pics

15Aug2024Blog postCamp Harlam, gigs, Julie Gold, Kunkletown, legacy, pics, Poconos, summer camp, tour

Back To Summer Camp

Good morning, Camp Harlam!

After 20 years, I returned to perform at my summer camp in the Pennsylvania Poconos, and it feels so good to be back home. After getting a tour and reuniting with old friends (who now run the place), I squeezed an entire summer of camp into 24 hours.

Flashback: 1992. I remember it vividly. That one special evening concert at Camp Harlam.

I was 9 years old, one of the youngest campers there, sitting in the Beit HaTarboot main theater and they announced the concert’s performer, our famous camp alum GRAMMY WINNER JULIE GOLD. It was rare that every age group would do events together, but all of us were there that night. Julie came out on stage that night and played us some songs, including her famous “From A Distance” that had become a hit for Bette Midler. I was in awe. I did not know that you could be a professional songwriter, that you could make music for a living.

This week, I was invited to come back to that same stage at the Beit HaTarboot and perform for a new generation of campers. I performed my own music, music that is now a part of telling my family’s story in the film “How Saba Kept Singing.” I got to present the film with director Sara Taksler, also a camp alum. We spoke and connected with campers and staff, old friends and new, in one of the most special places on earth. A very full circle moment.

Thank you Julie Gold for that very first bit of inspiration. I’ve never forgotten it.

The award-winning documentary “How Saba Kept Singing” tells the story of how singer David “Saba” Wisnia survived the Holocaust and how his journey back to Poland with his grandson Avi Wisnia unlocks the secret about someone else who had a hand in his survival. The soundtrack features music by both David Wisnia and Avi Wisnia, plus a brand new original song composed for the film. Directed by Sara Taksler, and executive produced by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton. Screenings include discussion with Avi Wisnia, and a special live musical performance. Experience this powerful film, which explores themes of faith, family, and resilience, the persistence of discrimination and the power of music, and the urgency of telling these stories today.

Read more about the film HERE.
Watch the film trailer HERE.

19Jun2024Blog postgigs, Milliron Studios, NYC, pics, recording, songwriters

Songwriters In The Studio

Have you ever seen a studio this like this?

Milliron Studios is the perfect setting for filming a songwriters circle. Thanks for tuning in to our livestream “In The Round” concert, beamed from midtown Manhattan in NYC!

With Jason Trachtenburg, Eliza Spear, Diane Perry, and special thanks to host Mark Aaron James.

5Apr2024Blog postgigs, Philadelphia, Philly Songwriters In The Round, pics, songwriters, The Royal

Scenes from April Songwriters Round

Philly Songwriters In The Round is always full of soul, always full of heart, always full of harmony, and always different!

It was an honor to host this beautiful night of music making and story telling, featuring Ross Bellenoit, Zoe Mulford, and Ciara Grace. These artists are sweet and talented, and we all got to blend our unique voices together last night. Thank you for coming out to sing with us, and thank you for supporting live homegrown original music at The Royal Music & Arts Center, and our monthly songwriter concert series.

I love our Philly music community. See you again for our next season in the fall!

10Jun2023Blog postgigs, Philadelphia, pics, West Philly Porchfest

Joyful Noise at West Philly Porchfest

We filled the sidewalks with song!
What a fantastic day making music with my friends at the annual West Philly Porchfest.

Thanks to Karen for hosting “Avi Wisnia & Friends” on her porch;
thanks to Meghan Cary, Marion Halliday, Ethan Pierce, Ciara Grace, Mike Maurice, and Adam Monaco Band for bringing the joyful noise;
and thanks to all of you for stopping by to sing along and dance in front of our porch stage.

Our annual porch-trait is now a tradition.

West Philly Porchfest portrait 2023

3May2023Blog post, My Polish WisniaChappaqua, Chelsea Clinton, documentary, Film, Hillary Clinton, How Saba Kept Singing, My Polish Wisnia, pics, Sara Taksler

Watching a movie with Hillary Clinton

This was one of the most meaningful moments of my life.

I was invited to participate in a film screening, performance, and post-film talkback at the Chappaqua Performing Art Center in New York. Yes, I finally got to meet the Executive Producers of our film “How Saba Kept Singing” (and if you do get a chance to sit next to Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea and hear them speak – highly recommend!), but it was also about what this moment crystalized for me. This documentary is not just about my grandfather, or my family’s story, or the power of music, or the legacy of the Holocaust, it is bigger than that – it is indeed all these things, and more. This film has the ability to educate and start conversations and change people’s hearts and open people’s eyes, and I think this is just the beginning.

This was also the first time we gathered with every team that has worked on the film to help bring it in to the world: Retro Report, Hidden Light, Burnt Umber, and many other partners and supporters. It takes a lot of people to make a movie! I am honored to be a part of this project. And I will be forever. This is now a part of my life’s work.

Enjoy a few photos of the evening, with deep gratitude to Friends of Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, host Stacey Saiontz, director Sara Taksler, and the event’s photographer Lisa Wahl.

with executive producer Hillary Rodham Clinton, director Sara Taksler,
the Wisnia family, and producing team Retro Report

post-film discussion with executive producers Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton,
and director Sara Taksler

And in case you haven’t seen or shared “How Saba Kept Singing” yet, now you can! Watch it anytime, streaming in full on YouTube.

You can read more about our travels together by going to the blog at MY POLISH WISNIA.

“How Saba Kept Singing” is the story of how my grandfather’s music saved him in Auschwitz and how music binds the two of us together. To be able to share my own music as part of this film & perform it during each screening is incredibly meaningful. Through music, my Saba lives on.

As the credits roll at the end of the film, you will hear a song I wrote, an original composition called “How Long It’s Been” inspired by the reunion between my Saba and Tzippi, the woman who had a hand in saving my grandfather’s life during the Holocaust.

Hear the song from the film: “How Long It’s Been“

Does Hillary Clinton have an Avi Wisnia kazoo?
You bet she does.

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