Breast cancer does not discriminate based on religion and the battle against this deadly disease is supported by people of all faiths.  Temple Israel will host the premiere of a new work “A Righteous Soul” by composer Jonathan Leshnoff in a concert by the Aeon Ensemble on October 18.

 

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an initiative that began in 1985 by major charities to promote early detection via mammogram. In the belief that there are always new ways to support breast cancer awareness, Jonathan Leshnoff, associate professor of music at Towson University in Maryland, has been commissioned to premiere a new composition, entitled A Righteous Soul, at a concert on Sunday, October 18, at Temple Israel, 7023 Cass Street.

 

            Leshnoff wrote the composition for the Aeon Ensemble, an all-female, Omaha-based oboe, viola, and piano trio, that will perform at the 5 p.m. Women of Valor Concert with Cantor Wendy Shermet of Temple Israel.

 

.           Acquiring an international reputation as one of America’s most gifted young composers, Leshnoff was asked to write the composition in memory of Omahan Florence Eisenberg, the sister of William Nerenberg, who is Leshnoff’s manager. Nerenberg is one of the commissioners of the music together with George Eisenberg, Florence’s husband; St. Paul Methodist Church; and Temple Israel.

 

            Named by the Baltimore Sun in 2006 as an “artist to watch,” Leshnoff, 34, is currently riding the crest of a wave of popularity that has resulted in international performances of his works by the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Iris Chamber, Buffalo, Tokyo Philharmonic, Madrid, Kansas City symphony orchestras, the National Gallery (in Washington, D.C.), Curtis Institute of Music (in Philadelphia), and National Repertory Orchestras, according to Leshnoff’s website.

 

            Three recordings devoted exclusively to Leshnoff’s music are scheduled for release on the Naxos American Classics label. One recording will be premiered by Michael Stern and the Iris Chamber Orchestra. The Baltimore Chamber Orchestra and violinist Charles Wetherbee will perform the second release featuring Leshnoff’s violin concerto. The third disc features Leshnoff’s chamber music.

 

            Other recent works by Leshnoff, who is originally from New Jersey, include a double concerto performed by the Curtis Symphony at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, a string sextet for Concertante premiered at Merkin Hall in New York City, and a quartet for viola, harp, flute, and percussion by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.  

 

            He has also been named the composer-in-residence with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra.

 

            All proceeds will be used to support breast cancer awareness. A reception, sponsored by the Women of Reform Judaism, an auxiliary of Temple Israel, will follow the concert. Dr. Ken Cowan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Eppley Institute, and director of the Eppley Cancer Center, has been invited to speak at the event.

 

            Tickets, for sale in advance (call 556-6536) or at the door, will cost $18 per person and $10 each for students. Patron tickets will also be available.

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