On Sunday, May 30th at 2 PM, the Congress for Jewish Culture will host ITZIK AND THE GOLDEN PEACOCK, a 120th birthday celebration for Yiddish writer Itzik Manger. This very special virtual event, presented in conjunction with the California Institute for Yiddish Culture & Language, Ot Azoy London, the League for Yiddish, and Yung-Yidish of Tel-Aviv, will feature an international ensemble of Yiddish luminaries with readings, music and discussion, revealing why Itzik Manger has such an inspirational, enduring legacy.
Scheduled participants in ITZIK AND THE GOLDEN PEACOCK will include Los Angeles-based Mike Burstyn (Star of Broadway’s Barnum, The Rothschilds); Shura Lipovsky (‘Adrienne Cooper Dreaming in Yiddish’ Award-winning singer, Amsterdam); Dr. Helen Beer (Itzik Manger biographer, London); Ruth Levin (Leading Israeli interpreter of the Yiddish song, Tel Aviv); Mendy Cahan (Son of Saul, A Film Unfinished; Tel Aviv); Binyumen Schaechter (Conductor of the Jewish People’s Philharmonic Chorus; Composer of Naked Boys Singing! & That’s Life; New York); Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath (Author & poet, Sudden Rain: Yiddish Poems; Bergen County); Sharon Bernstein (Cantor, Sha’ar Zahav; Palo Alto); Shane Baker (the best-loved Episcopalian on the Yiddish stage today, New York); and Miri Koral (Founding Director of the California Institute for Yiddish Culture & Language, Los Angeles). Itzik Manger (1901 – 1969), legendary poet, dramatist, novelist, and enfant terrible of Yiddish literature, is perhaps best known for his Megile-Lider (“Megillah Cycle,” 1936) in which he recast the traditional Purim play as dramatic lyrics, and for writing the lyrics to “Oyfn Veg Shteyt a Boym” (On the Road Stands a Tree), one of the most beloved Yiddish songs of all time. His works continue to be performed, analyzed and translated all over the globe.
ITZIK AND THE GOLDEN PEACOCK will be available for viewing live via Zoom and Facebook Live: facebook.com/Kultur.kongres. For more information, visit www.congressforjewishculture.org.
