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The South Miami News calls Sheba a "delightful all female Jewish music group" and praised its performances for demonstrating "virtuosic skill" and "elegant" musicianship.
Gregory Singer, Gregory Singer Fine Violins
"An amazing emotional and spiritual experience...a must see concert for all!"
Rhoda Levine, Artistic Director of Play It By Ears
"They are one of the most talented groups I have ever had the pleasure of working with."
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The Sheba Ensemble
Jewish Chamber Music Group
The Sheba Ensemble is a group of young, professional musicians committed to
promoting Jewish music with a unique and contemporary twist. Trained in the
classical style, the Sheba Ensemble blends a variety of traditions into its programming. Performing music ranging from traditional Jewish melodies with a touch of jazz and bossa nova to classical standards, Sheba presents lively and accessible performances for all occasions.
Sheba covers a broad range of repertoire styles, including Jewish music of the Ashkenazi and Sephardic traditions, popular tunes and classical Jewish composers. Sheba performs original arrangements by members of the ensemble and by Israeli composers Gilad Cohen and Ronnie Reshef.
As the chamber music ensemble in residence at Temple Shaaray Tefilah in Mt. Kisco, New York, Sheba can be seen regularly as part of its "Friday Night Live" series. The Sheba Ensemble has given performances at the Waltz Astoria, Temple Israel of Miami and Congregation Da'at Elohim in New York City and has been featured at Café Israel Concert Series for the Jewish Home for the Aged.
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Sheba's Mission
Sheba's mission is to promote traditional Jewish music and the music of contemporary Jewish composers. Through concert series at synagogues and other venues across the country, Sheba intends to present its audiences with a connection to Jewish heritage by performing traditional songs with an improvisational flair.
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Meet the Group
Talya Smilowitz, Soprano
A
native of West Hartford, Connecticut, Tayla performs regularly around the New York metropolitan area in a variety of musical styles. Operatic roles have included Suzanna in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, the soprano in Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti and Morgana in the Baroque Aria Ensemble's production of Alcina.
Equally at home on the concert stage, Ms. Smilowitz has been featured in the Wednesdays at One and Ten O'Clock Classics series at venues including Avery Fisher Hall and Makor. She will be part of Ten O'Clock's inaugural tour later this year. Other recent engagements have included a world premiere performance at Weill Hall, a recording of a new musical in development, a stage reading of Out of the Apple Orchard with the Mesaper Theater and a featured role in Shlomo, a new musical about the about the life and music of the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. Ms. Smilowitz also serves as cantorial soloist at Temple Shaaray Tefila in Bedford Hills, New York and teaches voice in New York City. She graduated from Manhattan School of Music and The Juilliard School, where she received the Lucrezia Bori Grant.
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Alicia Kravitz, Flutist
Alicia Kravitz
graduated from Columbia University with a double major in Music and American History and completed a Master of Music degree at the Manhattan School of Music. A winner of the Artists International Music Competition, Ms. Kravitz gave a professional debut recital at Carnegie Hall in 2007. Artists International recently named her an "Outstanding Alumni Winner” after her successful Carnegie Hall debut and will subsequently present her in a solo recital at Alice Tully Hall during the 2009 – 2010 season.
Alicia won prizes in several other music competitions including the Trinity Church "Concerts at One” Competition, the Artur Balsam Duo Competition, the Friday Woodmere Music Club Competition, the Yonkers Philharmonic Concerto Competition and the Great Neck Young Musicians Competition. She is currently a first year law student at Fordham University School of Law.
Gabrielle Fink, Violinist
Gabrielle Fink completed her Master of Music Degree and Bachelor of Music Degree at the Manhattan School of Music. She won prizes in several music competitions including the Mizner Competition, National Arts and Letters String Competition, Walenstein Violin Competition and the Harid String Competition for Young Musicians She has also served as a substitute member of the New World Symphony.
Ms. Fink has participated as a scholarship recipient at the Kneisel Hall, Sarasota and Bowdoin International Music Festivals and has performed with members of the Berlin Philharmonic at the Bargemusic Festival in Italy. She recently made her debut in film and will be featured as a solo violinist in an upcoming DreamWorks film titled Ghost Town. Ms. Fink has performed with the Ten O'Clock Classics music series and will be part of its inaugural tour later this year.
Leat Sabbah, Cellist
Leat Sabbah completed her Bachelor of Music degree at the Manhattan School of Music in 2008. She won prizes in the "Gradus ad Parnassum” Concerto Competition in Ukraine, the International Violoncello Competition in Austria and the Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition. She has given solo performances with the State Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Kiev Pop Symphonic Orchestra, Naumberg Orchestral Series and the Chernigiv Philharmonic Orchestra.
Leat has performed with the Trovao String Quartet at Trinity Church's "Concerts at One” Series and at other venues in New York and Connecticut and participated in Pinchas Zukerman's 2008 Young Artists' Program in Canada. Upcoming concerts include an apprenticeship in the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada under Pinchas Zukerman and solo performances in the Berlin Philharmonie Hall with the Deutsche-Skandinavische Jugend Philharmonie. Ms. Sabbah will also teach master classes to string quartets as a member of the Kubrick Quartet in Berlin, Germany.
Natalie Tenenbaum, pianist
Natalie Tenenbaum was born in Israel and graduated cum laude from the Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts in Givatayim, Israel. She completed her Bachelor of Music in piano performance at The Juilliard School in 2007. Ms. Tenenbaum is an avid performer of solo and chamber music and has performed in many concerts and master classes at venues including the Jerusalem Music Center, Lincoln Center and Kennedy Center.
A recipient of scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and the Ronen Foundation, Ms. Tenenbaum has toured Europe with the Youth Orchestra of the Americas and performed with the Israel Symphony Orchestra. Most recently she has served as Associate Conductor and Pianist for the European tour of Bernstein's West Side Story, the Asia tour of 42nd Street and the United States tour of Evita.
Also an accomplished jazz pianist, Ms. Tenenbaum received scholarships to attend the Berklee Summer Performance Program at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, in 1999 and 2001.
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