Rachel, they have managed to lift me out of my doldrums and make me laugh. My private voice students that I teach on Zoom are always a source of pleasure because they remind me that I have made a difference in their lives. One student showed me a tattoo she got shortly after she began taking voice lessons with me. It was a quote from the poet Wendell Barry that stated, “Somehow it has all added up to song.”

Much gratitude goes to my current voice teacher, Dr. Katharin Rundus, who I have studied with for the last 8 years, whose knowledge and expertise have made me a better teacher.

Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year and may it bring peace to all…especially for those living in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.