I have had the honor of being in the inaugural cohort of the New Jewish Culture Fellowship, sponsored by the Brooklyn Jews and the UJA-Federation of NY.
For my final NJCF project, SONIC MUD: Ugav Nights, I have reimagined a mysterious biblical instrument, the Ugav, through a series of ceramic sculptures. The Ugav is mentioned only four times in the Bible, including in the very first description of musical instruments (Genesis 4:21). Contemporary interpretations of the Ugav describe it either as a reed instrument or a stringed instrument. Possibilities include: pipe, bagpipe, end-blown flute, vertical flute, water organ, panpipe, lute, harp, viola da gamba, or simply a love charm.
My sonic sculptures and other hand built instruments will be performed live at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music on March 28th, 8pm by Kenny Wollesen, Cyro Baptista, Sae Hashimoto, Dalius Naujo, Mike Irwin and Rich Stein.