The Old World Folk Band, based in Harrisburg, PA will present a special regional program in Lancaster County on Wednesday, November 4 from 7:00 pm at the Lancaster Jewish Community Center, 2120 Oregon Pike, Lancaster, PA.  The program is in celebration of this year’s One Book, One Community book, People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. 

 

The talented musicians and educators in the band will present a program that will make the People of the Book come alive to all who attend. The presentation will include an explanation of the Haggadah and its interpretation in different cultural settings across time. Examples of illustrated Haggadahs from around the world will be available for examination.

 

Susan Leviton will also demonstrate the art of Hebrew hand-lettering with a special emphasis on the style of the Sarajevo Hagaddah, comparing it with Hebrew lettering arts from other geographic regions.  Like art and writing, music reflects different cultures and times. The presenters will demonstrate how culture is preserved and passed down through time and how people in disparate cultures and faiths act both simply and heroically to preserve music and the arts.  There will also be opportunities for participants to share their own experiences.

 

The band will perform music representing different periods evoked in People of the Book, including a Judeo-Spanish Passover song from Sarajevo and a Yiddish Passover song about a family of crypto-Jews who escaped the Spanish Inquisition.

 

The Old World Folk Band has performed Klezmer and Eastern European folk music educating audiences in the northeast US for 28 years. The band’s singer, Susan Leviton is known nationally for her skills and work as a calligrapher in the Jewish tradition.  For more information about the Old World Folk Band, go to their website at: http://www.oldworldfolkband.org/

 

The Old World Folk Band regional performances were funded in part by the PA Council on the Arts.  Calligrapher Susan Leviton is available for interview.  Please contact her at gorlev@aol.com or 717 236-0146. 

 

The Old World Folk Band will also present programs throughout the region during the One Book Campaign:  Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lebanon, Perry, and York counties.   For more information, go to www.oboc.org

 

Major sponsors of One Book, One Community are WGAL TV 8, the Robert H. & Beverly U. Fowler Family Foundation, Isaac’s Restaurant and Deli, Giant Foods, K&L Gates LLP, and ShowcasePA! Magazine. Glatfelter, a local paper company, is providing copies of this year’s book for outreach purposes throughout the seven counties.

 

One Book, One Community --- now in its seventh year---is led by libraries in Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry and York.  The regional reading campaign is intended to promote the value of reading by recommending a compelling book that links the community in a common conversation. Several communities across the country have initiated “One Book” efforts, but One Book, One Community, is the largest such effort in Pennsylvania. To learn more about One Book, One Community visit the website at www.oboc.org.

 

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