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Sunday, December 21, 2025
— a “hybrid” event —
Gersh Chervinsky
violin
Irina Kats
piano
Caprice Hebraique
(photo courtesy Freed)
Join us in an evening of celebrating Jewish identity through music.
We will share ancient stories from the recent past, as they were captured by Jewish composers in Israel, Ukraine, the USA, Norway, and Russia in the 20th century.
Every composition in this program is a deep and beautiful piece full of a great spectrum of emotions ranging from desperation to ecstatic jubilation.
We will show you a family portrait of a young composer, Marc Lavry, in Israel with all the mischief of his son Danny, the lyricism of daughter Efrat, and the sassiness of Varda.
Imagine a rabbi, a philosopher, a rebel, a violin virtuoso, and a master of dance. There is all of this in one piece by Joseph Achron – Hebrew Dance.
Walk in the shoes of a desperate mystic participating in a group dance “sher” at a wedding in a Belarusian shtetl. Alexander Krein’s Caprice Hebraique opens the door to this scene.
Stand together with a young mom at the crib and sing the lullaby to a beautiful, tender descendant of a once numerous and influential Jewish community in Spain. Paul Ben-Haim lets us participate in this private scene.
Dance with Hassidim in Tzfat without leaving the DMV area. Rikud Atik, written by Yehoachin Stutchewski, is a harmonious mixture of the Eastern European meadows and the Middle Eastern desert.
Nostalgize for never-seen shores and never-met ancestors with the harmonies of Issay Dobrowen in his Melodie Hebraique.
Celebrate Hanukkah with a full lit menorah and a polyphony of magical melodies (you will definitely recognize the famous “O Hanukkah” ) intertwined into a head spinning virtuosic masterpiece – Dance Improvisation by Joseph Achron.
PROGRAM
Marc Lavry
Four Pieces op.236
1. Efrat
2. Danny
3. Ima (Lullaby)
4. Varda
Joseph Achron
Hebrew Dance op.35 (1919)
Alexander Krein
Caprice Hebraique op.24 (1917)
Paul Ben-Haim
Berceuse Sfaradite (1939)
Yehoachin Stutchewski
Rikud Atik/Ancient Dance (1956)
Issay Dobrowen
Melodie Hebraique op.12 (1923)
David Achron
Dance Improvisation Op. 37 (1914)
BIOGRAPHY
Gersh Chervinsky is a professional concert violinist and violin teacher based in Rockville, Maryland. He is the second-award winner of the Cremona Festival and Competition (Italy, 2012), and was a participant in the London Purcell School Music Festival (England, 2013), and the Keshet Eilon Festival (Israel, 2019).
Trained at the Moscow Conservatory, Jacobs School of Music, and Peabody Institute of Music, he exhibits the finest traditions of modern and baroque violin playing.
Gersh is an enthusiastic educator with extensive teaching experience. He has taught college students at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as an associate instructor of violin. He also taught exceptionally gifted pre-college students at the IU Summer String Academy. His students participated in the Heifetz Institute and performed for star violinists Stefan Jackiw and Ray Chen. Gersh teaches at his private studio in Rockville, MD.
For more information visit gershchervinsky.com
According to Washington Post, Irina Kats is a “splendidly able accompanist with “considerable emotional powers”.
Ms. Kats’ career started in her native Russia where she graduated with honors from Astrakhan Conservatory, studying with the highly respected and accomplished pianist Vasily Pavlov. She completed her studies at the Kazan Conservatory post-graduate program, receiving a Ph. D in Piano Performance and Pedagogy. She then joined the faculty at her alma-mater Astrakhan Conservatory and performed extensively in Russia as a soloist and chamber musician, including for TV and radio broadcasts. After moving to the US, Ms. Kats joined Levine Music in 1998 where she served as piano teacher, chamber music coach and accompanist for 24 years.
She relaunched her performance career in the US, appearing numerous times as a soloist and collaborative artist in the National Capital Area in many venues, including Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Ms. Kats performed with such outstanding soloists as flutist Sir Games Galway in Washington DC and violinist Mihai Craioveanu in Weil Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall and Holland Michigan.
Ms. Kats has also been a faculty member at the Illinois Chamber Music Festival since 2011, where she has performed a broad chamber repertoire with her colleagues in addition to coaching talented young musicians in chamber playing.
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