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{{Short description|Soprano and Yiddish singer}}
{{Short description|Russian-born Jewish singer (1908 - 2007)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2021}}
[[File:Masha Benya portrait from cover of Varnishkes score.png|thumb|Masha Benya, Yiddish-language soprano, c.1950]]
[[File:Masha Benya portrait from cover of Varnishkes score.png|thumb|Masha Benya, Yiddish-language soprano, c.1950]]

'''Mascha Benya''' ({{lang-yi|מאַשאַ בעניאַ}}, 1908-2007) was a [[Russian Empire|Russian]]-born [[Soprano (singer)|Soprano]] known especially for her promotion and performance of [[Yiddish song]] and [[Jewish art music movement|Jewish art music]] in the [[United States]] after [[World War II]]. After a short career as an opera singer in [[Berlin]] in the 1930s, she emigrated to New York after [[Kristallnacht]] and became an important figure in the teaching of Yiddish song through the [[Workman's Circle]] and other organizations.
'''Mascha Benya''' ({{lang-yi|מאַשאַ בעניאַ}}, October 15, 1908 – November 4, 2007), born '''Masha Benyakonsky''', was a [[Russian Empire|Russian]]-born [[Soprano (singer)|soprano]] known especially for her promotion and performance of [[Yiddish song|Yiddish]] and [[Hebrew music|Hebrew]] folk and [[Jewish art music movement|art music]] in the United States after [[World War II]]. After a short career as an opera singer in the [[Jüdischer Kulturbund]] in 1930s [[Berlin]], she emigrated to New York after [[Kristallnacht]] and became an important figure in the teaching of Yiddish and Hebrew song through the [[Workman's Circle]], [[Kaufman Music Center]], and other organizations, as well as a touring singer, radio performer, and recording artist.


==Biography==
==Biography==
===Early life===
===Early life===
She was born Mascha Beniakonskyte in [[Virbalis]], [[Suwałki Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]] on October 15, 1908.<ref name="1939 declaration of intention">{{cite web |title=Mascha Beniakonskyte Migration • New York, Southern District, U.S District Court Naturalization Records, 1824-1946 |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP7X-96VQ |website=FamilySearch |access-date=15 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="1944 naturalization petition">{{cite web |title=Mascha Beniakonskyte Migration • New York, Southern District, U.S District Court Naturalization Records, 1824-1946 |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP7X-NLVK |website=FamilySearch |access-date=15 June 2021}}</ref> She was born into a Jewish family; her father Arye Leyb was a merchant originally from [[Vilnius]] with a passion for Jewish music and [[Chazzan|Chazzans]] and opera in particular, and therefore Mascha grew up in a very musical family.<ref name="Forverts profile 1977">{{cite news |title=מאַשאַ בעניאַ די מוזיקאַלישע אויסטײטשערין פֿון אידישע ליד |url=https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/frw/1977/07/21/01/article/28/?srpos=13&e=-------en-20--1-byDA-img-txIN%7ctxTI-%22%d7%9e%d7%90%d6%b7%d7%a9%d7%90%d6%b7+%d7%91%d7%a2%d7%a0%d7%99%d7%90%d6%b7%22-ILLUSTRATION------------1 |work=פֿארװערטס |date=1977-07-21 |language=yi}}</ref><ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner">{{Cite AV media notes |title=Jewish Song Treasury Vol I |last=Serota |first=Barry |date=1984 |type=LP |publisher=Musique Internationale |location=Chicago}}</ref> After graduating from a [[Hebrew language]] [[Gymnasium (school)|Gymnasium]], she traveled to [[Prussia]], first studying in a small town near the Russian border and then at the [[Stern Conservatory]] in [[Berlin]].<ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" /> While studying there she also worked informally as a [[Hebrew language]] teacher.<ref name="Forverts profile 1977" /> Her voice teacher in Berlin was Franceschina Prevosti.<ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" />
She was born Mascha Benyakonsky or Beniakonskyte in [[Virbalis]], [[Suwałki Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]] on October 15, 1908.<ref name="Rovit 221-2">{{cite book |last1=Rovit |first1=Rebecca |title=The Jewish Kulturbund theatre company in Nazi Berlin |date=2012 |publisher=University of Iowa Press |location=Iowa City, Iowa |isbn=9781609381240 |pages=221–2}}</ref><ref name="1939 declaration of intention">{{cite web |title=Mascha Beniakonskyte Migration • New York, Southern District, U.S District Court Naturalization Records, 1824-1946 |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP7X-96VQ |website=FamilySearch |access-date=15 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="1944 naturalization petition">{{cite web |title=Mascha Beniakonskyte Migration • New York, Southern District, U.S District Court Naturalization Records, 1824-1946 |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP7X-NLVK |website=FamilySearch |access-date=15 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Virbaln-During the Period of Independent Lithuania |url=https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Virbalis/Shtetlink/vir2.html |website=KehilaLinks |access-date=18 June 2021}}</ref> She was born into a Jewish family; her father Arye Leyb was a merchant originally from [[Vilnius]] with a passion for Jewish music and [[Chazzan]]s and opera in particular, and therefore Mascha grew up in a very musical family.<ref name="Forverts profile 1977">{{cite news |title=מאַשאַ בעניאַ די מוזיקאַלישע אויסטײטשערין פֿון אידישע ליד |url=https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/frw/1977/07/21/01/article/28/?srpos=13&e=-------en-20--1-byDA-img-txIN%7ctxTI-%22%d7%9e%d7%90%d6%b7%d7%a9%d7%90%d6%b7+%d7%91%d7%a2%d7%a0%d7%99%d7%90%d6%b7%22-ILLUSTRATION------------1 |work=פֿארװערטס |date=1977-07-21 |language=yi}}</ref><ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner">{{Cite AV media notes |title=Jewish Song Treasury Vol I |last=Serota |first=Barry |date=1984 |type=LP |publisher=Musique Internationale |location=Chicago}}</ref> Her mother was named Miriam and her siblings were David and Rachel.<ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" /> After graduating from a [[Hebrew language]] [[Gymnasium (school)|Gymnasium]], she traveled to [[Prussia]], first studying in a small town near the Russian border and then at the [[Stern Conservatory]] in [[Berlin]].<ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" /> While studying there, she also worked informally as a Hebrew language teacher.<ref name="Forverts profile 1977" /> Her voice teacher in Berlin was Franceschina Prevosti.<ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" />


