"Written in Breath" with Singer Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell

Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell, an African-American classically trained operatic bass, will introduce us to Yiddish song as yet another vibrant, relevant body of Jewish texts with which to engage, celebrate and–of course–argue about the continuities of Jewish spiritual and cultural life. Creating an a cappella musical conversation between Yiddish songs and more familiar classic Jewish texts, he will lead a lively discussion comparing and contrasting classic Jewish texts from Psalms, the Prophets, and the Talmud with texts from the Yiddish songs that he performs. Please join us for this inspiring musical program that is “Written in Breath.

“A Jew by choice, an opera singer by training, and a Yiddish singer by calling” (from the Times of Israel), Anthony Russell is an internationally known vocalist, composer and arranger specializing in Yiddish art and folk song, chazones and Chasidic nigunim. Reviewer Jason Victor Serinus describes him in the Bay Area Reporter as a “stunningly authentic, beautifully voiced singer of Yiddish art song.” Russell’s work in Jewish music has brought him to stages not only across the U.S. and Canada, including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., but also in Israel and at Limmud Fests in Europe. Russell moved to Massachusetts in 2017 when his husband, Rabbi Michael Rothbaum, became the Rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim in Acton. For more information about Russell, visit https://anthonyrussellbass.com.