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SOME FAMOUS JEWISH AUSTRALIANS
Jewish music in Australia – Isaac Nathan
•Isaac Nathan was born in 1790 and went to a Jewish school in London as a child. Soon he decided he would like to start writing music. He worked with Lord Byron and produced beautiful Hebrew melodies to Byron’s poems.
•Isaac Nathan was forced to leave England; he became Australia’s first composer; he worked with Jacob Levi Montefiore to write Australia’s first Opera called “Don John of Austria”. The story was of a Jewish girl who falls hopelessly in love with a prince.
A section of the Opera went like this:
The days are gone when Judah’s voice
From crowded Temples rose on high
When heartfelt prayer on incense borne
Soared upward to the deep blue sky
Those days are gone and Israel’s song
Uprises from the strangers sod
Outcast alike from land and home
Their only Temple is no more
That like their strength has passed away
And strangers now rule o’er the land
Where Israel’s mighty ones held sway
But though despised, condemned and reviled
Dispersed where’er in life or death
Judah still clings with trusting hope
Made clear by sorrow to his faith
At the consecration of the Sydney York St Synagogue in 1845, the choir was directed by Isaac Nathan. On arriving in Australia his Hebrew melodies were quite popular. He performed his music in Sydney and Melbourne. He brought in music far different to what was generally available. In 1841 he set up a music academy.
He was known for combining bits of Talmud, Jewish history and rabbinical sayings into his songs.
Jewish musicians in more recent times:
Simon Tedeschi
Simon Tedeschi was born in Sydney in 1981 and studied there, then he moved to London to continue his studies. Since 2003, he has been based in Sydney. He plays the piano.
He played a cameo role in the movie “Shine” as the hands of David Helfgott, another Jewish musician.
David Helfgott
David Helfgott was born in 1947, the son of Polish-Jewish migrants Peter and Rachel. As a teenager, he showed great talent, and the music world hailed him as a genius. At 19, he was invited to study piano at the prestigious Royal College of Music in London.
There was always a piano in the Helfgott's house, even though there may not have been enough food. David's Dad always encouraged him to play the piano.
The movie 'Shine' changed David and his wife Gillian’s life. It told the story of his life from a talented child playing the piano until he became an adult who still loved playing the piano. Suddenly, people wanted to hear David play the piano. Because of the film and because the people wanting to hear him in concert, a lot of people now who weren't interested in classical music became more interested in it.
DAVID HELFGOTT: "It was a huge achievement. And I'm very proud. I'm not poor. But I'm proud."
BEN LEE
•Ben Lee was born on 11 September 1978. He went to Moriah College. He formed his first band at age 12 as a “support act” for a girl’s Bat Mitzvah party. After school he moved to America. When his band broke up he continued to play as a solo act.
•When he was 14 he started making records, recording in his bedroom. He said:
“I didn’t have much musical technique, but what I did have were songs I believed in.”
•In 2005 he was awarded song of the year award in Sydney, plus he had been given three Aria awards for his album “Awake is the New Sleep”. He also got the award for most performed Australian work and best Australian male singer.
•His song "We’re All In This Together" was performed in front of 3 million viewers for the 2006 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony.
•His music was used in the TV show "Grey’s Anatomy" in 2005 and for advertisements for Dell Computers in 2006.
•He did a duet with Kylie Minogue in 1999 when making a tribute album for Australian music.
TWO JEWISH GOVERNOR GENERALS
Sir Isaac Isaacs
Isaac Isaacs was born in Melbourne on 6 August 1855. His parents, Alfred and Rebecca Isaacs, had arrived in Victoria from England the previous year.
When he grew up he took a job in the legal profession and always cared about the working conditions of the poor.
In 1931, on the recommendation of Prime Minister J.H. Scullin, he was appointed the first Australian-born Governor-General. The King was told that one reason that Isaacs would be good in this position was because he was Australian-born. The King was not sure if this was good or not, but did appoint him. He became the first Australian-born Governor General. At the time of his appointment, Isaacs was already in his mid-seventies. In spite of his age, he was enthusiastic and a keen worker and stayed in this position until 1936.
After he retired he regularlly visited the public library to enjoy a variety of books. He talked at many Jewish functions and articles about him were often in the the Jewish newspaper of his day. He enjoyed a good cup of tea, or two. After his death a suburb in Canberra was named after him.
Sir Zelman Cowen
Sir Zelman Cowen was the Governor General from 1977 to 1982. He was the second Jewish Governor General in Australia.
He never forgot his Jewishness, but showed it by caring about other small groups in the community, and by caring about freedom for those who needed it.
"I have been conscious all my life of being a Jew. I have been conscious all my life of being a sharer in and a lover of the non-Jewish British world, but my Jewishness is deep in me."
Sir Zelman's own communal involvement has included his childhood participation in St Kilda Hebrew Congregation's choir, and a bar mitzvah at Melbourne Hebrew Congregation.
Both he and Lady Anna have been long-time patrons and supporters of a large number of Jewish organisations, including the Jewish Museum of Australia (in Melbourne), the Weizman Institute of Science, and Hebrew University.
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