Singing of Ascents // שירת המעלות
An Audio-Visual Site-Specific Piece
Eretz Israel Museum's Planetarium, Tel Aviv
2017
(12 min.)
The Brody Synagogue, Odessa, 1910.
Every Saturday, a large and diverse crowd – observant and secular Jews, and their non-Jewish neighbours – filled the sanctuary of the elegant Brody synagogue to hear the beautiful singing of the choir. The performances were the pinnacle of the week for the assembled. A moment when dreams were dreamed, intentions were clarified and desires became clear. A moment in which music, emotion, and spirituality merged into one place and time.
Singing of Ascents is an original audio-visual site-specific event inspired by those moments. For one evening, the Eretz Israel Museum Planetarium was transformed into a sacred sanctuary, a new galaxy where audiences embarked on a personal journey examining the eternity of yearning and issues surrounding place and identity.
The 12-minute audio piece uses a historic recording of Brody Synagogue choir (originally recorded in the 1930s), as well as original texts and compositions.
Premiered at the Odessa Tel Aviv Festival, Eretz-Israel Museum (Tel-Aviv, IL), September 2017.
Credits:
By: Yifeat Ziv
Co-Creator & Video Art: Yoav Ronat
Sound Design: Gavriel Mandel
Artistic Accompaniment: Yael Biegon Citron & Alex Riff
Premiered at the Odessa Tel-Aviv Festival, September 2017