===Music career===
===Music career===
After finishing her schooling in Berlin and receiving positive reviews for her stage appearances, she came to the attention of choral director Chemjo Vinaver.<ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" /> He engaged her as the lead soprano in his production of [[Jacob Weinberg]]'s {{transl|he|Hehalutz}}.<ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" /> As antisemitic discrimination worsened in [[Nazi Germany]], it was no longer possibly for Jewish artists to perform for non-Jewish crowds, or to perform the work of "Aryan" composers. In the spring of 1937, Vinaver helped Mascha become involved in the [[Jüdischer Kulturbund]], an organization which was established to support Jewish artists and to create cultural programs for Jewish audiences.<ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hirsch |first1=Lily E. |title=A Jewish orchestra in Nazi Germany : musical politics and the Berlin Jewish Culture League |date=2012 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |location=Ann Arbor |isbn=9780472034970 |page=37 |edition=1st pbk.}}</ref> In that organization, she acted both as an opera performer and singer of Yiddish folksongs, as well as continuing to teach Hebrew to members who were considering emigrating to [[Mandatory Palestine]].<ref name="Hirsch 2007">{{cite journal |last1=Hirsch |first1=Lily E. |last2=Landau |first2=Anneliese |title=Anneliese Landau and the Kulturbund: In Her Own Words |journal=The Musical Quarterly |date=2007 |volume=90 |issue=3/4 |page=513}}</ref><ref name="1939 concert NYT">{{cite news |title=CONCERT TO AID REFUGEES: Program Will Be Given Feb. 19 by European Artists |work=New York Times |date=1939-02-05}}</ref> Among her successes in the Kulturbund were her performance of [[Jacques Offenbach]] material alongside the tenor [[Max Kuttner]], and in stagings of [[Don Pasquale]] and [[Si j'étais roi]].<ref name="Hirsch 2007" /><ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" />
After finishing her schooling in Berlin and receiving positive reviews for her stage appearances, she came to the attention of choral director Chemjo Vinaver.<ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" /> He engaged her as the lead soprano in his production of [[Jacob Weinberg]]'s {{transl|he|Hehalutz}}.<ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" /> As antisemitic discrimination worsened in [[Nazi Germany]], it was no longer possible for Jewish artists to perform for non-Jewish crowds, or to perform the work of "Aryan" composers. In the spring of 1937, Vinaver helped Mascha become involved in the [[Jüdischer Kulturbund]], an organization that was established to support Jewish artists and to create cultural programs for Jewish audiences who were excluded from other performance venues.<ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" /><ref name="Friedman 1992">{{cite news |last1=Friedman |first1=Susan |title=Remembering the Kulturbund: A blessing and a curse |work=Jewish World |date=November 6–12, 1992}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hirsch |first1=Lily E. |title=A Jewish orchestra in Nazi Germany : musical politics and the Berlin Jewish Culture League |date=2012 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |location=Ann Arbor |isbn=9780472034970 |page=37 |edition=1st pbk.}}</ref> In that organization, she acted both as an opera performer and singer of Yiddish folksongs, as well as continuing to teach Hebrew to members who were considering emigrating to [[Mandatory Palestine]], such as Martha Weltsch (the wife of [[Robert Weltsch]]).<ref name="Hirsch 2007">{{cite journal |last1=Hirsch |first1=Lily E. |last2=Landau |first2=Anneliese |title=Anneliese Landau and the Kulturbund: In Her Own Words |journal=The Musical Quarterly |date=2007 |volume=90 |issue=3/4 |page=513}}</ref><ref name="1939 concert NYT">{{cite news |title=CONCERT TO AID REFUGEES: Program Will Be Given Feb. 19 by European Artists |work=New York Times |date=1939-02-05}}</ref><ref name="Rovit 221-2" /> Among her successes in the Kulturbund were her performance of [[Jacques Offenbach]] material alongside the tenor [[Max Kuttner]], and in stagings of [[Don Pasquale]], [[Rigoletto]] and [[Si j'étais roi]].<ref name="Hirsch 2007" /><ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" /><ref name="Friedman 1992" />


