Many Jewish Voices—

for String Trio and a Trio of Poets

arranged by Owen Lewis

Many Jewish Voices is a work for string trio and a trio of poets in three movements: Introduction, Remembering, October 7th, Final Prayers. It weaves the poetry of three poets from Western Massachusetts with selections from the chamber music repertoire of Jewish composers including Gideon Klein, Mieczysław Weinberg, Darius Milhaud, and Ernest Bloch.

The poetry is primarily drawn from the most recent works of the poets: Richard Michelson’s Sleeping As Fast As I Can (2023); Lesléa Newman’s The Last Flame (2026); and Owen Lewis’s A Prayer of Six Wings (2025). The poets are all members of the Western Mass Chapter of Yetzirah, a national organization of Jewish poets. The poets have received many awards. Michelson and Newman are also known as author’s of children’s literature.

The trio by Gideon Klein was completed in 1944 in Terezin, two months before he was murdered in Fürstengrube, a subcamp of Auschwitz at the age of 25. He was from Prague, and this is his last work. The trio (op.48) Mieczysław Weinberg was composed in 1947. Weinberg was from Poland, but continued to compose in Moscow until his death in 1996. The trio by Darius Milhaud (op 274) was composed in 1947. Milhaud, from Marseille, escaped to the U.S. during the Nazi era, but returned to France. The work by Ernst Bloch is a transcription of the final movement of his Scenes from Jewish Life, composed in 1924.

The musicians are members of the Sherman Chamber Ensemble under the direction of cellist Eliot Bailen. Victoria Lewis, violinist, often performs with the ensemble, is the Assistant Concertmaster of the Israeli Symphony Orchestra/Rishon Lezion, the orchestra of the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv.