Concert: "A Kaifeng Siddur"—Honoring the Kaifeng Jewish Community

IF WE ARE SOLD OUT ON EVENTBRITE, GET YOUR TICKETS ON THE MUSEUM’S BOOKING SITE! CLICK HERE

Join us in the Museum at Eldridge Street’s historic Main Sanctuary on Sunday, May 4th at 3pm for a special concert in honor of both Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month and Jewish American Heritage Month.
Tracing their roots back to Mizrahi merchants in Persia, the Jewish community of Kaifeng, China is over a millennium old, and an incredible example of both cultural assimilation and preservation in a new land.
Composer David Serkin Ludwig’s A Kaifeng Siddur, commissioned by Music From China, explores the intersection of the two ancient cultures of China and the Jewish Diaspora. This work imagines the sounds of Jewish holy services in Northern Song Dynasty Kaifeng, using disparate instruments (both Chinese and Western) to create a vivid and rarely heard soundscape as divergent cultures meet and mingle.
After A Kaifeng Siddur, we will hear another new piece from master erhu-player and composer Wang Guowei based on a Tang Dynasty poem by Li Bai (also known as Li Po). Like Ludwig, Wang combines Eastern and Western musical traditions. A traditional Chinese music program will follow these two contemporary compositions, telling a story of shared humanity with universal themes of war and peace, folklife, nature, and poetry.

Musicians: Wang Guowei (erhu: 2-string fiddle), Sun Li (pipa: pear-shaped lute), Susan Cheng (daruan: cylindrical lute), Hong-Da Chin (dizi: transverse flute), Jordan Dodson (guitar), Laura Cocks (alto flute), TBA (cello), Dai Wei (vocals)

Program to Include: DAVID SERKIN LUDWIG A Kaifeng Siddur (contemporary); WANG GUOWEI Drinking Alone with the Moon (contemporary); Variations on the Song of Yang Guan (traditional); Ambush on Ten Sides (traditional); Moonlit River in Spring (traditional); Wedding Processional (traditional); Song of Henan (traditional)

Concert Tickets (Include Museum Admission):
Adult $30 plus Eventbrite fees (at-the-door $35)
Student / Senior $25 plus Eventbrite fees (at-the-door $30)
Child 5-17 $15 plus Eventbrite fees(at-the-door $20)
Child under 5 FREE
Cool Culture Pass / SNAP Benefits $5 plus Eventbrite fees
There is no reserved seating. If you have a special promo/discount code, it will only be active on the Museum’s booking site.

“A KAIFENG SIDDUR”
David Ludwig’s, A Kaifeng Siddur, 12–15 minutes in duration, is composed for a combination of Chinese and Western Instruments, and explores the unique Jewish community of Kaifeng. Ludwig’s musical material draws from Chinese classical performance practice and Hebrew liturgical traditions.
Though the Kaifeng Jewish community largely assimilated into Chinese culture, they kept many Jewish traditions alive, as evidenced by a number of artifacts, manuscripts, and oral tradition. One example of these extant documents is a siddur (Jewish prayer book) that uses Chinese characters, Hebrew, and some Judeo-Persian.
As an artist invested in his own Jewish heritage and composer who has written for diverse orchestrations (including Asian instruments), Ludwig is especially well-suited to create a new work for Music from China. His studies in the music of Central Asia helped inform his creative process as he composed this compelling piece.
The message of A Kaifeng Siddur intends to recognize the coming together of two separate cultures to show how communities can learn to not only coexist but thrive together as they share traditions and values. It is that very human desire for inclusion that inspires the work—music that seeks to promote mutual respect, understanding, and empathy in its listeners.
Learn more about Ludwig at davidludwigmusic.com.

MUSIC FROM CHINA
Music From China is a New York-based chamber ensemble performing eclectic programs of traditional Chinese music and cutting-edge contemporary work. Established in 1984, the group has appeared at cultural institutions and campuses from The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Boston Early Music Festival to Texas A&M and Princeton University. With a mission to promote Chinese music to American audiences and beyond, Music From China engages in performances, lectures and touring, new music commissioning, arts education, and youth orchestra training.

MUSEUM AT ELDRIDGE STREET
The Museum at Eldridge Street is housed in the Eldridge Street Synagogue, a magnificent National Historic Landmark that has been meticulously restored. Opened in 1887, the synagogue is the first great house of worship built in America by Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Today, it is the only remaining marker of the great wave of Jewish migration to the Lower East Side that is open to a broad public who wishes to visit Jewish New York. Exhibits, tours, public programs, and education initiatives tell the story of Jewish immigrant life, explore architecture and historic preservation, inspire reflection on cultural continuity, and foster collaboration and exchange between people of all faiths, heritages, and interests.
Learn more at eldridgestreet.org

Image Credits: Museum at Eldridge Street Main Sanctuary, Scott Brevda (2023); Page with names in Hebrew and Chinese from a Kaifeng Jewish prayer book. Courtesy of the Klau Library in Cincinnati.