After [[Kristallnacht]] in November 1938, Mascha decided to finally leave Germany for the [[United States]].<ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" /> She sailed from [[Cherbourg]], [[France]] to [[New York City]] in December 1938.<ref name="1939 declaration of intention" /> She soon involved herself in Jewish cultural affairs in New York City. In February 1939 she performed as part of a benefit concert for Jewish refugees from Europe and which included such performers as Hans J. Heinz (tenor), Zina Alvers (mezzo-soprano), [[Sarah Gorby]], and Jascha Bernstein (cellist).<ref name="1939 concert NYT" /> She also continued her vocal studies under new instructors, including [[Rhea Silberta]], Sebastian Engelberg and Olga Ryss.<ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" /><ref name="Forverts profile 1977" />
After [[Kristallnacht]] in November 1938, Mascha decided to finally leave Germany for the [[United States]].<ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" /> She sailed from [[Cherbourg]], [[France]] to [[New York City]] in December 1938.<ref name="1939 declaration of intention" /> Most of her friends and family in Lithuania were killed in the [[Holocaust]].<ref name="Friedman 1992" /> She soon involved herself in Jewish cultural affairs in New York City and shortened her name to Mascha or Masha Benya. Her earliest performances were at [[Bar mitsvah|Bar mitsvas]], banquets and funerals. In February 1939 she performed as part of a benefit concert for Jewish refugees from Europe, which included such performers as Hans J. Heinz (tenor), Zina Alvers (mezzo-soprano), [[Sarah Gorby]], and Jascha Bernstein (cellist).<ref name="1939 concert NYT" /> She also continued her vocal studies under new instructors, including [[Rhea Silberta]], Sebastian Engelberg and Olga Ryss.<ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" /><ref name="Forverts profile 1977" /> The settings of her concerts became more prestigious, as she began to appear at schools, literary societies, and in front of Jewish organizations.<ref name="Friedman 1992" />


After the war, she turned increasingly away from opera and art music towards Yiddish folk songs and Jewish music education.<ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" /> She soon became recognized as a major figure in the dynamic postwar Yiddish music milieu, alongside such figures as [[Moishe Oysher]], [[Jan Peerce]], [[Seymour Rexite]], [[Theodore Bikel]], and [[Martha Schlamme]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kirshenblatt-Gimblett |first1=Barbara |title=Sounds of Sensibility |journal=Judaism |date=Winter 1998 |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=49-78}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dinin |first1=Samuel |title=Cultural Activities |journal=The American Jewish Year Book |date=1944 |volume=46 |page=120 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23602493 |issn=0065-8987}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Yardeini |first1=Mordecai |title=Ṿort un ḳlang eseyen, eseyeṭn, eseyeṭḳes, poetsye |date=1979 |publisher=Farlag Malkah |location=New York |page=201 |url=https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/yiddish-books/spb-nybc208029 |language=yi}}</ref> She became a naturalized US citizen in 1944.<ref name="1944 naturalization petition" /> In 1949 she traveled to newly independent [[Israel]] and made her stage debut there.<ref name="Forverts profile 1977" />
After the war, she turned increasingly away from opera and art music towards Yiddish folk songs and Jewish music education.<ref name="Rovit 217">{{cite book |last1=Rovit |first1=Rebecca |title=The Jewish Kulturbund theatre company in Nazi Berlin |date=2012 |publisher=University of Iowa Press |location=Iowa City, Iowa |isbn=9781609381240 |page=217}}</ref><ref name="Jewish song treasury 1 liner" /> She soon became recognized as a major figure in the dynamic postwar Yiddish music milieu, alongside such figures as [[Moishe Oysher]], [[Jan Peerce]], [[Seymour Rexite]], [[Theodore Bikel]], and [[Martha Schlamme]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kirshenblatt-Gimblett |first1=Barbara |title=Sounds of Sensibility |journal=Judaism |date=Winter 1998 |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=49–78}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dinin |first1=Samuel |title=Cultural Activities |journal=The American Jewish Year Book |date=1944 |volume=46 |page=120 |jstor=23602493 |issn=0065-8987}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Yardeini |first1=Mordecai |title=Ṿort un ḳlang eseyen, eseyeṭn, eseyeṭḳes, poetsye |date=1979 |publisher=Farlag Malkah |location=New York |page=201 |url=https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/yiddish-books/spb-nybc208029 |language=yi}}</ref> She became a naturalized US citizen in 1944.<ref name="1944 naturalization petition" /> In 1949 she traveled to newly independent [[Israel]] and made her stage debut there.<ref name="Forverts profile 1977" /> During the 1940s and 1950s she was a vocal supporter of [[Labor Zionism]] and often performed at benefits for organizations affiliated with it in the United States, such as [[Na'amat|Pioneer Women]] and [[Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America|Hadassah]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Masha Benya to Entertain at LZO Chanukah Festival |work=The Jewish Criterion |date=1954-12-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Prominent Author and Singer To Appear At LZ Festival |work=American Jewish Outlook |issue=41 |date=1954-12-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Zionist Center to Observe Event |work=American Jewish Outlook |date=1957-05-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Set Histadrut Rally |work=The American Jewish Outlook |date=1959-10-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Histadrut Night to be Held January 18 |work=The Jewish Criterion |date=1942-01-09}}</ref> She returned to Israel on another tour in 1954.<ref>{{cite news |title=Donor Fete Slated by Council |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1954-05-02/ed-1/seq-102/ |work=Evening star |date=1954-05-02}}</ref>
[[File:The Arizona post. (volume), February 15, 1952, Page 8, Image 8.jpg|thumb|1952 advertisement for Workman's Circle tour]]


