ENGLISH CORNER, CON LINDA JIMÉNEZ – This week’s trivia question:  How did a visit to Masada in Israel influence Lenka Lichtenberg’s life and music?

Lenka Lichtenberg is a Canadian musician, composer, and producer. She was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Her mother and grandmother were Holocaust survivors, but Lenka was not aware that she was Jewish until the age of 10.  As a child, she performed in the musical theater in Prague, and then studied classical music at the Prague Music Conservatory, specializing in voice.

After relocating to Canada she received her Bachelor of Education from the University of British Columbia, and Masters Degree in Ethnomusicology from York University in Toronto. Her thesis was on Yiddish music of the Holocaust.

Lenka strives to build bridges among cultures and transcend the artificial boundaries between folk, jazz and world music in a passionate and often deeply spiritual celebration of her roots. She tours internationally as a soloist and also with ensembles and international artists. She is a composer, multi-lingual vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. She has collaborated on albums with other musicians and has also released seven albums of her own.  Her work has been rewarded with numerous nominations and awards.

Lenka’s latest project is ‘The Thieves of Dreams,’ based on poems she discovered that were written by her grandmother while she was being held in the Theresienstadt concentration camp during World War II.

In this program Lenka is speaking with us about her life and work up to now, and we will hear a varied sample of her music.   Next week we will hear about her new project, which is completely different from anything she has done before.