18 May 2025, Linden Church, Berlin

On 18 May 2025, the Ukrainian-German Choir Schwalben, directed by Oleksandr Yerchenko, and the German-Polish Choir Spotkanie, under my leadership as choir conductor, gave a joint concert at the Linden Church in Wilmersdorf, Berlin.

Each choir presented a rich and colorful program. Spotkanie performed seven songs, including traditional folk tunes, a vivid scene from a wedding, and the beautifully melancholic Uwoz mamo roz from the Kurpie region. The repertoire also included lighter traditional German songs, such as Man sagt, die Liebe drückt die Augen zu and Eine kleine Melodie (“My Little Melody”).

The Schwalben choir captivated the audience with six songs, which they sang – and at times danced to – with great spirit. Their program featured Ukrainian folk songs as well as the beloved Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, arranged specially by their conductor.

At the end of the concert, both choirs joined forces to perform three songs together: a German folk song, a Ukrainian folk song, and Modlitwa o pokój (“A Prayer for Peace”) by Henryk Blacha.

Before and after the concert, attendees had the opportunity to sample homemade Ukrainian food and purchase handcrafted items made by Ukrainian women living in Berlin. The event was very well attended, and both ensembles received warm and enthusiastic applause.

I have recently released my third album third album, this time with Songs of the Jewish Underworld. You can listen to it for free on bandcamp or pay to get access to downloadable audio files with the best sound quality: https://izabellagoldstein.bandcamp.com/album/songs-of-jewish-thieves-and-prostitutes

Before the Second World War, Poland had the highest proportions of Jews among its population of any independent country in the world. Jews had their own ‘underworld’, populated by petty pickpockets, thieves, prostitutes, murderers and an organised mafia. A number of songs exist from and about this underworld. The songs in question were sung sometimes in Yiddish, sometimes in Polish, and sometimes to Polish folk tunes. Many of them tell stories of infamous Jewish figures of that time. The Jews described are not always good but always truly ‘human’ – with strong emotions and willing to kill for love, revenge or honour. This album presents eight of such songs, recorded live in concert at the Players Theatre in Dublin.

The Berliner Mozart-Chor is the oldest independent youth choir in Germany. Our three age groups regularly perform (e.g. annual Christmas concert at the Berlin Philharmonic), take part in choir festivals and organise choir trips. We sing not only Mozart 🙂

Our rehearsals take place each Wednesday evening (except school holidays) in the assembly hall on the 3rd floor of the Birger-Forell-Grundschule, near S+U Bundesplatz / Heidelberger Platz.
We are always looking for new members, just come to a rehearsal! Registration: mitsingen@berliner-mozart-chor.de

On 16 November I will have a pleasure to sing, as part of the Ernst Senff Chor, Verdi’s Requiem at the Berlin Cathedral. More information about the concert and the link through which you can buy tickets are available here on the website of Berliner Dom.