Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

Giles, Howe, a composer and producer formerly from the United Kingdom and now living in Florida, will have a selection from his show “Soviet Union” performed by The Bel Canto Singers at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, Daytona Beach Shores, on Oct. 16 at 3:30 p.m.

“Soviet Union” made its debut at the London Jewish Museum in 2014.

The show is a musical drama set in Birobidzhan, the Jewish Autonomous Region of Siberia, and looks at the lives of an American and a Ukrainian family who each move to what they soon find out is a failed state, pioneering the movement to create a Jewish homeland in Siberia. Exploring the sacrifices they will have to make to achieve the freedom they seek, this ambitious musical drama is six years in the making and this concert is the first glimpse American audiences will have of this new show.

Howe began writing the musical after a trip to Israel with Taglit Birthright left him full of questions about how to reconcile a Yiddish cultural heritage with Zionism.

“Writing this show was a way for me to explore these ideas, and I am incredibly proud to present this concert here in Volusia County with such a prestigious ensemble,” he said.

“It is my dream to present the work here in America either as a full-length concert or a fully-staged production,” stated Howe, who is currently working on a screen adaptation, and a Yiddish translation.

To learn more about the show, visit http://www.sovietzion.com.