Maxine Fischbein
for the JFP

Last year, when Calgary mezzo-soprano Faye Sidorsky sang Kol Nidre on Erev Yom Kippur at Temple B'nai Tikvah, it was an inspirational experience - both for her and for the congregants. One man wrote to her, saying that he had never been moved to such a deep spirituality as when he heard her rendition of the traditional prayer.

"If I can do that for one person, I'm on the right path," Sidorsky told the JFP.

That path has taken Sidorsky on a voyage of discovery of Jewish music, culminating in the recording of a CD and an upcoming concert here in Calgary. As her stage name, Sidorsky uses her Hebrew name, Tsepora, which fittingly means bird.

A very talented songbird, Tsepora will serenade a hometown audience on Thursday, May 3, as she presents "A Timeless Journey Through Jewish Song" at the Beth Tzedec Synagogue.

It was not only the Temple B'nai Tikvah experience that inspired Sidorsky to look more closely into Jewish music. The spark was kindled six months earlier at the Yom HaShoah service at the Beth Tzedec, which Sidorsky attended with her grandmother, Eva Davis.

According to Sidorsky, Davis survived Auschwitz-Birkenau because she sang for her life, entertaining Nazi officers in exchange for a little more soup or another crust of bread. While singing saved her grandmother's life, Sidorsky is now turning her attention to saving Jewish songs she feels are at risk of perishing.

"My grandmother sang to survive. I sing to keep these songs alive."

Although Klezmer music is enjoying a huge revival in the Jewish community and popularity far beyond it, and other singers are reviving Yiddish classics, few are bringing operatic voices to the musical task.

Trained as a classical singer, Sidorsky has sung with both the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and the Calgary Opera. So when it comes to the Jewish music scene, she has found a unique niche.

"No one is doing this in an opera form, except for Jan Pierce, and he is gone," says Sidorsky.

Coincidentally, another very talented singer hailing originally from Calgary - Teresa Tova - recently released a CD that combines her sultry voice with Yiddish favourites and a jazz beat.

Over the past few months, Sidorsky has been working on her own CD, which will be released in time for the May 3 Calgary concert.

The project began with extensive research in New York. Then each of the Yiddish and Hebrew favourites Sidorsky chose for the CD was arranged especially for her. Recorded locally at The Beach Advanced Audio Recording Studio, the CD includes such favourites as Erev Shel Shoshanim, the theme song from the movie Exodus, Avinu Malkeinu, Oifn Pripitchik, and Rozhinkes Mit Mandlen.

Additional musical treats that might not be as familiar to Tsepora's audience include Song of the Titanic and Ocho Kandelikas. Not to be confused with Celine Dion's recent popular song about the Titanic, Song of the Titanic is a Yiddish melody first performed two years after the "unsinkable" ship went down to the bottom of the sea.

"It is a beautiful song," says Sidorsky, "I was so thrilled to find it."

Ocho Kandelikas is a Spanish Chanukah song, representing a very different musical style and underscoring the fact that variety is the spice of Jewish music, as well as Tsepora's CD and her upcoming concert.

"There is a huge variety," says Sidorsky.

From merengue to jazz, to full operatic sound, "A Timeless Journey through Jewish Song" will have something for virtually every musical taste.

"It's been a real stretch for me as a performer," says Sidorsky.

Another challenge came with nailing down the pronunciation of Yiddish. While Sidorsky has a great deal of experience working with diction coaches in order to deliver authentic renditions in the romance languages, things got a little trickier when it comes to the mama loshen.

When singing in Italian, says Sidorsky, "There is an accepted standard in the opera world for how words are pronounced."

It is a little tougher with Yiddish, since much depends on where the speaker comes from.

"I'm finding that a little unnerving," says Sidorsky. "I want it to be correct for everybody, but you're not going to please everybody."

Sidorsky sought coaching in the correct pronunciation of Hebrew, although she already had a good start, having received her elementary education at the Calgary Hebrew School.

She then attended Strathcona-Tweedsmuir for grades seven through 12, later studying pre-law at the University of Calgary while continuing her musical training.

For now, though, Sidorsky has put law on the back burner.

"I can always be a lawyer," says the young diva, "but I don't know if I can always be a singer."

Sidorsky has performed in 10 Calgary Opera productions as a member of the chorus, and she has performed "the girl" in Carmen and "the page" in Rigoletto, as well as performing Opera excerpts for the Devonian Concert Series.

Highlights of her career have, so far, included solo roles in A Midsummer Nights Dream and Leonard Bernstein's Mass with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Hans Graf, and in Elijah with the Calgary International Organ Festival.

Sidorsky even has a sound track under her musical belt, for a 1998 animated film featuring Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

Following her cantorial debut at Temple B'nai Tikvah last fall, Sidorsky/Tsepora also performed Yiddish songs at B'nai Jeshurun Synagogue in New York.

It will be a busy autumn for Sidorsky who will be back at Temple B'nai Tikvah as Cantorial soloist for the High Holy Days. She also plans to wed fiancé Joel Steinberg in a September 2 ceremony in Toronto. And if all goes well for the May 3 concert, she - and her mother Gail Sidorsky who acts as Faye's manager - would like to take the performance on the road.

"I'd like to create awareness. There are stories... musical histories to these songs. I have found treasures and dusted them off," Sidorsky said.

Her odyssey into Jewish music, while a hectic one, is turning out to be a spiritually fulfilling one as well.

"It feels right for me. I feel like I'm working really hard, but God is saying, 'Good for you, you're on the right track.'

"When I sing these songs and people feel moved, I feel they have the feeling Jews have had since the beginning of time.

"People survived horrible things because of the Jewish spirit that links us all. For me to express it with my voice... There is no greater happiness for me than to be able to do that."

Tsepora/Sidorsky is also spreading the happiness around, sharing the proceeds from ticket sales for her May 3 performance with local Jewish organizations who are selling tickets, including Jewish Family Service Calgary, Calgary Jewish Academy and the Calgary Jewish Centre.

For more information on Tsepora, and her upcoming concert, music lovers can check out her website at www.tsepora.com.