From Israeli covers to Old World klezmer, the main stage will be rockin’, rollin’ and even croonin’ from late morning till late afternoon on June 2 at Israel in the Gardens.
Several Bay Area groups — starting with Jewish day school students and progressing to Israeli American bands that play at clubs and parties — will take the stage. One ensemble, the Hebrew Project, is driving in from Stockton for the event — its first Israel in the Gardens performance. And the Tzofim Friendship Caravan would take the event’s globe-trotters’ prize, having traveled all the way from Israel.
Ensembles from Bran-deis Hillel Day School, Contra Costa Jewish Day School, Peninsula Temple Sholom and the JCC of San Francisco’s Tikvah School of Dance will kick off the entertainment at 11 a.m.
The Tzofim Friendship Caravan comes along at noon, featuring 10 teens — five girls and five boys. These Israel Scouts spend their summers traveling across the United States and Canada, serving as goodwill ambassadors. Besides bringing with them a bit of Israeli culture, music and dance, they also bring a message of peace.
Tenor George Komsky, whose set begins at 12:45 p.m., has traveled vast distances in his life. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, he immigrated to the United States with his family and grew up in the Bay Area. He has performed with River-dance, soloed with “Twelve Irish Tenors,” and most recently toured the United States and abroad with Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Chris Botti. He’s even sung the national anthem on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” (49ers against the Patriots, Dec. 16, 2012). Komsky will sing a combination of classical, Russian and Israeli favorites.
An African American choir might seem an unlikely candidate for Israel in the Gardens, but the Hebrew Project is just that. Fervent Israel supporters, the singers will perform cherished Hebrew melodies, under the direction of the Rev. Dumisani Washington from Stockton’s Congregation of Zion. They start at 1:45 p.m.
Immediately following is Tribal Blues Band. The local nine-piece group, which describes itself as a “power blues and funk machine,” features four horns and Tel Aviv–born vocalist Raya Zion. The local group has invited Peninsula Sinai Congregation’s cantor, Doron Shapira, to sit in on percussion. He, too, was born in Tel Aviv, and grew up in San Francisco.
Jerusalem-born Lior Ben-Hur leads Sol Tevél. The San Francisco-based band “integrates sounds, rhythms and multilingual lyrics from around the globe in order to advocate building a strong, conscious and united community worldwide,” according to its website. The group released its first album, “World Light,” last October.
In a profile in j., Ben-Hur said he, like many Israelis, grew up secular, with little knowledge of Judaism. Since moving to the Bay Area in 2004, he made up for lost time, working as a song leader at various congregations and receiving the Jewish education he missed in Israel.
At 2:40 p.m., the Peatot pays tribute to the Jewish state by delivering Israeli hits from the last 30 years. The South Bay-based band, with vocalists and musicians on the guitar, keyboard, bass and drums, performs throughout the Bay Area. All are transplants from the Holy Land who work in Silicon Valley.
And then there’s Orchestra Euphonos. The recently formed klezmer ensemble will make its San Francisco debut at Israel in the Gardens — not on the stage, but providing good vibes and a good beat for “Walk the Land 65,” a procession of Holy Land boosters waving Israeli flags, as they walk the perimeter of Yerba Buena Gardens.
Euphonium and trumpet player Peter Bonos formed the orchestra earlier this year with Jesse Shantor on tuba; Annie Cilley, violin and saxophone; Travis Hendrix, clarinet and violin; Joshua Jackson, cornet; and Kalei Yamanoha, accordion and trombone.
The band studies music by ear, learning melodies in the Ashkenazi traditions of northeastern Europe, then adding a distinctly modern sensibility. Orchestra Euphonos boasts a strong rhythmic brass band feel, paired with a joyful and bittersweet melodic sensibility.
The procession — a show of pride in and solidarity with Israel — starts at 1:30 p.m.