Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Around Town

Music, lyrics tell story to listeners

By Emilie Doolittle

Danny Maseng's music and lyrics transport the listener to a desert with men riding on camels and to the Sea of Galilee with fishermen riding waves. His lyrics and music makes love and faith a place, creating a poetic and holy Israel.

Congregation Shir Hadash, 20 Cherry Blossom Lane, will present Maseng in a concert titled, "Israel: 60 Years of Song and Story," on March 1, 8 p.m.

"Let yourself be swept away for a once-in-a-lifetime event from this incredibly talented artist," said Shir Hadash's cantor Devorah Felder-Levy.

A playwright, actor, singer and composer, Maseng has recorded six albums, including his most recent, "Just Like Home." Maseng's songs are a hybrid of pop, rock, Hasidic and Middle Eastern folksongs and anthems. He sings about love, war, God, hopes and aspirations of people.

In addition to writing songs, Maseng composed the critically acclaimed off-Broadway musical Wasting Time with Harry Davidowitz.

Born in Israel to American parents, he first came to the United States to star on Broadway in Only Fools Are Sad. He served as an evaluator of new American plays, musicals and operas for the National Endowment for the Arts, as the artistic director of the Brandeis-Bardin Institute in California, and as the musical director of Temple Israel in Hollywood.

Maseng will also be featured in the congregation's Shabbat service, performing with Felder-Levy's choir, on Feb. 29 at 8 p.m. On March 2 at 9:45 a.m., Maseng will present a talk titled, "The Big G: talking about spirituality with children."

Tickets for the March 1 concert are $18 for adults, $12 for students and seniors and $50 for groups of four people. Children ages 5 and under are free.

To order tickets, contact Leo Gutstein at tickets@shirhadash.org. Tickets can also be purchased at Shir Hadash's website. Visit www.shirha
dash.org/adulted/605-maseng.html.

For more information, call 408.358.1751.