J-West Conference Finally Arrives!

This weekend, secular humanist jews from all over joined us for our west coast conference, “A World of Jewish Music”. Talented speakers, excellent food, interesting company, and fabulous entertainment were all part of the fun. Here are several photos from the first day of the conference.

Cantor Dr. Jonathan Friedmann delivers his keynote On Beyond Klezmer.

The J-West audience enjoying Dr. Friedmann’s talk.

Schmoozing between sessions

Dr. Ezra Donner delivering his session on Jewish Composers

Audience during the Q&A portion of Dr. Donner’s presentation

Dr. Friedmann chipping in during Dr. Donner’s Q&A session. It was fun to see the two have a bit of a back and forth on a topic they were both quite knowledgeable about.

Our own Judy Seid presenting “Songs for Holidays and Shabbes” There was also a whole-group singalong at the end of the day. Click these links to see some video from the singalong: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Mx0Aa5KjqmYZAY2sFC_aBy8BDMRjrDsu/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XJsr73hiMcfRCYwyzHz9VPK5sPtZygZR/view?usp=sharing

Lunch!

Dr. Andrea Fishman delivered a very interesting and informative talk on Sephardic music of Spain and the Balkans. Click this link to see some video from this session: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pn4Bg7dY06CssfCnhYfDv8AaGV-8Lfch/view?usp=sharing

Our youngest presenter (and our own member) Rebecca Ireland presented on The Newest Jewish Song. Click this link to see some video from this session: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yHEn2x1rQCajmqePeco8b3oC6xxE93Og/view?usp=sharing

Jerry Zwick gave a very interesting presentation about Jews in the rock and roll genre.

As a last minute replacement (because one of our presenters had bronchitis and couldn’t attend), Lee Jacobi led an impromptu session on jewish folk dancing. Click this link to see some video from this session: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fYo6PKu7FVdt5POvLc1RWXozceeCWOC5/view?usp=sharing