Leonard Cohen – A Hallelujah for the Pop Icon

Hardly any songwriter has shaped pop music as much as Leonard Cohen—and hardly anyone has infused it with as much of the synagogue’s spirit. “Who by Fire” sets a Yom Kippur prayer to music, while “Hallelujah” became one of the most covered songs in pop history. He recorded his final album with the cantor and choir of his Montreal synagogue—two weeks before his death.

On the tenth anniversary of his death, novelist and screenwriter Norman Lebrecht and Jascha Nemtsov, holder of Europe’s first chair in Jewish music history, will discuss Cohen and the power of biblical imagery in pop music. The event will also feature scenes from Lebrecht’s film “The Song of Names.” Paul Brody will accompany the evening on the trumpet—inspired by Cohen, in whose synagogue he himself once played.