In the mid-1950s, she began to prepare to record an LP for [[ABC Records]] with Harry Anik accompanying her on piano, to be produced by [[Abe Lyman]]. However, both Anik and Lyman died before the album could be completed, and so it was never recorded, although rehearsal tapes for it were later released on audiocassette.<ref name="Art cassette liner">{{Cite AV media notes |title=The Art of Mascha Benya |type=audiocassette |publisher=Musique Internationale |location=Chicago}}</ref> In 1953 she also went on a tour of the United States and Canada with Nishka, Rita Karpinovich and the pianist Paula Kadison.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mercur |first1=Wolf |title=Ṿenṭ hobn oyern |date=1968 |publisher=Liṭerarish-ṭeaṭralishn ḳomiṭeṭ |location=New York |pages=100-1 |url=https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/yiddish-books/spb-nybc208698 |language=yi}}</ref> She also performed in a popular radio program alongside [[Sidor Belarsky]], created by the education department of the [[Workmen's Circle]] and [[Joseph Mlotek]]; it was eventually released as an LP in 1957 called {{transl|yi|Amol iz geven a mayse}}/Once Upon a Time.<ref name="Silberberg-Cholewa">{{cite book |last1=Silberberg-Cholewa |first1=I. |title=Menṭsh un folḳ |date=1967 |publisher=ha-Menorah |location=Tel-Aviv |pages=456-63 |url=https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/yiddish-books/spb-nybc207590 |language=yi}}</ref> She followed that LP with another in 1960 also prepared by Joseph Mlotek, called {{transl|yi|Lomir zingen}}/Let's Sing A Yiddish Song! which she sang with a children's chorus.<ref name="Silberberg-Cholewa" />
In the mid-1950s, she began to prepare to record an LP for [[ABC Records]] with Harry Anik accompanying her on piano, to be produced by [[Abe Lyman]]. However, both Anik and Lyman died before the album could be completed, and so it was never recorded, although rehearsal tapes for it were later released on [[Cassette tape|audiocassette]].<ref name="Art cassette liner">{{Cite AV media notes |title=The Art of Mascha Benya |type=audiocassette |publisher=Musique Internationale |location=Chicago}}</ref> In 1953 she also went on a tour of the United States and Canada with Nishka, Rita Karpinovich and the pianist Polia Kadison, followed by a 1954 tour organized by the Workmen's Circle in celebration of 300 years of Jewish life in the United States, with [[Israel Welichansky]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Workmen's Circle |work=The Jewish Criterion |date=1954-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mercur |first1=Wolf |title=Ṿenṭ hobn oyern |date=1968 |publisher=Liṭerarish-ṭeaṭralishn ḳomiṭeṭ |location=New York |pages=100–1 |url=https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/yiddish-books/spb-nybc208698 |language=yi}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Workmen's Circle set For Concert Tour |work=American Jewish Outlook |date=1954-03-26}}</ref> She also performed in a popular radio program alongside [[Sidor Belarsky]], created by the education department of the Workmen's Circle and [[Joseph Mlotek]]; it was eventually released as an LP in 1957 called {{transl|yi|Amol iz geven a mayse}}/Once Upon a Time.<ref name="Silberberg-Cholewa">{{cite book |last1=Silberberg-Cholewa |first1=I. |title=Menṭsh un folḳ |date=1967 |publisher=ha-Menorah |location=Tel-Aviv |pages=456–63 |url=https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/yiddish-books/spb-nybc207590 |language=yi}}</ref> She had a regular Friday morning show ''The Folk Singer'' on [[WEVD]], the station owned by the [[Jewish Daily Forward]], from 1958 until some time in the early 1960s.<ref>{{cite news |title=TV-Radio Highlights |url=https://jhsnj-archives.org/?a=d&d=A19620629-NewJerseyJewishNews-19620629-01.1.33&srpos=7&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN%7ctxTA%7ctxCO%7ctxTY%7ctxTI%7ctxRG%7ctxSG%7ctxSE%7ctxSB%7ctxCT%7ctxIE%7ctxIT%7ctxTE%7ctxLA%7ctxSU%7ctxSP%7ctxDS%7ctxAD%7ctxPR%7ctxTR%7ctxFI-Benya---------- |work=New Jersey Jewish News |date=1962-06-29}}</ref> In 1960 she also released another LP arranged by Joseph Mlotek, called {{transl|yi|Lomir zingen}}/Let's Sing A Yiddish Song! which she sang with a children's chorus.<ref name="Silberberg-Cholewa" />


