New York, October 25th: Tzvi Avni's Song Cycle 'If This Is a Man' Opens the International Symposium on Primo Levi

For the first time this year the International Symposium "New Voices on Primo Levi" will be opened by a concert featuring works on Primo Levi by contemporary composers.

Greetings: Consul General of Italy Francesco Maria Talò, Consul General of Israel Asaf Shariv, Israel Ambassador at the UN Gabriela Shalev.

The reception is

The inaugural concert on October 25th at the Center for Jewish History in New York will feature the song cycle If This Is a Man, that the Israeli composer Tzvi Avni based on five poems by Primo Levi.

The piece was initially composed for orchestra and soprano and has been recorded by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. That version premiered in New York in 1999 as part of the Interfaith Concert of Remembrance. The version for piano and soprano, featuring German virtuoso  Rainer Ambrust and the prodigious Israeli soprano Sharon Rorstorf-Zamir, was created for this event.

Before the concert, Prof. Andrew Viterbi, scientist, inventor, educator, and philanthropist will open the symposium at the Center for Jewish History on October 25 with a personal reflection on Primo Levi, his cousin and friend.

Following the concert Tzvi Avni will be in conversation with Juilliard faculty Samuel Adler.
 

"New Voices on Primo Levi" is one of the main international windows on the work of the Italian writer and scientist, held by Centro P4rimo Levi in collaboration with the New York University and the CUNY Graduate Center.

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