Kensington Then & Now

Makom’s 10th Anniversary Party & Concert

Wednesday, May 29 | 7:30 – 10:30 PM

4Life Natural Foods | 210 Augusta Avenue

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Sponsorship Opportunities

Celebrate the flavours, history and diversity of Kensington Market, Toronto’s historic Jewish hub and beloved, eclectic neighbourhood.  In honour of Makom’s 10th anniversary of revitalizing Jewish life in the Market, we’re taking over a grocery store for a party and one-of-a-kind concert.

Featuring:

• International debut of new music by JUNO-winning musician David Buchbinder with an all-star band fusing New Orleans jazz with Yiddish flavour. Performing with Dave Restivo (piano), Michael Herring (acoustic bass) and Chris Wallace (drums)
• Schmooze with Market Mavens: hear artists, writers and fixtures of the Kensington Market community share their stories from these fabled streets:
  • “Cardener” Yvonne Bambrick, the caretaker of the iconic Kensington Market Garden Car and a co-creator / coordinator of Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market,
  • Toronto’s leading historian on Chinatown, Arlene Chan,
  • Author and artist Bernice Eisenstein whose award-winning graphic memoire, I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors (2006), details her childhood growing up in Kensington Market,
  • Danny Zimmerman who worked with his father Zoltan running Zimmerman’s Discount, a fixture of Kensington Market for 60 years until it became 4Life Natural Food
  • Originally from Sri Lanka, Potsothy “Pots” Sallapa, is a long-time Kensington organic grocer who transformed Zimmerman’s on Augusta into 4Life Natural Foods,
  • And more to be announced soon!
• A tribute to Makom’s Honourable Menschen, cornerstones of our community: David Pinkus, Rochelle Rubinstein and more
• Delicious Nibbles, Sweets & Drinks generously provided by our favourite vegan and kosher spots in the Market and beyond
• DJ sets by Mr. Tunes, featured on Balkan Beat Box’s album “Nu Made”
• Raffle with amazing prizes: a chance to support Makom while snagging fabulous swag

Kensington Then & Now celebrates the melding of the past with the present. Be part of the festivities and support Makom’s ongoing revitalization of downtown Jewish life with joyous spirituality, pluralistic after-school Jewish education, and inclusive community.

Updates posted regularly to the Facebook event! Follow us to stay in the know.

Tickets:

In advance: $50 includes a complimentary drink | $20 students / under-employed

At the door: $60 general admission | $25 students / under-employed

Get your tickets today or check out the sponsorship opportunities

Can’t attend but still want to support Makom on our 10th anniversary?

Click here to make a donation

Volunteers attend for FREE. To volunteer, contact info@makomTO.org

Makom is a diverse and inclusive Toronto community fusing Jewish tradition and progressive values through spirituality, learning and culture.  

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

David Buchbinder is a trumpeter, improvisor, composer, JUNO award-winning creator and producer of music and culture working in the borderlands where cultures, peoples, genres and disciplines intersect. He is known for his diverse musical projects the Flying Bulgars, his Jazz Ensemble, Nomadica and Odessa/Havana. He produced Shurum Burum Jazz Circus, Tumbling Into Light and Andalusia to Toronto, and is the founder of the urban transformation organization Diasporic Genius. He’s also the founding Artistic Director of the Ashkenaz Festival, of RCM/Koerner Hall’s signature KUNÉ: Canada’s Global Orchestra, and creator-producer of the recent Luminato Festival hit “The Ward Cabaret.” David’s jazz compositions meld Jewish music traditions from around the world with myriad influences from Hard Bop to Arabic music, infused with an effervescence that results in “fiercely imaginative music that swaggers hard… an idiosyncratic, accessible gumbo” (Toronto Star). David “has a hard, clear, clarion almost classical trumpet sound, but with a jazzman’s phrasing and whip-smart spontaneity” (All About Jazz). David also performs on the Grammy-nominated album, Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II. Makom’s anniversary celebration will mark the culmination of an intensive creation period for David, writing new music in the rich milieu of New Orleans, which he will perform publicly for the first time on May 29.

Elliott Fienberg aka Mr. Tunes has been producing and DJing for over 20 years. In 2009, he was featured on the Balkan Beat Box’s remix CD, “Nu Made” (JDub records). More of his tracks have been DJ’d in clubs in Miami, Ibiza and Cape Town. His style of DJing is a swirling mix of worldbeat and ambient sounds layered over house and breakbeats. For Makom’s party, Mr. Tunes will spin a global groove, drawing inspiration from the many sounds and cultures that make up Kensington Market today.

Thanks to our event and venue sponsors:

         

Makom is grateful to our generous food and beverage sponsors:

Fresh City Farms | Hibiscus | Kensington Brewing Co. | Kupfert & Kim |  Ozery Bakery| Pantry | Shalom India | Sunflower Kitchen | Sweets from the Earth | United Bakers Dairy Restaurant | Veggie D’Light