Synagogue Nights return to Manchester Jewish Museum

Manchester Jewish Museum has just announced their 2024 programme of the audiences’ much-loved Synagogue Nights: a series of intimate performances in their 150-year old Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue. Starting this October, audiences can see theatre shows and live music, with shows celebrating Jewish art in all its diversity.

Situated on Cheetham Hill Road in one of Manchester’s most culturally diverse areas and the city’s historic Jewish quarter, Manchester Jewish Museum creates a space for sharing and connection, through art, food and creative experiences for all. And every autumn, its 1874 grade II* listed Spanish and Portuguese synagogue turns into a performance venue.

This autumn, Synagogue Nights are back with a packed programme of events, spanning multiple genres, including puppetry, Ladino music and much more. This season celebrates Jewish art in all its diversity with some special Sephardi highlights, as a nod to the museum’s Spanish and Portuguese synagogue’s 150^th anniversary.

The season will begin on Sunday, 27 October with an electrifying performance by Nani Noam Vazana. Nani is one of few artists in the world that writes and composes new songs in the endangered Ladino language - the language, close to Spanish, spoken by the Jewish population of multifaith Spain in the 15th century.

Nani learned Ladino from her Moroccan grandmother in hiding, as her father forbade them to speak the language at home. In her fourth solo album, Ke Haber ('What's New'), she revitalizes the ancient, matriarchal language and culture, bringing it into the 21st century with powerful lyrics that explore themes of migration, gender, and female empowerment. The music blends tradition with modernity, evoking the lively atmosphere of a marketplace through a mix of raw, flamenco-inspired vocals and unexpected instrumentation.

On Thursday, 31 October, the museum will welcome Dekel, Israel-born singer-songwriter, whose vibrant, yet gentle music spans various eclectic genres, from folky jazz to indie alternative. Dekel and her band will be performing songs from their new album ‘Starlings’. Dekel began writing "Starlings" in September 2023, but the events of 7th October and the unimaginable fallout thereafter put everything on hold.

On returning to work on the album a month or so later, Dekel says she “felt like I was starting something completely new. I was changing the whole approach and the DNA of the project. I'm always trying to create an accurate musical signature, I try to have a clear focus, it means a lot to me to work and present music in this way. On this album I feel I managed to do that in a very deep way through the lyrics, melodies and the overall essence.” Featuring cello, accordion, acoustic guitar, clarinet, Dekel’s songs are beautifully sculpted and inspired by her Jewish spiritual world.

Next, on November 3^rd, audiences will be taken on a musical journey through 17^th century works of Jewish-Italian composer Salomone Rossi. This intimate performance will feature both sacred and secular vocal pieces by Rossi and his contemporaries from across Europe. Joyful prayers, lamenting solo songs, and passionate madrigals sung in Hebrew, Italian, Latin, and English will paint the musical landscape within which Rossi lived and worked. Five talented Vache Baroque singers, accompanied by the enchanting sounds of the chitarrone (a medieval lute with an extended neck), will bring these pieces to life.

From there the mood will shift to synagogue songs and Hassidic music with Rabbi Danny Bergson performing live on Thursday, 10 November, with a repertoire of “music for the soul”. Rabbi Danny Bergson is a communal rabbi in St Annes Synagogue. Previously he was rabbi in Glasgow and London. He is a trained singer and guitarist and is passionate about inspiring audiences through music. His favourite saying is “if words are the pen of the mind then music is the quill of soul!”

The last show of the season will take place on Sunday, 17 November with “Matriarch”, Jessica Litwak’s one-woman play about getting through hard times by calling on the ancestors for help and wisdom. Shemie is on the brink of giving up on life, but everything changes when she’s visited by the prophetess Miriam. Miriam takes her on a journey through ancestral landscapes, where Shemie witnesses powerful pairs of women supporting each other with acts of courage and compassion. These moments of connection and strength inspire Shemie to find hope and keep going.

At its heart, this puppet play is about healing through the wisdom and love of those who came before us. Its message is clear: Don’t give up. Sometimes, the door to love and freedom is just behind you. With humor, poetry, and a fresh feminist perspective, this play offers a touching and poetic look at biblical matriarchs and the power of connection.

Discounted tickets are available for under 30s.

Manchester Jewish Museum is open seven days a week from 10am-5pm and will be open from 6pm on event evenings. To see the full Synagogue Nights programme visit: https://www.manchesterjewishmuseum.com/season/synagogue-nights-2024/ #MJMSynagogueNights #YourMJM