Bente Kahan

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Bente Kahan
Born
Bente Kahan

(1958-09-23) 23 September 1958 (age 65)
Oslo, Norway
Alma materTel Aviv University
Occupation(s)Singer, actress, director
Years active1980s – present
SpouseAleksander Gleichgewicht
Children4 (daughter and sons)
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)
Vocals, guitar
Labels
  • Tylko Muzyka
  • Jazz Sound
Websitewww.bentekahan.eu

Bente Kahan (born 23 September 1958) is a Norwegian solo vocalist, actress, musician, director and playwright, best known for her renditions and productions of Yiddish folk music and plays. Since 2002 she has lived and worked in Poland.

Biography

Kahan was born in

Hermann Kahan (born as Chaim Hersh Kahan), a member of the Satmar hasidic sect, was born in Romania, and he was saved by an American soldier who saw his arm moving under a pile of dead bodies.[1]

Kahan is a graduate in performing arts at Tel Aviv University, and also at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, in New York City.[1]

Career

Kahan sings mainly in

Hebrew and a mix of Yiddish with Polish, Russian, Norwegian, Hungarian, German and English.[2]

Kahan started her career acting in 1981 at the

Nationaltheatret in Norway, performing for the first time as a singer in Oslo, for a play in Yiddish, the cabaret show Over Byen, in 1983.[3] Together with Ellen Foyn Bruun she has written three plays: Bessie (about blues singer Bessie Smith
) in 1986; Letter Without a Stamp in 1988; and Stemmer fra Theresienstadt in 1995—translated into German the same year and into English in 1997.

In 1990, after serving in several Norwegian theatrical companies, she founded her own, Teater Dybbuk in

Wroclaw. She is the current director of the Wroclaw Centre for Jewish Culture and Education.[1]

Bente Kahan Foundation

Kahan came up with the Bente Kahan Foundation in 2006, aiming to furthering mutual respect and human rights through the perspective of the

Holocaust, as part of their efforts to preserve the 800 year-old-history of the Jews in Lower Silesia.[4] This was completed in 2010.[5]

Kahan was honored in 2013 with the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, for her efforts on behalf of intercultural dialogue and for the rescue of the Jewish heritage of Lower Silesia.[3]

Discography

  • 1991: Yiddishkayt
  • 1992: Farewell Cracow
  • 1996: Stemmer fra Theresienstadt (Norwegian)
  • 1996: Stimmen aus Theresienstadt (German)
  • 1997: Voices from Theresienstadt (English)
  • 1998: Di Gojim (klezmer music)
  • 2000: Home (Yiddish, Ladino, and Hebrew)
  • 2005: Sing with us in Yiddish
  • 2016: Only A Human Being Bente Kahan Sings The Poetry Of Tadeusz Różewicz

References

  1. ^
    Times of Israel
  2. ^ Bente Kahan Archived 11 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Kulturfest NYC
  3. ^ a b "Biography". Archived from the original on 18 January 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  4. ^ About us Archived 2015-12-23 at the Wayback Machine. Bente Kahan Foundation
  5. ^ "PERFORMANCE Bente Kahan". Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.

External links

See also: Kahan (disambiguation)
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