In 1965, she married her husband Lazar Matz. She continued to tour and perform during the 1960s.<ref>{{cite news |title=⁨Yiskor Committee Memorial To Be Held Sunday, Apr. 25 |url=https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/cgs/1965/04/15/01/article/49/?srpos=5&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxTI-%22Mascha+Benya%22-------------1 |work=The Sentinel |date=1965-04-15 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=⁨Oldest LZO Branch Celebrates 50 Years ⁩|url=https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/cgs/1964/01/02/01/article/47/?srpos=1&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxTI-%22Mascha+Benya%22-------------1 |work=The Sentinel⁩ |date=1964-01-02 |language=en}}</ref> In September 1970 she visited relatives in [[Vilnius]], [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic]], and was dismayed to see the deplorable condition of the Jewish community there.<ref>{{cite news |title=Says Lithuanian Jews 'Hopeless' |url=https://jhsnj-archives.org/?a=d&d=A19701016-NewJerseyJewishNews-19701016-01.1.123&srpos=1&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN%7ctxTA%7ctxCO%7ctxTY%7ctxTI%7ctxRG%7ctxSG%7ctxSE%7ctxSB%7ctxCT%7ctxIE%7ctxIT%7ctxTE%7ctxLA%7ctxSU%7ctxSP%7ctxDS%7ctxAD%7ctxPR%7ctxTR%7ctxFI-Benya---------- |work=New Jersey Jewish News |date=1970-10-16}}</ref>
In 1965, she married her husband Lazar Matz.


In the 1980s and 1990s, Benya released another round of albums through Musique Internationale, a label founded by Barry Serota in 1969.<ref>{{cite web |title=Musique Internationale |url=https://rsa.fau.edu/musique-internationale |website=Recorded Sound Archive |access-date=18 June 2021}}</ref> It was through Serota's efforts that more of her music has been documented, including ''Jewish Song Treasury Vol I'' and ''Jewish Song Treasury Vol II'' (1984), ''The Art of Mascha Benya'', and ''Mascha Benya: A Yiddish Song Recital Featuring the poetry of Itzik Manger'' (1997)<ref>{{cite web |title=Mascha Benya |url=https://rsa.fau.edu/artist/15156 |website=Recorded Sound Archive |access-date=18 June 2021}}</ref>
⚫
She died in [[Queens]], [[New York]] on November 4, 2007.<ref>{{cite news |title=Paid Notice: Deaths BENYA, MATZ, MASCHA |work=New York Times |issue=54120 |date=2007-11-06}}</ref>

She was a longtime member and later a governing board member of the [[American Society for Jewish Music]], and often gave lectures on Jewish art song at their conferences.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Musica Judaica |date=1986 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=106–117 |jstor=23687541 |issn=0147-7536|title=Asjm Membership List }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Levin |first1=Neil W. |title=From the Editor |journal=Musica Judaica |date=1991 |volume=12 |page=ii |jstor=23687682}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |journal=Musica Judaica |date=1986 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=98–100 |jstor=23687539 |issn=0147-7536|title=Asjm/JTS Conference on Jewish Music }}</ref> She also became a coach, teacher and consultant for many artists and productions, especially in the New York area, on matters of Yiddish singing style, diction, and Jewish opera and art song, and an instructor at the [[Hebrew Arts School for Music and Dance]].<ref>{{cite web |title=JEWISH OPERAS, Vol. 2 |url=https://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.559450&catNum=559450&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English |website=www.naxos.com |access-date=18 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A History of Audio Recordings: 1990–2007 |url=https://www.milkenarchive.org/articles/view/a-history-of-audio-recordings-19902007/ |website=Milken Archive of Jewish Music |access-date=18 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="Friedman 1992" />

