Sunday, Feb 26, 2017 • 3–4:30pm
ADMISSION: $15 Members; $20 General includes Museum admission
With $2.50 in her pocket, Rosa Ginsberg left her family behind in Shanghai in 1940 for an uncertain future in the United States. The 18-year-old Austrian native, who had fled war-torn Vienna for China, landed at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, site of a US immigration station that processed hundreds of thousands of immigrants from 1910–40. Ginsberg was detained at Angel Island for three weeks and was released on the basis of a mostly true story.
Ginsberg’s granddaughter, vocalist Heather Klein, has created a one-woman musical based on her grandmother's journey. The show, Shanghai Angel, premieres at The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco on February 23 and 26. Musical arrangements, percussion, and piano accompaniment by Joshua Horowitz. Choreography and direction by Bruce Bierman.
Presented in partnership with the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. Community Promotional Partners: KlezCalifornia and Jewish Community Library.
This program is offered on multiple dates. Choose another day below to add to your calendar.
Following Thursday's performance (Feb 23) will be a short talk by Grant Din of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation about the Foundation's archives. Q&A with artist to follow.
Following Sunday’s performance (Feb 26) will be a short talk on the history of Jewish Immigration at Angel Island by Judy Yung.
Heather Klein, known as the Yiddish Chanteuse, is a classically trained soprano who performs modern opera, Yiddish classical song, cantorial, theater and folk music, as well as other styles. For the past decade, she has performed across the US, Canada, and Europe, as a soloist and as part of various ensembles. She has currently been working on new shows through Sundance and Music Theatre Group as well as her project Yiddish Spring, and recently starring in Lilith the Night Demon. She has released two Yiddish musical albums, including, most recently, Shifrele’s Portret: A Yiddish Art Song Project with her Inextinguishable Trio. She earned her BA and MA degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She serves as cantorial soloist at Temple Sinai of Las Vegas.
Judy Yung is a professor emerita of American studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the author of Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America.