1977
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2016
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Beth Hamon
The daughter of nightclub musicians, Beth Hamon is an autodidactic singer-songwriter in Portland, Oregon whose contemporary folk songs straddle the line between Jewish and secular themes of justice, hope, renewal and love.
Beth's childhood home was filled with music of all kinds, from standards and jazz to rock, musical theater and opera. Her first instrument was a pair of bongos, and from there Beth made her way through all the percussion instruments, majoring in percussion while studying music education in college. Beth also learned guitar, brass instruments and Baroque recorder, and played all of them throughout her childhood and adolescence.
Because her parents were secular Jews and her family moved often during her childhood, Beth didn't grow up connected to Jewish community, and only found her way in after her mother's passing in 1996. From there it's been a surprising and often wild ride, as Beth learned about Jewish holidays, Shabbat observance and much more in a very short time.
Beth cut her songleading teeth in Girl Scouts, so the transition to Jewish songleading was simply a matter of learning as many new songs as possible. (Beth would like to thank all of her music teachers from grade school through college for teaching her to become a good sight-reader!)
Since then, she has also written dozens of Jewish-themed folk songs for adults and for kids of all ages, deeply informed by her experiences of growing up as the "other" -- and often as the only Jew in her community.
Beth's music and art are also informed by her experiences living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and especially in the "D-I-Y/maker" culture that defines Portland, the place she has called home since her early teens. Beth's art is made from recycled, repurposed and found objects. Her music has a raw quality that exhibits equal parts vulnerability and strength.
Beth's Judaism is an extension of those values. In her work with "off the grid" (unaffiliated) families, she urges her students to create their own vibrant Judaism in the here and now, rather than to wait for someone else to hand it to them. Beth facilitates celebrations and life-cycle events that are inclusive, warm and unabashedly creative. In some cases, her students go on to find organized Jewish communities to join. In other cases, families find each other and create intentional havurot (friendship groups).
As far as Beth's concerned, it's all valid, and it's all part of creating and promoting Jewish continuity at home and out in the world.
Beth has recorded and produced three CDs: City of Love, Ten Miles and A Sliver In The Sky. All of these collections of original Jewish folk-pop music include liturgical settings now in use at synagogues and camps across the country. Beth also performs in the Portland-Vancouver coffeehouse circuit as a solo artist and is a repeat performer at the Northwest Folklife Festival. Occasionally, she is called upon to lend her drumming skills as a backup player for other artists.
In 2013, her song, “City of Love/Ahavat Olam” was selected as a finalist composition at the 5th Shalshelet International Festival for new Jewish Music. Beth was selected in 2015 by Forward Magazine as one of the top five New Voices in Jewish Music. In Summer of 2016, a setting of a new egalitarian version of the priestly benediction was commissioned from her by Women of the Wall; and is now in use at their monthly gatherings at the Kotel [Western Wall] in Jerusalem. Her music has been featured on Oregon Public Broadcasting, NPR and Jewish Rock Radio and is now in regular rotation on independent Jewish radio programs around the country. A graduate of Portland State University, Beth has extensive teaching experience in the fields of instrumental music, Judaic Studies and Hebrew.
Prior to making Jewish education and music her primary career in late 2012, Beth spent nearly twenty years in the bicycle industry as a shop and race mechanic, purchaser and small business owner. Alongside that work, she worked as a percussion instructor, arranger and adjudicator in the marching arts activity.
In her spare time, Beth volunteers with the City of Portland as a Sustainable Transportation Ambassador, and enjoys finding, repairing and donating bicycles for use by low-income adults as affordable transportation. She continues to make quirky, beautiful Judaic art from recycled bicycle parts; some of her pieces are part of the permanent collection at the Yeshiva University Museum in New York.
Beth is married to writer and music scholar Liz Schwartz. They live in a small (but not tiny!) house in Portland, Oregon, where they grow their own vegetables, ride bikes and read books, and are grateful every day for not being hipsters.
Beth travels everywhere locally by bicycle and public transit and has happily lived without a car of her own for decades.
