Jewish People's Philharmonic Chorus       Keeping Yiddish choral music alive!    2007 - 2008 MEMBERS Jo Abrams John Authers Nan Bases Muriel Beckerman Judith Bro Chaya Cohen Janet Cohen Alisa Eilenberg Menachem Ejdelman Jane Ellis Jen Epstein Irene Friedland Joan Singer Frieman Toby Garfinkel Avrum Geller Susan Goldberg Jack Grossman Linda Jacknow Elliott Kahn Ruth Katz Alice Kogan Lynda Kraar Marc Crawford Leavitt Lori Leifer Stuart Malkin Lisa Rochman Mechanick Libi Miransky Paul Olson  Johanna Reissman Tina Rosenberg Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath Claire Schaffer Janet Scharf Ruth Shapiro Mark Somerstein Shirley Weiner Janice Weintraub Robert Winograd Jennifer Young Yael Zickel The Jewish People's Philharmonic Chorus (JPPC) is a New York City-based chorus dedicated to preserving and fostering a love of Yiddish music. In their unique mission, the JPPC comes together to sing strictly in Yiddish, rediscovering and reinterpreting traditional works from the Eastern European shtetl, as well as new songs with a contemporary sound. Founded in 1922 as the "Freiheit Gezang Farein," the Chorus began as a musical expression of the Jewish labor movement. It has evolved into an intergenerational chorus with a solid reputation as an interpreter of a wide range of choral material. One of the longest continually performing Yiddish choruses in North America, the JPPC currently has more than 30 members, as well as a smaller chamber ensemble for special events. Performing for diverse audiences in the greater New York area has enabled the JPPC to carry Yiddish music to people of all ages. Recent venues have included Lincoln Center, Shea Stadium, Ground Zero, the North American Jewish Choral Festival, Queens College, Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun and the Museum of Jewish Heritage. Zingt! A Celebration of Yiddish Choral Music, the JPPC's first CD, was released in 2006. Committed to bringing Yiddish music into the 21st Century, the JPPC continues a long tradition of recordings that began in 1948. Generous donations to the Chorus by individuals and foundations provided the impetus for this project. Binyumen Schaechter has conducted the JPPC since 1995. Binyumen ('Ben') Schaechter is an award-winning composer of musicals and other songs which have been performed on five continents, with his music represented off-Broadway in PETS! (Dramatic Publishing), THAT'S LIFE! (Outer Critics Circle nomination), TOO JEWISH? (nominated: Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards) and DOUBLE IDENTITY. His most recent musical, DINNER AT EIGHT, won BMI's Jerry Bock Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre. His music has been performed by Tovah Feldshuh and Andrea Marcovicci and has been recorded on ten CDs, including IT HELPS TO SING ABOUT IT, Songs of Ben Schaechter and Dan Kael. As an actor, Ben was featured with Anna Deveare Smith in her one-woman show in Carnegie Hall. Ben is also musical director of the Pripetshik Singers, the one-of-a-kind ensemble of native-Yiddish-speaking children, which has been documented in the film, PRIPETSHIK SINGS YIDDISH! In 2008, he is touring with both of his daughters, "Di Shekhter-tekhter" performing the revue, OUR ZEYDAS AND BUBBAS AS CHILDREN in Europe, North America and Australia. He has also performed across North America with his elder daughter, Reyna, in FROM KINAHORA TO CONEY ISLAND, his musical revue about the Jewish experience in America. In Fall 2006, he premiered THE YIDDISH TOP CHAI - A SING-ALONG COUNTDOWN OF THE 18 YIDDISH SONGS PEOPLE MOST LOVE TO SING, and before that, had toured with his one-man show, THE SHTETL COMES TO LIFE. He provided the translations for the first-ever DVD with Yiddish subtitles, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HANK GREENBERG. He and his 3 sisters all speak only Yiddish with their children, giving his parents 16 fluent-Yiddish- speaking grandchildren.