Presented by San Diego Repertory Theatre
Festival Artistic Director: Todd Salovey
Festival Associate Producer: Ali Viterbi
JFEST (Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival) 2020 celebrates 27 years of performances exploring Jewish history, people and ideas in virtuoso music, theatre, dance, and fine arts! Each year we create new programs and collaborations which start in the Festival and are then subsequently performed in venues throughout San Diego and the country. JFEST partners with arts, jewish, and social organizations to presents events in theatres, libraries, and schools throughout San Diego and North County. Upcoming in 2020 are the Klezmer Summit, new work by Hershey Felder, Women of Valor, and a music and theatre piece based on Yale Strom’s A Wandering Feast.
Founding Artistic Director Todd Salovey notes, “There is so much need now for artistic performances that create community, that bring people together to explore, feel, learn, mourn, and celebrate. I’m so excited that we will begin presenting programs online.”
“In these uncertain times, it is important, now more than ever, to cultivate and sustain a dynamic artistic Jewish future,” said Festival Associate Producer Ali Viterbi. “This year's line-up for the Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival allows us to be together (even virtually) in community, and reflect on the diversity and vibrancy of the contemporary Jewish identity, and our relationships to ourselves and each other.”
27th Annual Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival Line-up:
Special Note: Because of COVID-19, JFEST 2020 will be a mix of online events, and live events that will hopefully occur in the fall. Stay tuned for more details coming soon!
The 11th Annual Women of Valor
Beginning on Thursday, June 11th at 7:30 PM, the festival presents the annual favorite event Women of Valor for its 11th incarnation. While the in-person event celebrates all of the chosen women for that year, the online edition will highlight one of our women of valor in each episode. As in past years, the program starts with the question: “A woman of valor, who shall find?” Each year for the past 11 years, Women of Valor has honored and profiled remarkable women and pillars of the San Diego Jewish community. Festival Associate Producer, and this program’s director Ali Viterbi sates, “In every production, we tell stories of strength and inspiration to create a portrait of the resilience of our community. In a time of isolation, we feel that these stories are more essential than ever.”
Each Women of Valor video will be posted on San Diego REP’s various social media channels at the times and dates listed below.
This year’s selected Women of Valor are: Rebbetzin Chaya Ertel; Anti-Defamation League Regional Director Tammy Gillies; Jewish Community Foundation Board Chair Janet Acheatel; Holocaust Survivor Pearl Recht; Chair of San Diego Jewish Academy Heidi Gantwerk; and VP of Operations for the Jewish Community Foundation Sharleen Wollach.
Still told with stories, images and music, 6 incredible actresses will tell the story of 6 incredible women… all digitally. The actresses in this year’s program are: Rebecca Futterman, Julie Glass, Sarah Price-Keating, Elane Rivkin, Rosina Reynolds and Lisa Robins.
Dates of release (click the dates below for the Facebook events):
And we hope that through hearing their stories of joy, of grief, of commitment to their community and of courage, we can all weather this storm together. This year’s honorees teach us how we can be together (even virtually) in community.
The HIVE San Diego and the Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival are proud to present a virtual summer music series featuring musicians from multiple genres and regions of the world! The first 4 of 5 concerts will happen virtually on The HIVE SD's Facebook profile, which can be found by
clicking here. The last concert, Soulfarm Celebrates The Grateful Dead, will happen LIVE on San Diego REP's Facebook, which can be found by
clicking here.
Concert Calendar:
July 7 at 7 PM:
Soulfarm - New American with Mediterranean Flavor
Soulfarm Celebrates The Grateful Dead
Rounding out the programming for June and July is the festival favorite band Soulfarm celebrating the music of The Grateful Dead on Tuesday, July 7th at 7 PM. The Grateful Dead’s 6 decades of soulful and psychedelic American roots music have created their own international community. The festival pays tribute to The Dead’s passionate Jewish following with C. Lanzbom and Noah Solomon of the Jewish jam band, Soulfarm. Soulfarm’s two JFest appearances in 2019 left audiences wanting more. Their world-beat original and popular Jewish songs are full of Mediterranean flavor with captivating guitar leads, dance rhythms and strong percussion breaks. This program is co-sponsored by The Hive at Leichtag Commons and is the final offering of a 4 part summer music series: The Pulse of Jewish Music produced in collaboration with The Hive at Leichtag Commons. The concert will take place on San Diego REP’s Facebook profile live on Tuesday, July 7th at 7PM.
Festival Calendar for June and July: The Room Where It Happens (6/8), 11th Annual Women of Valor (6/11, 6/14, 6/16, 6/18, 6/21 & 6/24), Soulfarm Celebrates the Music of the Grateful Dead (7/7).
Heartfelt thanks to the Lipinsky Family Foundation for their visionary support of this Festival.
Questions? Email jfest@sdrep.org or call 619.544.1000
26th Annual JFEST Community Partners and Co-sponsors
NORTH COUNTY PROGRAMS UNDERWRITER:
Leichtag Foundation
COMMUNITY CO-SPONSORS:
The Butterfly Project
California State University, San Marcos
Chabad of Coronado
Chabad of Downtown San Diego
CJC of the Lawrence Family JCC
Encinitas Branch - San Diego County Library
The Hive - A Leichtag Foundation Initiative
J*Company
Jewish Community Foundation
San Diego Jewish Federation of San Diego County
Ken Jewish Community
Mira Costa College
Museum of Making Music
New Village Arts Project
Sarah San Diego Ballet
San Diego Center for Jewish Culture
San Diego Jewish Academy
Seacrest Village Retirement Communities
Shmoozer’s Catering
Temple Solel
Torah High School
Special Thanks to the Festival Circle Donors:
Anonymous
Elaine Chortek
Harvey Neiman
Julia Ramirez Stone & Ken Stone