The daughter of nightclub musicians, Beth Hamon is an autodidactic singer-songwriter in Portland, Oregon whose contemporary folk songs straddle the line between Jewish and secular themes of justice, hope, renewal and love.
Beth's childhood home was filled with music of all kinds, from standards and jazz to rock, musical theater and opera. Her first instrument was a pair of bongos, and from there Beth made her way through all the percussion instruments, majoring in percussion while studying music education in college. Beth also learned guitar, brass instruments and Baroque recorder, and played all of them throughout her childhood and adolescence.
Because her parents were secular Jews and her family moved often during her childhood, Beth didn't grow up connected to Jewish community, and only found her way in after her mother's passing in 1996. From there it's been a surprising and often wild ride, as Beth learned about Jewish holidays, Shabbat observance and much more in a very short time.
Beth cut her songleading teeth in Girl Scouts, so the transition to Jewish songleading was simply a matter of learning as many new songs as possible. (Beth would like to thank all of her music teachers from grade school through college for teaching her to become a good sight-reader!)
Since then, she has also written dozens of Jewish-themed folk songs for adults and for kids of all ages, deeply informed by her experiences of growing up as the "other" -- and often as the only Jew in her community.
Beth's music and art are also informed by her experiences living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and especially in the "D-I-Y/maker" culture that defines Portland, the place she has called home since her early teens. Beth's art is made from recycled, repurposed and found objects. Her music has a raw quality that exhibits equal parts vulnerability and strength.
Beth's Judaism is an extension of those values. In her work with "off the grid" (unaffiliated) families, she urges her students to create their own vibrant Judaism in the here and now, rather than to wait for someone else to hand it to them. Beth facilitates celebrations and life-cycle events that are inclusive, warm and unabashedly creative. In some cases, her students go on to find organized Jewish communities to join. In other cases, families find each other and create intentional havurot (friendship groups).
As far as Beth's concerned, it's all valid, and it's all part of creating and promoting Jewish continuity at home and out in the world.
Beth has recorded and produced three CDs: City of Love, Ten Miles and A Sliver In The Sky. All of these collections of original Jewish folk-pop music include liturgical settings now in use at synagogues and camps across the country. Beth also performs in the Portland-Vancouver coffeehouse circuit as a solo artist and is a repeat performer at the Northwest Folklife Festival. Occasionally, she is called upon to lend her drumming skills as a backup player for other artists.
In 2013, her song, “City of Love/Ahavat Olam” was selected as a finalist composition at the 5th Shalshelet International Festival for new Jewish Music. Beth was selected in 2015 by Forward Magazine as one of the top five New Voices in Jewish Music. In Summer of 2016, a setting of a new egalitarian version of the priestly benediction was commissioned from her by Women of the Wall; and is now in use at their monthly gatherings at the Kotel [Western Wall] in Jerusalem. Her music has been featured on Oregon Public Broadcasting, NPR and Jewish Rock Radio and is now in regular rotation on independent Jewish radio programs around the country. A graduate of Portland State University, Beth has extensive teaching experience in the fields of instrumental music, Judaic Studies and Hebrew.
Prior to making Jewish education and music her primary career in late 2012, Beth spent nearly twenty years in the bicycle industry as a shop and race mechanic, purchaser and small business owner. Alongside that work, she worked as a percussion instructor, arranger and adjudicator in the marching arts activity.
In her spare time, Beth volunteers with the City of Portland as a Sustainable Transportation Ambassador, and enjoys finding, repairing and donating bicycles for use by low-income adults as affordable transportation. She continues to make quirky, beautiful Judaic art from recycled bicycle parts; some of her pieces are part of the permanent collection at the Yeshiva University Museum in New York.
Beth is married to writer and music scholar Liz Schwartz. They live in a small (but not tiny!) house in Portland, Oregon, where they grow their own vegetables, ride bikes and read books, and are grateful every day for not being hipsters.
Beth travels everywhere locally by bicycle and public transit and has happily lived without a car of her own for decades.