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The Kwartin Project
In the Biblical book of Numbers, in the weekly Torah reading referred to as Parshah Pinchas, it is recounted how at the end of the plague that afflicted the Jews during their wandering in the desert, God instructed Moses to take an account of the people. Moses conducted a census to learn about the state of the community after a time of crisis.
Chapters
Conversations: The Kwartin Project
In the narration of his life story, Kwartin presents a serious childhood illness as an emotional pedagogy that trained him to communicate the traumas of the Jewish community.
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The Kwartin Project: Mayn Lebn, Chapter 6
The story of Kwartin’s first performance draws surprising connections between anti-Jewish violence, inter-faith cooperation and liturgical music performance.
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The Kwartin Project: Mayn Lebn, Chapter 7
Zawel Kwartin portrays the musical life of his childhood hometown as having offered a paradigm of Jewish art that shaped his music and later career.
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The Kwartin Project: Mayn Lebn, Chapter 8
A visit from a traveling cantor and choir ignites a world of fantasy in the mind of an artistic small-town boy.
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The Kwartin Project: Mayn Lebn, Chapter 9
In a fanciful vignette, Kwartin describes how one of the best-known cantors of the 19th century predicted his future greatness.
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The Kwartin Project: A Happy Surprise Ending
When the descendants of a legendary cantor heard of a research project celebrating their revered ancestor, a surprising treasure was revealed.
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