Blog post
House Concert Tour
This weekend: a House Concert Tour with my songwriter pal Jason Ager! We’re tearing up living rooms all over the tri-state area. So come see some music, up close & personal. There will be kazoos, there will be tuba.
Friday, Nov 4 in Wayne, PA
Saturday, Nov 5 in Brooklyn, NY
Sunday, Nov 6 in Green Brook, NJ
all shows open to the public with RSVP: www.aviwisnia.com/tour
My Polish Wisnia Concerts in Los Angeles
Three Nights. Three Concerts.
Celebrating the Renewal of
Jewish Life in Poland
Jewish Life in Poland
with Cantor David S. Wisnia & Avi Wisnia
October 19 at Temple Aliyah, Woodland Hills
October 22 at Torrance Cultural Arts Center
October 23 at Temple Beth Israel, Pomona
* * *
Jewish Renewal in Poland is proud to present three concert events in the Los Angeles area featuring Cantor David S. Wisnia, the 90-year-old Warsaw native and survivor of the Nazi horrors who is one of the last living individuals to have their cantorial art personally nurtured by the great cantors of pre-war Poland- Gershon Sirota and Moshe Koussevitsky. Cantor Wisnia will be joined on stage by his grandson Avi Wisnia, an award-winning composer, singer, and performer. The program will also include contributions from two musical representatives of the Jewish renewal taking place today in Poland, Cantorial Solists Rivka Iza Foremniak and Menachem Piotr Mirski from the Progressive Jewish community Beit Polska. Proceeds will benefit the renewal of progressive Jewish life in Poland.
Tickets & Concert Information:
Sat, October 22, 8:00pm
at Torrance Cultural Arts Center
3330 Civic Center Drive, Torrance, CA 90503
TIX
Sun, October 23, 4:00pm
at Temple Beth Israel
3033 Towne Ave. Pomona, CA 91767
TIX
About The Program:
The concerts will showcase the voice and life-story of Cantor David S. Wisnia, a survivor of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. As a Polish youth, Wisnia sang in the famed Tlumacke Synagogue with renown Cantors Gershon Serota and Moshe Kussovitsky. He continued to use his incredible vocal talent during World War II and his internment in Auschwitz, leading to his ultimate survival. Wisnia’s broad-ranging repertoire includes liturgy, Yiddish show tunes, and Israeli music, connecting Poland’s Jewish musical past with the country’s current emerging moment of Jewish renewal. (Read more about David Wisnia’s story and his recently published memoir “One Voice Two Lives” at www.onevoicetwolives.com)
David Wisnia’s grandson, pianist & singer-songwriter Avi Wisnia, will accompany his grandfather during the concerts as well as perform his own original music, with influences ranging from American Folk to Brazilian Jazz to contemporary Jewish music, keeping the Jewish musical tradition alive, from generation to generation. (Read more about Avi Wisnia’s music and listen to songs at www.aviwisnia.com)
During the program, the Wisnias will also recount their recent travels to Poland: performing together in Warsaw, teaching a new generation of Jews at Beit Warszawa, and revisiting the infamous death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau where David Wisnia was a prisoner for nearly 3 years.
(Read more about the Wisnias’ travels in Poland at www.mypolishwisnia.com)
Additional musical support at the performances will be provided by instrumentalists from the UCLA undergraduate jazz program and the Thelonious Monk Institute.
Music & Art in Motion
As i was performing at the American Folk Art Museum in NYC, i noticed a man in the front row with a giant pad on his lap, sketching. After the show, he came up to me and revealed his finished artwork. “I tried to swing with your music as I was rendering you.” Music in Motion. Thank you, Benedict Pensato!
Folk Yeah!
Thank You!!! to all you wonderful people who came to join us (and special guest fiddler Hurricane Hoss) under the big tent at the 55th Philadelphia Folk Festival, the longest continuously running musical festival in North America.
We chased away the storm and brought on the Sky Blue Sky.
It was an absolute honor to join the ranks of musicians & storytellers, including so many iconic songwriters, who have performed at the Folk Fest.
