Lenka Lichtenberg

Lenka Lichtenberg is a Canadian singer, composer, songwriter, animal rights activist and chazanit of Czech-Jewish descent. She sings in six languages, including Czech, English, French, Hebrew, Russian and Yiddish.^[1]

Biography

She was born in Prague, into a family of Jewish origin. Most of her mother's family died during the Holocaust.^[2] At the age of 9, Lichtenberg became an actress of the Music Theatre in Prague,^[3] but a few years later, she moved to Denmark, where she studied music at Arhus Universitet and worked as a club singer.

In 1981 Lichtenberg moved to Canada and settled in Vancouver, where she continued her studies at the University of British Columbia, and sang in a rock band. After visiting Israel in 1987, Lichtenberg started learning Yiddish. Since this time, she's a Yiddish and cantorial singer who contributes to the rebuilding of Jewish life in Czech Republic. She's a chazanit in the Darchei Noam Congregation in Toronto.

Director Jaroslav Hovorka made a documentary film for Czech TV about her, Lenka Lichtenberg: Pisne pro ozivle steny (2011). She performs at many Jewish culture festivals, folk and world music festivals in the United States, Canada, Poland, France or Argentina. In 2008 and 2012 Lichtenberg was the recipient of the Canadian Folk Music Award.

Lichtenberg is the Canadian ambassador of the AnimalTrust foundation. She lives in Toronto with her family.

Discography

• 1999 - Deep Inside
• 2003 - Open the Gate
• 2006 - Pashtes with Brian Katz
• 2010 - Fray
• 2012 - Bridges with Roula Said
• 2012 - Songs for the Breathing Walls
• 2013 - Embrace
• 2014 - Lullabies from Exile with Yair Dalal

References