Douglaston Library Celebrates Sounds of Hanukkah

Music, by turns plaintive and joyous, lilted through the Douglaston-Little Neck library yesterday during the institution's first celebration of Hanukkah in song.

Guitarist-vocalist Irene Failenbogen, in concert with guitarist Liam Murphy, performed "Songs of Light" at the library on Dec. 8.

The duo took an audience of about 25 local residents on a tour through time of songs associated with the eight days of the Jewish holiday known as "the festival of lights."

The diverse works were in English, Yiddish, Hebrew and Ladino, which is also known as Judeo-Spanish or, according to Failenbogen,  the Yiddish of Spain.

The musical spectrum ranged from English lyrics in Peter Yarrow's 1983 song "Light One Candle," and Hebrew in the traditional hymn "Ma-oz Tzur (Rock of Ages)" to a children's counting song in Ladino known as "Ocho Kandelikas (Eight Candles)," by Flory Jakoba.

Failenbogen and Murphy have been performing together for almost four years.

"Irene also does recitals and is dedicated to her multi-cultural roots," Murphy said.

Murphy thoroughly enjoys accompanying her in their repertoire of Jewish cultural works.

"If you want reels and jigs," he joked, "you have to go someplace else."

A native of Argentina, Failenbogen is a classically trained vocalist, musician and composer and a graduate of the Music Conservatory of Buenos Aires. She also holds a degree from the Argentine National School of Dance.

Her performing career began nearly 20 years ago in the Argentine National production of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

She said she came to New York to expand her artistic vision. While here, Failenbogen has served as a Cantor at synagogues on Long Island, in New Hampshire and Connecticut.

"We hope to bring them back next year," said Ron Wan, who took over as manager of the local Queens Library branch, located at 249-01 Northern Blvd. in late November. "We'd like to do more of these concerts because more diverse cultural exposure is a benefit to the neighborhood."

For more information about Failenbogen and her music, visit www.IreneTunes.com. For more information about the Douglaston-Little Neck branch, visit www.queenslibrary.org.