Anat Cohen: Pan-American Songbook

Anat Cohen’s final night as Resident Artistic Director pairs the clarinet master with a string orchestra, performing a sumptuous cross-section of music that spans the North and South American continents.

For an artist like Cohen, who is as comfortable with Brazilian choro as she is with straight-ahead swing, a night of gems from the Pan-American songbook is an ideal setting for her singular gifts. Her performances are flavored with Middle Eastern folk forms, with klezmer, funk, tango, and rock, while tunes by Benny Goodman or Stan Kenton pop up in her repertoire alongside Balkan dirges and breezy bossa novas.
When she moved to New York in 1999, she made a name for herself as a saxophonist. But over the years, Cohen (raised in Tel Aviv) has moved ever closer to her original instrument, the clarinet, which she plays with virtuoso command – and pure gusto. Regardless of the setting, Cohen brings a sense of unbridled freedom and joy to her art.

This night is a celebration of Anat Cohen’s global approach, in which the music becomes a conversation, full of humor, beauty, and surprise.