She retired from the Hebrew Arts School and the Elane Kaufman Cultural Center in 1995, although she continued to coach singers until 2007.<ref name="Rovit 217" /> In 2005 she donated a scrapbook of photographs and clippings about her life as an artist with the [[Jüdischer Kulturbund]] to the [[United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Mascha Benya Matz scrapbook |url=https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn522954 |website=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |access-date=18 June 2021}}</ref> Other materials were donated to the [[Leo Baeck Institute]].<ref name="LB digitized">{{cite web |title=Mascha Benya-Matz Collection. |url=https://digipres.cjh.org:443/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE8516503 |website=Center for Jewish History collections |access-date=18 June 2021}}</ref>

⚫
She died in [[Queens]], [[New York City|New York]] on November 4, 2007.<ref>{{cite news |title=Paid Notice: Deaths BENYA, MATZ, MASCHA |work=New York Times |issue=54120 |date=2007-11-06}}</ref>


==Selected recordings==
==Selected recordings==
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*Nursery Rhymes (Kinder Velt)
*Nursery Rhymes (Kinder Velt)
*Songs for Jewish Children (Far Yiddishe Kinder Record Co.)
*Songs for Jewish Children (Far Yiddishe Kinder Record Co.)

==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
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==External links==
==External links==
*[https://rsa.fau.edu/artist/15156 Masha Benya albums] streamable in the [[Florida Atlantic University]] Recorded Sound Archive
*[https://rsa.fau.edu/artist/15156 Masha Benya albums] streamable in the [[Florida Atlantic University]] Recorded Sound Archive
*[http://www.musiques-regenerees.fr/GhettosCamps/Kulturbund/BenyaMascha.html In Memoriam Mascha Benya] - biography and photographs
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bv2DJfRmE4 An Oral History of Kulturbund with Mascha Benya] - An Oral History of Kulturbund with Mascha Benya, as recorded by her granddaughter Jenni Matz, 2004.


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{{authority control}}

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[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:1908 births]]
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[[Category:Yiddish-language singers]]
[[Category:Yiddish-language singers]]
[[Category:People from Virbalis]]
[[Category:People from Virbalis]]
[[Category:Jews of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Jews from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:American operatic sopranos]]
[[Category:American operatic sopranos]]
[[Category:American female singers]]
[[Category:American women singers]]
[[Category:Sopranos of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Sopranos from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Jewish opera singers]]
[[Category:Jewish opera singers]]
[[Category:Lithuanian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany]]
[[Category:Russian and Soviet emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Jews who emigrated to escape Nazism]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]
[[Category:Jewish women singers]]

Revision as of 05:14, 20 May 2024

Masha Benya, Yiddish-language soprano, c.1950

Mascha Benya (Yiddish: מאַשאַ בעניאַ, October 15, 1908 – November 4, 2007), born Masha Benyakonsky, was a Russian-born soprano known especially for her promotion and performance of Yiddish and Hebrew folk and art music in the United States after World War II. After a short career as an opera singer in the Jüdischer Kulturbund in 1930s Berlin, she emigrated to New York after Kristallnacht and became an important figure in the teaching of Yiddish and Hebrew song through the Workman's Circle, Kaufman Music Center, and other organizations, as well as a touring singer, radio performer, and recording artist.

Biography

Early life

She was born Mascha Benyakonsky or Beniakonskyte in Virbalis, Suwałki Governorate, Russian Empire on October 15, 1908.[1][2][3][4] She was born into a Jewish family; her father Arye Leyb was a merchant originally from Vilnius with a passion for Jewish music and Chazzans and opera in particular, and therefore Mascha grew up in a very musical family.[5][6] Her mother was named Miriam and her siblings were David and Rachel.[6] After graduating from a Hebrew language Gymnasium, she traveled to Prussia, first studying in a small town near the Russian border and then at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin.[6] While studying there, she also worked informally as a Hebrew language teacher.[5] Her voice teacher in Berlin was Franceschina Prevosti.[6]

Music career

After finishing her schooling in Berlin and receiving positive reviews for her stage appearances, she came to the attention of choral director Chemjo Vinaver.[6] He engaged her as the lead soprano in his production of Jacob Weinberg's Hehalutz.[6] As antisemitic discrimination worsened in Nazi Germany, it was no longer possible for Jewish artists to perform for non-Jewish crowds, or to perform the work of "Aryan" composers. In the spring of 1937, Vinaver helped Mascha become involved in the Jüdischer Kulturbund, an organization that was established to support Jewish artists and to create cultural programs for Jewish audiences who were excluded from other performance venues.[6][7][8] In that organization, she acted both as an opera performer and singer of Yiddish folksongs, as well as continuing to teach Hebrew to members who were considering emigrating to Mandatory Palestine, such as Martha Weltsch (the wife of Robert Weltsch).[9][10][1] Among her successes in the Kulturbund were her performance of Jacques Offenbach material alongside the tenor Max Kuttner, and in stagings of Don Pasquale, Rigoletto and Si j'étais roi.[9][6][7]

