Michael Tilson Thomas hosts "The Tomashefskys: Music & Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater"

Sibelius Composer-Conductor Brings Grandparents' Legacy to New York and San Francisco

Americans are heirs to many cultural legacies, and one of these is the story of the massive Jewish immigration to New York City. Although Manhattan's Lower East Side at the turn of the 20th century conjures up visions of crowded streets, pushcarts and sweatshops, few are aware of the intensity of creative activity of those years and of its most public and unifying expression - the Yiddish Theater.

Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky, two young Jewish émigrés, were founding members and pioneers of America's Yiddish Theatre. They were not only superstar performers, but also entrepreneurs who drew countless authors, composers, actors, musicians, producers and designers into their creative circle. Through comedy and drama, they tackled new themes reflecting the challenges of American immigrants.

Their plays and operettas were pioneering and reflected new artistic forms in scriptwriting, musical composition, choreography, acting, direction and scene design. And, although this early phase of Yiddish theatre was short-lived, its influence continued as succeeding generations went on to Broadway, Hollywood and elsewhere, giving a distinctive edge to American popular culture.

Joseph Rumshinsky, composer of many of Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky's most popular musicals, wrote:

"The situation of the composer in the Yiddish theater in general is a sad one. The world can never get to know his better musical creations, because the whole score in which the ensembles, serious duets, romances, and the better songs are found seldom, indeed hardly ever, gets to print."

Rumshinsky was right in that a large number of the scores have vanished. But not all.

The Thomashefsky Project was founded in July 1998 in order to rescue the story of both the Thomashefskys' work and the early American Yiddish theatre's contribution to American cultural life. Through the work of The Project, many disintegrating scores have been located and preserved. Extant fragments of musical manuscripts, discovered at various archives, have been pieced together and transcribed into a digitized music program. Many scripts have also been rescued, copied and, in many cases, translated for the first time.

The culmination of the first period of research will be performances on evenings in April and June of 2005 in New York City and San Francisco . Sibelius user Michael Tilson Thomas, Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Director of the New World Symphony and President of The Thomashefsky Project, serves as a guide through the lives and repertoire of his grandparents, Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky. Although his grandfather died before he was born, his grandmother lived until he was seventeen, and his close relationship with her and many of her colleagues is a source of much of the material.

"My grandparents became great stars," says Tilson Thomas. "They found themselves smack in the public eye, and were subject to adulation and relentless scrutiny. Legions of crazed fans were obsessed with every detail of their work and their lives. It was a far cry from the simple Jewish family life in the Ukrainian villages of their origins. In the old country, there was already an answer to every question. Now, in a new land of total freedom, new unimagined questions were waiting around every glittering corner.

"They wanted to use their theater to explore these new questions and serve as a forum to search for possible answers. I marvel at what they attempted and how well they succeeded, from the classics to avant garde dramas to original productions based on current events and Jewish life. They did Shakespeare, Ansky, Chekhov, their own versions of Uncle Tom's Cabin , Faust , and even a production of Wagner's Parsifal ."

Bessie's most famous roles included Salome , Khantshe in America , an independent-minded immigrant who wanted to be a chauffeur, and Minke Di Dinstmoyd (Minke the Maid). Minke was a modern-day Pygmalion, for which Bessie created the character of the wise-cracking Jewish lady that we all know so well from later performances by Fanny Brice and Barbara Streisand.

Boris was well-known for his portrayal of Hamlet in Der Yisheve Bokher , a version of the classic, "translated and improved upon by Boris Thomashefsky," as the poster read. He played King Lear, Romeo , Judah Maccabee and the "Jewish Yankee Doodle."

At the height of their influence, the Thomashefskys owned theatres in and out of New York, published their own magazine The Yiddish Stage , wrote columns in popular Yiddish newspapers, sponsored and encouraged new generations of young artists, brought many Yiddish artists to the U.S., tirelessly raised funds for social causes and, through it all, were adventurous trend-setters.

From the early Yiddish Theatre comes a musical sound that few have heard integrating aspects of Eastern European klezmer and cantorial modes with elements of opera and operetta. With time the music incorporated more American scales and rhythms as Eastern European Jewish composers became more aware of their new surroundings. In the history of American stage this music comprises an important model for the growth of both Tin Pan |Alley and Broadway and influenced the works of composers who grew up in its shadow, like Irving Berlin and George Gershwin.

Performances at Carnegie/Zankel Hall in New York (April 16-17) and Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco (June 29) will include material selected from the Thomashefskys' individual autobiographies, excerpts from their plays, and other original materials from their repertoire. All will be woven together with archival visuals to bring an important expression in American culture to life.

To date, there are more than 100,000 Sibelius users worldwide, including composer Sammy Nestico, guitarist Andy Summers, choral composer John Rutter and television composer Alf Clausen.

Notes to editors

About Sibelius

Sibelius Software Ltd. is based in London, England. Its U.S. subsidiary, Sibelius USA, Inc., is located at 1407 Oakland Blvd., Suite 103, Walnut Creek, California, 94596 and has offices in Baltimore, Cleveland, Dallas and Nashville. Sibelius products are available worldwide in more than 100 countries. For more information, contact Sibelius USA at phone (925) 280-0600; fax (925) 280-0008; on the Web at www.sibelius.com; or via e-mail at infoUSA@sibelius.com.