Fran & Flora: Synagogue Nights – Manchester Jewish Museum
Experimental folk duo, Fran & Flora, kickstart the latest season of Synagogue Nights at Manchester Jewish Museum with Contemporary Diaspora Sounds, drawing upon music from Unfurl, their 2019 debut album, and their upcoming second album due for release in 2024.
Having freshly arrived from Romania that morning, this was cellist Francesca Ter-Berg and violinist Flora Curzon’s first performance in Manchester as well as their first at a Sephardic synagogue. Drawing inspiration from their travels in eastern Europe and beyond, their work pulls upon the melodies of Klezmer, influences from Transylvania, Romania, Greece, and Armenia and archival manuscript and recordings.
Providing us with an array of musical pieces, we moved between traditional Klezmer and the Doina’s of Transylvania and...