Temple Beth-El Supports San Antonio Musicians With Free Facebook Live Concerts

Every Saturday night Temple Beth-El is using music to say shavua'tov — or good wishes — for the week.

For the third week running this San Antonio Jewish congregation is supporting local musicians who have lost income due to the pandemic by featuring them in free Facebook Live concerts. This Saturday's 7 p.m. installment will showcase internationally recognized organist Andrew Lloyd.

The performances follow short Havdalah services hosted by pairs of congregants in their homes, in which they conduct a ritual to sing farewell to the holy day of Shabbat and bring blessings for the week to come. It's less formal than the live streamed Shabbat service earlier in the day, and there's some explanation for the uninitiated.

Previous Beth-El concerts are available for viewing on the temple's Facebook Page. The series' first performance featured wife and husband Renia and Ilya Shterenberg of the San Antonio Symphony and Olmos Ensemble performing Georg Friedrich Fuchs' Duo Op. 14 No. 1 for violin and clarinet.

Last week guitarist Johnny Peña performed a variety of pieces while dressed to the nines in his kitchen. If it is already visually surreal to see professionals performing from their homes it's equally remarkable that the audio quality is superb.

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