From Hassidic music, new and traditional Ladino songwriting, Italian Baroque singers, and contemporary folk music, to a unique new puppet play, Synagogue Nights at Manchester Jewish Museum and its 150-year-old Spanish and Portuguese synagogue, unveils its eclectic Autumn programme of events to delight and inspire audiences.
Ahead of the 2024 season, Manchester Jewish Museum will be offering discounted tickets for under 30s and also a limited number of free tickets for residents of the M8 postcode area — which can be booked by emailing: tickets@
When Israeli-born singer-songwriter Dekel began writing her new album, Starlings, she couldn’t have imagined what was about to come. Following the tragic events of October 7th and the unimaginable fallout thereafter, her work on the album stopped, but in the months that followed she created something unexpected, unplanned for, and poignant in this new and important album.
Featuring an array of sounds inspired by jazz, folk, and modern indie music, this is a powerful performance of great significance, as Dekel presents Starlings, accompanied by cello, clarinet, accordion, and acoustic guitar.
Exploring the works of 17th-century Jewish Italian composer, Salomone Rossi, the five singers who make up Vache Baroque perform the prayers, songs, and lamentations of Rossi and his contemporaries, in Hebrew, Italian, Latin, and English.
The singers are accompanied by the chitarrone, a type of medieval lute, creating an atmospheric and enchanting experience. This stripped-back production allows the singers to evoke a true sense of Rossi’s life through his music and that of those around him.
Performing ‘music for the soul’, Rabbi Danny Bergson, a communal Rabbi at St Anne’s Synagogue, inspires and delights his audience with synagogue songs and Hassidic music. Though formally trained in guitar and singing, it’s Rabbi Danny Bergson’s passion that really shines through in his mood-lifting performances.
Taking inspiration from his favourite saying, “if words are the pen of the mind then music is the quill of soul”, he creates a performance that’s moving and thoughtful.
An uplifting and hopeful journey of courage and endurance, this one-woman puppet play includes poetry and humour as Jessica Litwack takes us through a new story set against the backdrop of ancestral landscapes.
When Shemie, out of luck and about to give up entirely on her life, is visited by the prophetess Miriam, everything changes and Shemie is able to find positivity once more through the power of those who came before us.
As she is shown the support and compassion of pairs of women who helped one another in times past, Shemie sees that our connections are what make us strong. Exploring biblical matriarchs from a new feminist perspective, this evocative play tells us to never give up hope and to trust in the wisdom of our ancestors.
Sun 27 Oct - Sun 17 Nov, Manchester Jewish Museum, 190 Cheetham Hill Rd, Cheetham Hill, Manchester M8 8LW
- Words:
- Samantha Priestley
- Published on:
- Mon 9 Sep 2024
One of the few singer songwriters left in the world who composes original music in the Ladino language – an endangered language that’s an archaic Spanish tongue with Hebrew elements – Nani brings her fourth album, Ke Haber, to Synagogue Nights.
Exploring themes of female empowerment, migration, and gender, each song brings to life a mix of traditional and modern issues while exploring new ways of telling stories through music.