High Tech Rescue of Vintage Judaic Music

[Joel Bresler <joel.br...>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 8, 2002

BUBBE'S MUSIC SINGS AGAIN

(Joel's note: Nona's, too?)

Digitally Remastered and preserved by FAU s Judaica Collections. Musical 
Donations Welcome.

BOCA RATON, FL - At Florida Atlantic University, rows and rows of old 
Hebrew, Yiddish and Sephardic 78-rpm records in crisp new sleeves line the 
shelves of the Molly S. Fraiberg Judaica Collections. Volunteers have been 
lovingly cleaning and digitally re-recording about 1000 vintage records in 
an effort to save the sounds of the synagogues, the shtetls of Eastern 
Europe, the Djuderias of Spain, and the teeming early twentieth century 
Jewish neighborhoods of the great American cities. They have been 
preserving everything from the chants of great cantors to the lively tunes 
of klezmer bands and songs from the Yiddish stage and Sephardic weddings. 
Their objective is to allow future generations to gain firsthand knowledge 
of the music their grandparents and great-grandparents loved as children.

Over the past decade and more, we have been fortunate to receive donations 
of  78s, 45s, 33 l/3s and even wax recordings, largely due to our being 
located in the vast Jewish community of South Florida the second largest in 
the US says Dr. William Miller, FAU s director of libraries. Our collection 
now ranks as the largest in Florida, but we want to make it even bigger to 
serve  a global community linked through the Internet who appreciates music 
of times gone by.

Dr. Miller continues, When elderly family members pass away, they leave 
households filled with possessions that sometimes hold little appeal for 
their heirs. Often they hold an ethnic treasure, a musical heritage that 
deserves to be recorded before it is lost to oblivion. We hope that people 
will consider donating these musical treasures to FAU. We are trying to 
save as many old recordings as possible from a trip to the landfill. The 
ultimate goal of this effort is to make this music available over the 
Internet without charge.

You can help create a safe harbor for a legacy your grandparents may have 
built - or you yourself may have - by helping FAU s Fraiberg Judaica 
Library save Hebrew, Yiddish and Sephardic Judeo Spanish music of the past. 
Old 78 s can become treasures for the future. Donate your records to save 
this wonderful music for your children and their children, too. These 
records are the only direct pathway to this Hebrew, Yiddish and Sephardic 
music of times gone forever. You will be doing a good deed by providing 
these treasures a place where they will be well cared for and honored.

The Molly S. Fraiberg Judaica Collections are open to visitors on an 
appointment basis. To make a donation to FAU of Hebrew, Yiddish or 
Sephardic records, or other artifacts of Jewish culture, or to schedule a 
visit, call 561-297-3787 or e-mail  Jewishmusic (at) fau(dot)edu(dot)

Florida Atlantic University
Molly S. Fraiberg Judaica Collections
777 Glades Road
P.O. Box 3092
Boca Raton, FL 33431-0992

Contact:  Zita M. Cael
Head, Special Collections & Archives
561-297-3787
Email:  Jewishmusic (at) fau(dot)edu




Joel Bresler
250 E. Emerson Rd.
Lexington, MA 02420 USA

Home Office:    781-862-4104
Email:          joel(dot)br (at) verizon(dot)net

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