Metro Briefs September 26
David Stock, composer and professor emeritus of music at Duquesne University, will have one of his music compositions performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Oct. 4 to 6.
Stock, one of the PSO’s Pittsburgh Composers of the Year, wrote the new “Symphony No. 6” specifically for the PSO. The piece is influenced by Stock’s Jewish heritage and includes hymns from the synagogue service.
The October performances by the PSO represent the world premiere for “Symphony No. 6.”
While at Duquesne, Stock conducted the Duquesne Contemporary Ensemble. He has been composer-in-residence of the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Seattle Symphony and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, and is conductor laureate of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, which he founded in 1976; he retired as music director of PNME at the end of the 1998/99 season, after 23 years.
His previous compositions include symphonies, string quartets and concerti for various instruments; chamber, solo and orchestral music; and work for dance, theater, TV and film.
Stock has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, five Fellowship Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, five Fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and grants and commissions from Ella Lyman Cabot Trust, the Paderewski Fund for Composers, the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, the Barlow Endowment, Boston Musica Viva, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Richard Stoltzman, Duquesne University and the Erie Philharmonic.
He is the father of Temple Sinai soloist Sara Stock Mayo.
JFilm: The Pittsburgh Jewish Film Forum is partnering with the Pittsburgh Lesbian & Gay Film Society to screen the 2013 Israeli film “Snails in the Rain” as part of Reel Q 2013, Sunday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m.
Set in 1989 Tel Aviv, “Snails in the Rain” is the story of a linguistics student named Boaz who is committed to his loving girlfriend, Noa. But soon Boaz is questioning his life when he begins receiving a series of obsessive love letters from another man. They expose the inner world of their author, who is deeply closeted — and knows plenty about him, including Boaz’s past attraction to other men.
Israeli model Yoav Reuveni, who has appeared in ads for Armani, is making his acting debut in the lead role.
First staged in 1985, Reel Q is the sixth oldest LGBT film festival in the world. All the films will be screened at the Harris Theater at 809 Liberty Ave., Downtown, from Oct. 11 to 19.
Atzilut, a 10-member Middle Eastern “peace orchestra” consisting of Arab and Jewish musicians, will perform at Washington & Jefferson College, Washington, Pa., Wednesday, Oct. 2, 7 p.m., in the Olin Fine Arts Center on the W&J campus.
An educational program that includes the historical background of the group’s shared music in its development with demographic changes will kick off the evening. Audience members are encouraged to participate either by singing some basic melodic patterns or bringing their own hand drums or other percussion instruments.
Following the educational segment, the audience will exit the hall at 7:30 and return at 8 p.m. with a ticket when the actual show will begin.
Atzilut bills itself as the only international touring ensemble that features virtuoso instruments making Hebrew and Arabic music by Jewish and Arab performers. The band is co-led by Hazzan Jack Kessler of Philadelphia and Lebanese singer and composer Maurice Chedid.
Contact W&J at 888-926-3529 or info@washjeff.edu for tickets.
The Jewish Domestic Abuse Task Force, a forum for individuals and Jewish organizations in Pittsburgh interested in or working to address domestic abuse issues, will sponsor an upcoming Lunch & Learn, Wednesday, Oct. 9, from noon to 1 p.m., at the Labor Zionist Education Center, 6328 Forbes Ave., Squirrel Hill.
The guest speakers, Rabbi Danny Schiff and Don Grant, of the Allegheny County Area Agency on Aging, will share information about identifying and preventing elder abuse in our communities.
The Lunch & Learn is part of an ongoing series intended to address issues related to domestic abuse and violence awareness, education, resources and prevention within the Jewish and greater communities. Previous topics have included legal advocacy, survivor stories and teen dating violence.
The Lunch & Learn is free and open to the public. Participants are asked to bring their lunch; drinks and light snacks will be provided. Free parking is available in the back and additional on-street parking may also be available.
Contact Bari Benjamin at 412-521-3800 or Dee Selekman at 412-521-5253 for more information.
Blind & Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh announces an art show and bake sale featuring items created by adults with disabilities, Thursday, Oct. 3, from 8 to 9:30 a.m. and 2 to 6 p.m. at its Homestead location, 1800 West St. The art show and bake sale are in conjunction with Pittsburgh Gives Day of Giving, in which donations between $25 and $1,000 that day to area nonprofits receive a portion of a match pool through the Pittsburgh Foundation.
Call 412-368-4400, ext. 2297 for more information.
The Aleph Institute will present a symposium on the rehabilitation of prison inmates, Sunday, Oct. 13, 7 p.m. at Congregation Beth Shalom.
“Challenges of Reintegration and Recidivism,” as the program is called, will feature John Wetzel, Pennsylvania Secretary of Corrections, and Alfred Blumstein, professor of urban systems and operations research at Carnegie Mellon University and a nationally recognized expert on crime, as
speakers.
The program is open to the public.
The Squirrel Hill Historical Society’s next free meeting topic will be “Getting to Know our Neighbors,” with tales from towns, people, places and events forgotten by the history books, with speaker Gary Rogers, president of the Oakmont Historical
Society, Tuesday, Oct. 8, at 7:30 p.m. at the Church of the Redeemer, 5700 Forbes Ave.
Contact Mike at 412-417-3707 or visit squirrelhillhistory.org for more information.
Mt. Lebanon’s Art in the Park an annual juried arts and crafts show and sale, will be held Oct. 5 and 6, in the Academy Avenue parking lot in the Mt. off Washington Road.
The two-day event creates a venue to display and sell a wide variety of juried works in various media that include oil, watercolor and pastel, textiles, weaving, needlework, florals, glass, ceramics, jewelry, photography, wire sculpture, and woodcarving.
The event attracts thousands of Western Pennsylvania families and individuals, and more than 50 artsts, including several from the Jewish community.
Dates and times are Saturday, Oct. 5 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, Oct 6 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parking will be available in the North and South garages.
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