Selichos/Transformation
Schedule
Sat, 20 Sep, 2025 at 08:30 pm
UTC-04:00Location
17 Eastern Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11238-5675, United States | Brooklyn, NY
Advertisement
New music in the cantorial tradition for two voices and chamber orchestra by Jeremiah Lockwood
Composed for and performed by Riki Rose and Yoel Kohn
Conducted by Alan Pierson
Commissioned by the Center for New Jewish Culture
—
September 20 8:30 pm | 17 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn
https://cbebk.shulcloud.com/cnjc/selichos-transformation
The Selichos service is the beginning of the High Holiday season. For cantors, Selichos is the debut in a series of high stakes high wire performances, the first moment in a period of heightened tension and emotional focus during which they lead the community in self-probing and transformation. In the words of the liturgy, on these days it is written who will live and who will die. The musical ritual takes this allegory of the life and death of the soul as seriously as if we stood on the precipice of a mountain. The cantor is both virtuoso artist, enunciating the sound of the community, and advocate, ferociously sparring with the Throne of Mercy on behalf of the abject and suffering, pleading for a little more time.
Khazones (the Yiddish term for the music of the cantor) is an art form that has largely moved to the margins of mainstream American Jewish life. But in the current moment of reckoning with questions about why and how to proceed with expressions of identity, khazones has been reclaimed as the basis of a musical revival, especially in the Brooklyn Hasidic community. Two generational vocal talents, Riki Rose and Yoel Kohn, both born in Satmar Williamsburg and now pursuing paths outside of their birth community, are outstanding interpreters of the “golden age” cantorial repertoire heard on classic phonograph records of the early 20th century. Composer and scholar Jeremiah Lockwood (founder of The Sway Machinery and author of Golden Ages: Hasidic Singers and Cantorial Revival in the Digital Era) has created a new work to showcase their remarkable talents in a piece of music that is deeply imbued with the tradition of cantorial contention with the Divine.
Selichos/Transformation is a new piece of music setting the traditional Selichos liturgy—its lineages include the work of Lockwood’s grandfather, Cantor Jacob Konigsberg, and father, composer Larry Lockwood, as well as the sounds of the lost generation of khazntes, women cantors of the early 20th century. The musical palette of the piece draws on a breadth of musics that recontextualize the aesthetics of non-classical performance in the texture of the orchestra, including Stravinsky’s Les Noces, and the collaboration of Pharaoh Sanders and Floating Points, to name just a few salient points of reference.
Jeremiah Lockwood is a scholar and musician, working in the fields of Jewish studies, performance studies and ethnomusicology. His work engages with issues arising from peering into the archive and imagining the power of “lost” forms of expression to articulate keenly felt needs in the present. Jeremiah is a 2025-26 Fellow at the Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan. His first book, Golden Ages: Hasidic Singers and Cantorial Revival in the Digital Era, came out with University of California Press in 2024. He has recorded more than a dozen albums over a music career that spans decades, with his band The Sway Machinery and other projects. He performs frequently with his duo Gordon Lockwood, with percussionist Ricky Gordon, and as a touring member of the Ebony Hillbillies, icons of old time African American string band music.
Riki Rose is a celebrated multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and composer known for her unique blend of Yiddish lyrics and contemporary music. Raised in the vibrant Satmer Hasidic community of Williamsburg, New York, Riki’s music reflects her deep cultural roots and modern sensibilities. Her work spans multiple languages, including English, Hebrew, and Yiddish, and she continues to captivate audiences with her powerful performances and innovative compositions. Riki Rose’s deep connection to the Satmer Hasidic community is a profound influence on her musical journey. Her work not only honors her roots but also bridges the gap between the past and the present, creating a sound that resonates with audiences far and wide.
Yoel Kohn is a cantor from a Hasidic background, the son of a well-known prayer leader. He grew up in the Satmar community in Williamsburg, where he served as a cantor for over a decade. Since then, he has been involved with the revival of "Golden Age" cantorial music with his friend and frequent collaborator, Jeremiah Lockwood. He has performed internationally, including appearances at the Krakow Jewish Culture Festival and at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie.
Alan Pierson has been praised as "a dynamic conductor and musical visionary" by the New York Times, "a young conductor of monstrous skill" by Newsday, "gifted and electrifying" by the Boston Globe, and "one of the most exciting figures in new music today" by Fanfare. He is the Artistic Director and conductor of the acclaimed ensemble Alarm Will Sound which has been called "the future of classical music" by the New York Times and "a sensational force" with "powerful ideas about how to renovate the concert experience" by the New Yorker. Mr. Pierson served for three years as the Artistic Director and conductor of the Brooklyn Philharmonic. The New York Times called Pierson’s leadership at the Philharmonic "truly inspiring," and The New Yorker's Alex Ross described it as “remarkably innovative, perhaps even revolutionary.”
The orchestra for this performance includes luminaries of the New York music scene:
Pauline Kim Harris, violin (String Noise)
Conrad Harris, violin (String Noise)
Andrew Griffin, viola
Anneke Schaul-Yoder, cello
Greg Chudzik, bass
Leo Sussman, flute
Tim Leopold, trumpet
Burt Mason, trombone
Brian Chase, percussion (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
Advertisement
Where is it happening?
17 Eastern Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11238-5675, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
