The Hapsburgs did it in the 18th century. The New York Philharmonic did it in the last century. And now the Jewish Music Festival is doing it in this century: For the first time, the festival has commissioned new works from noted composers.

Contemporary Jewish composers, that is.

The results will be heard in a concert titled "Jewish Fringes," set for Thursday, March 16 at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

The four composers -- Amy X Neuburg, Daniel David Feinsmith, John Schott and Paul Dresher -- are Bay-Area based.

All four have disparate styles, from neo-classical to rock 'n' roll. But all were charged with the creating original works rooted in a post-modern Jewish sensibility.

For Neuburg, the commission marked a new direction. "I never delved into Jewish music before," says the East Bay artist. "I wasn't sure how I was going to approach Jewish music. I come from many generations of non-religious Jews. However, it's been fairly clear to me, culturally I'm about as Jewish as you can get."

The eclectic artist, know for her "avant-cabaret" performance style, is writing a piece she hopes will resonate with her audience. It's inspired by "In Memory's Kitchen," a book of recipes collected at the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

Recalls Neuburg: "These were women who kept themselves going by fantasizing about things they can't have. The meaning of [the composition] turned out to be one of longing and fantasy."

The piece is scored for six female vocalists and electronic tape loops, while borrowing from Eastern European choral traditions. For the show Neuburg will draw on the talents of singers from local groups Solstice and Kitka, as well as singing in the show herself.

"I have a pop voice," she says, "though not enough to get me on David Letterman. I entered Oberlin College to train as a classical singer, but I knew I wasn't cut out for the protocol. I wanted to flail around."

Of course, she means that in a good way. Kind of like when composer Paul Dresher says of himself, "my musical idiom is too far out on the edge."

Dresher's resume includes opera, modern dance, chamber and orchestral composition, as well as musical instrument invention. The Kronos Quartet and the San Francisco Symphony have all commissioned new work from him in the past.

But for the festival, Dresher will pull some strings -- four 14-foot-long strings, in fact. He will perform on the Quadrachord, an aluminum-bodied instrument he built himself that can be plucked, bowed or smacked in myriad ways.

"This one is entirely electronic," he says, "like a giant electric bass. I use digital processors to alter the sound of the strings. I also have looping devices."

Still actively composing the piece, Dresher says it has no overt Jewish theme. But, he's quick to add, "I was raised in Jewish tradition and Jewish music. A lot of [my music] did not come from the western European tradition, but from the synagogue."

A U.C. Berkeley graduate, Dresher explored musical traditions from India, Indonesia and the Islamic world. "When you trace that back," he says, "it's the same as Jewish."

Dresher's chamber pieces echo the classical masters, from Beethoven to Shostakovich. But his chops expand beyond those borders. "American rock vernacular music is an essential part of my musical personality," he says.

While Dresher emphasizes acoustic instruments (albeit electronically enhanced), Neuburg goes for the electronic gear. A graduate student at Mills College once upon a time, the Maryland native is a veteran of several Bay Area-based new music bands, including Map, a group of Mills students "doing crazy computer interactive musical theater," she says.

It was in that band that she met her future husband, Herb Heinz, also a composer. "He's more Jewish than I am," she says. "He helped me a lot with my solo career, set up my technology and turned me loose."

And when turned loose on stage, anything can happen, according to Neuburg. "Something goes wrong at every show," she says. "People tell me they like those accidents. It's proof that what I'm doing is really hard."




"Jewish Fringes" takes place at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, March 16, at the Thrust Stage/Berkeley Repertory Theater, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. Tickets: $26. Information: (415) 276-1511.