After Kristallnacht in November 1938, Mascha decided to finally leave Germany for the United States.[6] She sailed from Cherbourg, France to New York City in December 1938.[2] Most of her friends and family in Lithuania were killed in the Holocaust.[7] She soon involved herself in Jewish cultural affairs in New York City and shortened her name to Mascha or Masha Benya. Her earliest performances were at Bar mitsvas, banquets and funerals. In February 1939 she performed as part of a benefit concert for Jewish refugees from Europe, which included such performers as Hans J. Heinz (tenor), Zina Alvers (mezzo-soprano), Sarah Gorby, and Jascha Bernstein (cellist).[10] She also continued her vocal studies under new instructors, including Rhea Silberta, Sebastian Engelberg and Olga Ryss.[6][5] The settings of her concerts became more prestigious, as she began to appear at schools, literary societies, and in front of Jewish organizations.[7]

After the war, she turned increasingly away from opera and art music towards Yiddish folk songs and Jewish music education.[11][6] She soon became recognized as a major figure in the dynamic postwar Yiddish music milieu, alongside such figures as Moishe Oysher, Jan Peerce, Seymour Rexite, Theodore Bikel, and Martha Schlamme.[12][13][14] She became a naturalized US citizen in 1944.[3] In 1949 she traveled to newly independent Israel and made her stage debut there.[5] During the 1940s and 1950s she was a vocal supporter of Labor Zionism and often performed at benefits for organizations affiliated with it in the United States, such as Pioneer Women and Hadassah.[15][16][17][18][19] She returned to Israel on another tour in 1954.[20]

1952 advertisement for Workman's Circle tour

In the mid-1950s, she began to prepare to record an LP for ABC Records with Harry Anik accompanying her on piano, to be produced by Abe Lyman. However, both Anik and Lyman died before the album could be completed, and so it was never recorded, although rehearsal tapes for it were later released on audiocassette.[21] In 1953 she also went on a tour of the United States and Canada with Nishka, Rita Karpinovich and the pianist Polia Kadison, followed by a 1954 tour organized by the Workmen's Circle in celebration of 300 years of Jewish life in the United States, with Israel Welichansky.[22][23][24] She also performed in a popular radio program alongside Sidor Belarsky, created by the education department of the Workmen's Circle and Joseph Mlotek; it was eventually released as an LP in 1957 called Amol iz geven a mayse/Once Upon a Time.[25] She had a regular Friday morning show The Folk Singer on WEVD, the station owned by the Jewish Daily Forward, from 1958 until some time in the early 1960s.[26] In 1960 she also released another LP arranged by Joseph Mlotek, called Lomir zingen/Let's Sing A Yiddish Song! which she sang with a children's chorus.[25]

In 1965, she married her husband Lazar Matz. She continued to tour and perform during the 1960s.[27][28] In September 1970 she visited relatives in Vilnius, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, and was dismayed to see the deplorable condition of the Jewish community there.[29]

In the 1980s and 1990s, Benya released another round of albums through Musique Internationale, a label founded by Barry Serota in 1969.[30] It was through Serota's efforts that more of her music has been documented, including Jewish Song Treasury Vol I and Jewish Song Treasury Vol II (1984), The Art of Mascha Benya, and Mascha Benya: A Yiddish Song Recital Featuring the poetry of Itzik Manger (1997)[31]

She was a longtime member and later a governing board member of the American Society for Jewish Music, and often gave lectures on Jewish art song at their conferences.[32][33][34] She also became a coach, teacher and consultant for many artists and productions, especially in the New York area, on matters of Yiddish singing style, diction, and Jewish opera and art song, and an instructor at the Hebrew Arts School for Music and Dance.[35][36][7]

She retired from the Hebrew Arts School and the Elane Kaufman Cultural Center in 1995, although she continued to coach singers until 2007.[11] In 2005 she donated a scrapbook of photographs and clippings about her life as an artist with the Jüdischer Kulturbund to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.[37] Other materials were donated to the Leo Baeck Institute.[38]

She died in Queens, New York on November 4, 2007.[39]

Selected recordings

  • Mascha Benya: A Yiddish Song Recital Featuring the poetry of Itzik Manger (Musique Internationale, 1997)
  • Jewish Song Treasury Vol I (Musique Internationale, 1984, with accompaniment by Abraham Ellstein)[6]
  • אַמאָל איז געװען א מעתה Once Upon a Time (Artistic Enterprises, 1957, with Sidor Belarsky and Vladimir Heifetz)
  • Jewish Song Treasury Vol II (Musique Internationale, 1984, with accompaniment by Abraham Ellstein)
  • The Art of Mascha Benya (Musique Internationale)
  • לאָמיר זינגען Let's Sing A Yiddish Song! A Treasury of Popular Children's Songs (Famous Records, arranged by Mikhl Gelbart)
  • Nursery Rhymes (Kinder Velt)
  • Songs for Jewish Children (Far Yiddishe Kinder Record Co.)

