PORTLAND YOUTH PHILHARMONIC PRESENTS FREE CONCERT AT CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL WITH SPECIAL GUEST CANTOR IDA RAE CAHANA
Posted on January 7, 2020
PORTLAND, OR – Portland Youth Philharmonic’s chamber orchestra Camerata PYP, led by Musical Director David Hattner, invites audiences to a very special performance on Thursday, January 30, 2020, at 7:00 PM at Congregation Beth Israel (1972 NW Flanders St., Portland, OR 97209). The free concert will feature guest artists Jesse Nieman, on piano, and Congregation Beth Israel’s Cantor Ida Rae Cahana, as vocalist.
16-year-old Nieman is a student at Portland Community College and in addition to playing piano, plays violin in PYP’s Conservatory Orchestra. He currently studies piano with Pauline
Eidemiller and violin with Inés Voglar Belgique, Oregon Symphony’s Assistant Principal Second Violin and conductor of PYP’s Young String Ensemble.
Ida Rae Cahana made history at the age of seventeen when she became one of the first woman to sing in a synagogue as a cantor. She later received ordination through the Hebrew Union College. Cantor Cahana has since appeared on Broadway with Phyllis Newman, and in concerts at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall with Thomas Lauderdale and Pink Martini. In 2012, she became the senior cantor for Congregation Beth Israel in Portland, OR, where she serves with her husband, Senior Rabbi Michael Cahana.
The concert will include music by Felix Mendelssohn, Oregon composer Ernest Bloch, Gerald Finzi, Julius Chajes, and David Avshalomov, son of PYP’s longest serving Musical Director, Jacob Avshalomov.
The performance on January 30th is free and all are welcome. Full details can be found at www.portlandyouthphil.org/chamberseries.