A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff is a chamber-rock operatic song cycle exploring the intersection of spirituality, finance and responsibility by composer, performer, biblical scholar, poet and violinist Alicia Jo Rabins. The piece begins in an empty office on Wall Street, where Rabins spent a year writing poetry and music thanks to a grant from a local arts nonprofit - and where she watched the financial collapse, and Madoff's confession, occur in real-time. Through music, documentary theatre, and meditative poetry, Rabins cosiders Bernie Madoff and the system which allowed him to function through the eyes of a young artist working in New York City, as well as the lens of ancient Jewish and Buddhist texts on financial ethics, ecology, and cycles. “A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff” tackles personal and societal issues with thoughtfulness, wit, sensitivity and beautifully sung melodies. "Completely enthralling, and refreshingly original. When the voice and story are authentic, the audience knows it in a heartbeat. Rabins skillfully crafts one telling word and song and image after another. Dimly, a painful story of our time comes into view, along with unanswered questions. A triumph of personal creation." -- Win Goodbody, Portlandtheatrescene.com This album is a recording of the original band, who premiered the piece at Joe's Pub in NYC, November 2012. Words and music, violin, and voice: Alicia Jo Rabins. Musical director and cellist: Colette Alexander. Drums and percussion: David Freeman. Electric guitar: Lily Maase. Recorded by Charles Martinez at Audio Paint, NYC, May 2013. Mixed by Jason Powers @ Type Foundry, Portland, OR. Mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk, Stereophonic Mastering, Portland, OR. About the artist: Alicia Jo Rabins began studying classical violin at age 3, thanks to a Phil Donahue special on the Suzuki method. She studied avant-garde composition throughout high school, and went on to immerse herself in traditional fiddle music, songwriting, and singing. Girls in Trouble, her original art-pop song cycle about women in Torah, released two albums with Jdub Records and has toured across the US, Canada, England, Italy and Sweden. Alicia was the violinist in NYC's acclaimed klezmer-punk band Golem for eight years and has performed Appalachian fiddle music across Central America and Kuwait as a US State Department cultural ambassador. She is the recipient of grants and awards from Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, LABA Fellowship at the Fourteenth Street Y, Bread Loaf Writers Workshop, Six Points Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Artists, and the Portland Regional Arts and Culture Council. Alicia currently lives in Portland, Oregon. Grateful acknowledgement to the following organizations and individuals without whose support this piece would not exist: Six Points Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Artists, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, LABA Fellowship at the 14th St Y, Mud/Bone Theatre, Boom Arts, Rebecca Guber, Kerry Huang, and Ruth Wikler-Luker.