AMERICAN PIANIST VICTOR GOLDBERG NAMED ‘AMBASSADOR’ FOR ISRAEL
 
U.S.-based Israeli musician Victor Goldberg was recently named “Israel ambassador” on the official website of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Goldberg is in the midst of an Asian tour that has inspired glowing reviews on the heels of the rave reviews he received on his Carnegie Hall debut last April.  
Goldberg is accustomed to gleaming grand pianos, so when an electronic keyboard was scrounged up for him to play at a Buddhist orphanage in Mandalay, the second-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), he adapted quickly to the challenge. “I couldn’t play most of my pieces on such a small keyboard, so I played two works by Mozart and Tchaikovsky,” he said. Even so, the 6,000 children and their teachers at his performance “were awe-struck and demanded more,” according to a local newspaper.  
Goldberg’s months-long tour of the Far East began in China and, with the help of various Israeli embassies, has also included dates in the Philippines and Thailand.

Troper on Jewish Toronto: Prof. Harold (Hesh) Troper continues his three-part series of lectures with a talk on “Yehupetz North of Steeles: The Soon To Be Majority.” Active Seniors, Miles Nadal JCC, Jan. 20, 1:30 p.m. His topic for the third lecture is “Return to Downtown: Revitalizing of the Jewish Inner City.” Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, Jan. 27, 1:30 p.m.  Drop-in fee, $3. 416-924-6211, ext. 155.

Klezmer Ensemble with Eric Stein: Play in the MNJCC Klezmer Ensemble under the baton of conductor Eric Stein, mandolinist/cymbalist of Toronto’s Beyond The Pale and artistic director of the Ashkenaz Festival, and other guest conductors. Delve into great klezmer arrangements. All instruments welcome. Fifteen classes in all; Tuesday evenings, 7:30 to 9:30, Jan. 18 to May 10. Miles Nadal JCC, members $270, non-members $315. 416-924-6211, ext. 133 or 0 to register.

Film Events
• Film critic Adam Nayman examines the style and substance of recent art-house films in his series, Surfing the New Waves: Contemporary New Wave Cinema, in Naymen’s Terms. The cinema of Iran is the topic of the next lecture. Miles Nadal JCC, Monday, Jan. 17, 7 to 9 p.m. $12 drop-in. 416-924-6211, ext. 606.
• The Toronto Jewish Film Festival presents Army Of Crime, directed by Robert Guédiguian. Made in 2009, the film is a taut, French-made thriller about the early days of the French resistance. Chai Tea and a Movie, SilverCity Richmond Hill, 8725 Yonge St. at Hwy. 7. Sunday, Jan. 23, tea at 4 p.m., film at 5. $15. 416-599- 8433, www.tjff.com

Arts in Brief
• Acting Up Stage Company and Studio 180 present Parade, by Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry, and directed by Joel Greenberg. The musical tells the story of Leo Frank, the young Jewish factory manager who was falsely tried for rape and murder in Atlanta, Ga., in 1913. Berkeley Street Theatre until Jan. 22. $32 to $40, 416-368-3110. ­www.paradethemusical.com
• Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner presents a series of talks on “The History of Jewish Publishing,” delving into such topics as industrial espionage, forgeries and church censorship. Miles Nadal JCC, Mondays 6 to 7 p.m. from Jan. 17 to Feb. 14 (excluding Jan 31). $20 for the series, $5 per lecture.