Shorts: The Arts

Israeli-born pianist comes to Marin

Pianist Orli Shaham joins conductor Alasdair Neale for two concerts that will inaugurate the Marin Symphony Orchestra's new season.

The Jerusalem-born musician (and sister of violinist Gil Shaham) will perform Grieg's Piano Concerto. The program also includes Rossini's Overture to "The Thieving Magpie," as well as Respighi's "The Fountains of Rome" and "The Pines of Rome."

Symphony-goers will have a chance to meet Neale, Shaham and the musicians of the Marin Symphony Orchestra at a post-concert reception in the Green Room following Sunday night's performance, and at a "wrap party" following Tuesday's concert at the Four Points by Sheraton Lounge, 1010 Northgate Drive, San Rafael.

The concerts take place 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8 and 10 at the Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium, 3501 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael. Tickets: $27-$65. Information: (415) 499-6800 or www.marinsymphony.org.




'Kafka in Brontëland' wins fiction prize

Tamar Yellin won the 2006 Reform Judaism Prize for Jewish Fiction for her short story collection, "Kafka in Brontëland and Other Stories."

"Kafka in Brontëland" is a collection of 13 pieces that look at themes of identity and displacement through the lens of contemporary Jewish experience. The stories were influenced by Yellin's own experiences growing up in northern England as the daughter of a Polish immigrant and a third generation Jerusalemite.




New Web site offers a world of music

OySongs.com, a new Web source for Jewish music, is up and running on the Internet. The site features single-song or full-album audio downloads from across the spectrum of global Jewish music including contemporary Jewish music, klezmer, Sephardic, Israeli and more. OySongs also offers interactive Jewish sheet music, and complete artist information.

OySongs founder Joe Eglash, formerly of Transcontinental Music Publications/Union for Reform Judaism, said the site is "the first progressive Jewish music download site, offering music from all denominations of Judaism and from all over the world."

For more information, go to www.OySongs.com.