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Local audiences will have the opportunity to hear the work of internationally renowned composer Gerald Cohen, and to hear him speak, when Cohen visits Lexington on Feb. 11, 12 and 13 for a performance of his music by the Lexington Chamber Music Society and as the Class of ’63 Scholar in Residence at Washington and Lee University.
The Chamber Music Society of Lexington will play a concert of Cohen’s compositions under the title “Beloved of my being: The Music of Composer Gerald Cohen” in the sanctuary of Grace Episcopal Church at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 12.
Cohen will discuss and demonstrate his music in a public talk, “Music as witness: A composer commemorates the Holocaust,” at the W&L Hillel House at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
Both events are free and open to the public, as is a community gathering in the sanctuary of Grace Episcopal Church at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 11, where Cohen will lead an exploration of nigunim, a tradition of Jewish mystical songs without words. Audience participation is an integral part of this event, which is cosponsored by the Washington and Lee music department and the church.
As Class of ’63 Scholar in Residence, Cohen will lead classes in the W&L music and religion departments. He will also meet with students at the Hillel House. On Feb. 11, he will participate at Grace Episcopal in a Sunday morning seminar on “Music in Interfaith Conversation” and, at the church’s morning service, will contribute his noted skill as a cantor and offer a blessing.
Cohen’s interfaith stance is central to his thought and work in a time of worldwide crisis and trauma.
In his public talk, he will discuss and play music from three compositions related to the Holocaust: “They burn, the fires of the night,” a song cycle about one family’s legacy of loss and survival; “Playing for our lives,” a string quartet in tribute to the music and musicians of the Terezín concentration camp; and “Steal a Pencil for Me,” an opera about a Dutch couple who find love while imprisoned in Bergen-Belsen. Each piece conveys varied dimensions of the deep human story of those who lived and died during the Holocaust.
Cohen will also reflect on his own personal connections to the Holocaust, through his parents — both refugees from Europe — and his close relationships with many survivors.
Critics and peers have praised Cohen for what Gramophone magazine described as his “linguistic fluidity and melodic gift” in creating music that “reveals a very personal modernism that … offers great emotional rewards.”
Cohen’s best-known work, his “shimmering setting” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) of Psalm 23, has been heard in thousands of performances, from New York’s Carnegie Hall to synagogues and churches around the world. Among his recent chamber music works, “Voyagers” was commissioned to honor the 40th anniversary of the Voyager spacecraft’s successful mission and premiered at New York’s Hayden Planetarium. He is currently at work on an opera based on the life of Mary Shelley, author of “Frankenstein.”
His compositions have been recognized with numerous awards and critical accolades, including commissioning grants from Meet the Composer, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, American Composers Forum, residencies including Copland House, the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and American Lyric Theater. Among many honors, he has received the Yale University Sudler Prize, the Cantors Assembly’s Max Wohlberg Award for distinguished achievement in the field of Jewish composition and the Hallel V’Zimrah Award from the Zamir Choral Foundation.
Cohen holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Yale University and a DMA in composition from Columbia University. He is cantor at Shaarei Tikvah, Scarsdale, N.Y., and is on the faculties of the Jewish Theological Seminary and Hebrew Union College in New York, N.Y. His most recent recording is the CD “Voyagers.”
The Chamber Music Society of Lexington debuted in spring 2023, featuring the music of noted 20th century French composer Olivier Messiaen. In this fourth concert, CMSL continues its mission to perform quality chamber music in Lexington, Rockbridge, and Southwestern Virginia. CMSL features local, national, and international artists in a variety of chamber music configurations and settings. Music directors Mark Gallagher and Martha Burford are committed to teaching and featuring student musicians as well, through a series of camps, master classes, and performances. While CMSL events are offered free of charge, free-will contributions for the musicians are appreciated.
For more information on all events, contact martha@lexva. org.