References

  1. ^ a b Rovit, Rebecca (2012). The Jewish Kulturbund theatre company in Nazi Berlin. Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Press. pp. 221–2. ISBN 9781609381240.
  2. ^ a b "Mascha Beniakonskyte Migration • New York, Southern District, U.S District Court Naturalization Records, 1824-1946". FamilySearch. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Mascha Beniakonskyte Migration • New York, Southern District, U.S District Court Naturalization Records, 1824-1946". FamilySearch. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  4. ^ "Virbaln-During the Period of Independent Lithuania". KehilaLinks. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d "מאַשאַ בעניאַ די מוזיקאַלישע אויסטײטשערין פֿון אידישע ליד". פֿארװערטס (in Yiddish). July 21, 1977.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Serota, Barry (1984). Jewish Song Treasury Vol I (LP). Chicago: Musique Internationale.
  7. ^ a b c d e Friedman, Susan (November 6–12, 1992). "Remembering the Kulturbund: A blessing and a curse". Jewish World.
  8. ^ Hirsch, Lily E. (2012). A Jewish orchestra in Nazi Germany : musical politics and the Berlin Jewish Culture League (1st pbk. ed.). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p. 37. ISBN 9780472034970.
  9. ^ a b Hirsch, Lily E.; Landau, Anneliese (2007). "Anneliese Landau and the Kulturbund: In Her Own Words". The Musical Quarterly. 90 (3/4): 513.
  10. ^ a b "CONCERT TO AID REFUGEES: Program Will Be Given Feb. 19 by European Artists". New York Times. February 5, 1939.
  11. ^ a b Rovit, Rebecca (2012). The Jewish Kulturbund theatre company in Nazi Berlin. Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Press. p. 217. ISBN 9781609381240.
  12. ^ Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara (Winter 1998). "Sounds of Sensibility". Judaism. 47 (1): 49–78.
  13. ^ Dinin, Samuel (1944). "Cultural Activities". The American Jewish Year Book. 46: 120. ISSN 0065-8987. JSTOR 23602493.
  14. ^ Yardeini, Mordecai (1979). Ṿort un ḳlang eseyen, eseyeṭn, eseyeṭḳes, poetsye (in Yiddish). New York: Farlag Malkah. p. 201.
  15. ^ "Masha Benya to Entertain at LZO Chanukah Festival". The Jewish Criterion. December 24, 1954.
  16. ^ "Prominent Author and Singer To Appear At LZ Festival". American Jewish Outlook. No. 41. December 17, 1954.
  17. ^ "Zionist Center to Observe Event". American Jewish Outlook. May 24, 1957.
  18. ^ "Set Histadrut Rally". The American Jewish Outlook. October 9, 1959.
  19. ^ "Histadrut Night to be Held January 18". The Jewish Criterion. January 9, 1942.
  20. ^ "Donor Fete Slated by Council". Evening star. May 2, 1954.
  21. ^ The Art of Mascha Benya (audiocassette). Chicago: Musique Internationale.
  22. ^ "Workmen's Circle". The Jewish Criterion. March 26, 1954.
  23. ^ Mercur, Wolf (1968). Ṿenṭ hobn oyern (in Yiddish). New York: Liṭerarish-ṭeaṭralishn ḳomiṭeṭ. pp. 100–1.
  24. ^ "Workmen's Circle set For Concert Tour". American Jewish Outlook. March 26, 1954.
  25. ^ a b Silberberg-Cholewa, I. (1967). Menṭsh un folḳ (in Yiddish). Tel-Aviv: ha-Menorah. pp. 456–63.
  26. ^ "TV-Radio Highlights". New Jersey Jewish News. June 29, 1962.
  27. ^ "⁨Yiskor Committee Memorial To Be Held Sunday, Apr. 25". The Sentinel. April 15, 1965.
  28. ^ "⁨Oldest LZO Branch Celebrates 50 Years ⁩". The Sentinel⁩. January 2, 1964.
  29. ^ "Says Lithuanian Jews 'Hopeless'". New Jersey Jewish News. October 16, 1970.
  30. ^ "Musique Internationale". Recorded Sound Archive. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  31. ^ "Mascha Benya". Recorded Sound Archive. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  32. ^ "Asjm Membership List". Musica Judaica. 9 (1): 106–117. 1986. ISSN 0147-7536. JSTOR 23687541.
  33. ^ Levin, Neil W. (1991). "From the Editor". Musica Judaica. 12: ii. JSTOR 23687682.
  34. ^ "Asjm/JTS Conference on Jewish Music". Musica Judaica. 9 (1): 98–100. 1986. ISSN 0147-7536. JSTOR 23687539.
  35. ^ "JEWISH OPERAS, Vol. 2". www.naxos.com. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  36. ^ "A History of Audio Recordings: 1990–2007". Milken Archive of Jewish Music. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  37. ^ "Mascha Benya Matz scrapbook". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  38. ^ "Mascha Benya-Matz Collection". Center for Jewish History collections. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  39. ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths BENYA, MATZ, MASCHA". New York Times. No. 54120. November 6, 2007.
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