World-class musicians familiar to Dayton chamber music lovers will offer a concert program of century-old Jewish Russian compositions as part of the Cultural Arts and Book Festival on Nov. 18 at Beth Abraham Synagogue.

The Vogler Quartet from Berlin and clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein will team up for a program in their Zimro Project repertoire, performing works of Osvaldo Golijov and composers of the New Jewish School, a group of Jewish composers living in Russia at the turn of the 20th century.

New Jewish School composers used Yiddish and Hebrew themes in their art music and chamber works.

The name Zimro, which means singing in Hebrew, was the name of a clarinet sextet established in St. Petersburg in 1917 to play New Jewish School compositions.

Among the pieces on the program will be Golijov’s The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind.

The Vogler Quartet was established in 1985. A year later, the ensemble won the International String Quartet Competition in Evian, along with the Critics’ Prize and a special prize for the best interpretation of a contemporary work.

The quartet has performed on the Chamber Music Yellow Springs series in 1989 and 2008.
Fiterstein was born in Belarus and raised in Israel. He played on Dayton’s Vanguard Concerts series in 2003 and 2005. The recipient of the 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant Award, he has performed with orchestras and in recital halls around the globe.

— Marshall Weiss

The Vogler Quartet with Clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 7 p.m. at Beth Abraham Synagogue. $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Call 853-0372 or go to jccdayton.org for more information.