SECRET CHORDS CONCERTS LIVE | KEDMAH: RISING SONG PIYYUT ENSEMBLE NATIONAL PREMIERE

Thursday, Nov 16, 2023

Thursday, November 16
6:30 pm Doors | 7:30 pm Concert
In Person at The Weitzman (5th and Market)
Tickets – $20 General Admission| $15 Member Admission

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A short of the live performance of Kedmah: The Rising Song Piyyut Ensemble, will be released for all to view as a part of the Secret Chord Concerts series at a later date.

From Temple times to today, piyyutim utilized complex and beautiful Hebrew poetry to infuse spirit and meaning into the sacred and ordinary moments of human experience. The stirring melodies are rooted in the illustrious and colorful tradition of maqam– a distinct system of musical expression found exclusively in the music of the Arab world, Turkey, Iran, and North Africa. In their debut concert at the Weitzman Museum, Kedmah: The Rising Song Piyyut Ensemble honors and reinvents the living sacred traditions without compromising the nuances that distinguish it from the Ashkenazi and Western soundscape of American Jewish music. Join us for this unforgettable evening of music.

More about the Ensemble
“Kedmah” is an ensemble of musicians and prayer leaders excavating the power and beauty of Mizrahi Jewish expression through ancient poetry and song. Led by Rabbi Yosef Goldman and Yoni Battat, Piyyut Rising honors the artists’ Iraqi, Syrian, and Yemenite ancestry in conversation with their intersecting musical influences. Their interactive performances, workshops, and recordings allow listeners to experience the spiritual and emotional depth of Middle Eastern piyyut (liturgical poetry) and the age-old tradition of Arab melodies that adorn them. 

Kedmah is a project of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute, whose mission is to use song to cultivate spiritual community throughout the Jewish world. Yoni and Yosef met through Rising Song and connected over their mixed Mizrahi and Ashkenazi identity. They have now been studying Piyyut repertoire together for several years. 

Building on the fragments of the Mizrahi musical traditions that they grew up with, they have made a concerted effort to reclaim ownership of the texts and melodies that brought meaning to the lives of their ancestors. By presenting this music in modern Jewish communities that have been historically dominated by Jews of European descent, Kedmah is expanding the diversity of American Jewish expression and centering the Mizrahi voices that have been historically marginalized in the US.

PIYYUT RISING IS:

  • Yosef Goldman – voice
  • Yoni Battat – oud, viola, voice
  • Joey Weisenberg – fretless bass
  • Yahala Lachmish – special guest vocals
  • TBC – percussion

About the Secret Chord Concerts series

Secret Chord Concerts are full length musical presentations by the most celebrated Jewish musicians of our time – representing a broad range of styles, heritages, and histories. The concerts are recorded in front of a live audience at the Weitzman Museum in Philadelphia and later released as 15-25 minute episodes available free online.

A project of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, located on Philadelphia’s historic Independence Mall,Secret Chord Concerts recognize the vast diversity of America’s Jewish community as well as the numerous contributions they  have made to musical traditions, throughout history and today. Programs celebrating the histories, cultures, traditions and lives of Jewish People aim to act as an antidote to the current rise in antisemitism.

You may also be interested in…

Secret Chord Concerts – Episodes from Season 1

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Live at The Weitzman
101 South Independence Mall East (Corner of 5th & Market)
Philadelphia, PA 19106

Produced by the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in partnership with Hadar’s Rising Song Institute