Showtime

Vocal Octet performs an a cappella concert of works written by Bach with some added, far more contemporary sounds, from the Beatles.

By BARRY DAVIS
The beatles 521 (photo credit: Philip Townsend)
The beatles 521
(photo credit: Philip Townsend)
Veteran New York poet-musician blows into town
Acclaimed New York rocker-poet Thalia Zedek will perform at Ozen Bar in Tel Aviv on March 22 (8 p.m.).
Washington, DC-born Zedek started her career in the early 1980s and has been a member of several notable alternative rock groups, such as Live Skull and Come. She formed and performed with a number of bands in the Boston area, such as White Women and Dangerous Birds, before joining New York outfit Live Skull as lead vocalist.
The synergy was particularly successful on Dusted, but substance abuse led Zedek to return to Boston where she cofounded Come, with which she released four albums before the group broke up in 2001.
Zedek’s hard-hitting bluesy vocals and guitar playing can be heard to good effect on her first solo effort, Been Here and Gone, and Zedek continues to attract high critical acclaim.
For tickets and more information: ozenbar.com/ he/26476/thalia_zedek
Beatles and Bach
The Armored Corps Memorial Site and Museum at Latrun will host an eclectic program of music on March 22 (12 noon) when the Vocal Octet performs an a cappella concert of works written by Bach with some added, far more contemporary sounds, from the Beatles.
The internationally acclaimed vocal ensemble includes pairs of singers who perform in four different vocal registers – soprano, alto, tenor and bass. All the octet’s shows include new arrangements of compositions.
For tickets and more information: (02) 535-6954
Office makes 20 with women’s show
The Office in Tel Aviv Gallery is marking the completion of two decades of business with a group exhibition called “A Woman’s Song.” The show, curated by Rachel Suckman, opened on March 7 and will run until April 24.
The female artist lineup comprises 26 women from across a wide range of disciplines, including the likes of painter-sculptor Hanan Abu-Hussein, painter Michal Orgil, artist and landscape architect Meirav Davish Ben-Moshe, painter Etti Lev, sculptor Ofra Zimbalista and poet Agi Mishol.
“A Woman’s Song” is based on an examination of the role women play in the cultural discourse of Israeli society, and striving to achieve an equalitybased approach to life. All the artists exhibiting in the show have a declared social agenda, which is reflected in their creations. Some of the works are hard hitting, such as painter-sculptor Sophie Jungreis’s marble sculpture called Vagina, which presents the sexual organ as a source of power and of objective beauty.
The exhibition also focuses on creative cross-fertilization between female artists from different disciplines, with the idea of empowering each other’s output through artistic hybrids. One such synergy sees Mishol’s accentuate the impact of Zimbalista’s sculpture Pantheon of Language, by reciting one of her poems from inside Zimbalista’s work.
For more information: (03) 525-4191
Tuba in the City
On March 29 (8:30 p.m.), the The Felicja Blumental Music Center and Library in Tel Aviv will feature a rarity in the classical music world – a female tuba player, by the name of Avital Handler.
The repertoire for the show includes classical and contemporary works, such as Sonata for Tuba by 74-year-old Norwegian composer Trygve Madsen, three romances by Schumann, five songs by Brahms and an intriguing arrangement by pop singer-keyboardist Shlomo Gronich’s 1970s hit Simple Songs. Most of the works performed at the concert also appear on Handler’s new CD.
Handler is principal tuba player of the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon Lezion and has also appeared with the Seoul Symphony Orchestra, the Civic Orchestra of Boston and the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra. She also appears all over the world with the Israel Brass Quintet, which performs a wide range of material, from traditional Jewish music to Italian renaissance and Neapolitan songs.
For tickets and more information: (03) 620-1185