MAY 18 • 2023 | 29

W

hen booking acts 
for Temple Israel’s 
Schmier Concert 
Series, Cantor Neil Michaels 
approaches it with the ethos that 
Regene Schmier would have used.
“When I’m looking for music 
to bring in, I’m looking for 
something that our community 
wouldn’t be able to hear otherwise, 
or to shine a light on an artist 
that we know locally who is really 
doing wonderful things at a high 
level,
” Michaels said. 
“
And this is really an extension 
of what Regene thought and how 
she wanted to bring this type of 
music, this art to the community.
”
That was the thinking behind 
booking pianist Henry Kramer for 
the next Schmier Concert on May 

21 at 4 p.m. 
The concert is free and open 
to the public. The Schmier 
Concert Series has been a fix-
ture at Temple Israel for decades 
and has been supported by the 
Regene & Leslie Schmier Concert 
Series Endowment Fund. Leslie 
Schmier was Regene’s husband 
and was a two-time president of 
Temple Israel (the only one) and 
was integral to the realization of 
the Temple Israel campus in West 
Bloomfield. Ronald and Ellen 
Schmier have helped steward the 
fund since Regene’s passing in 
2016.
Kramer has won numerous 
awards, including the prestigious 
Avery Fisher Career Grant, and 
has been named a finalist in some 

of the most prestigious piano 
competitions in the world. His 
talent and dedication to his craft 
have made him one of the most 
sought-after pianists of his gener-
ation.
“He’s a charismatic person, and 
everything he does, certainly with-
in his playing, but even beyond, I 
think there’s something magnetic 
that translates,
” Michaels said. “He 
plays with great sensitivity, and 
those two qualities really stand 
out when you hear him. I think he 
creates really beautiful programs, 
which isn’t always easy. I think 
some artists can always get stuck in 
the familiar … but I think the way 

he builds a program and thinks 
about it thematically and draws 
people in from one thing to the 
next, it’s another part of his talent.
”
Regene Schmier was a pianist 
herself, so Kramer’s spot on the 
schedule serves as a natural fit on 
the concert calendar. 
The concert series has tradi-
tionally focused on more classical 
music but has also thought outside 
the box with jazz and klezmer acts 
that have been a hit with the com-
munity.
“I think it’s been one of the best-
kept secrets in our community 
for a little while as far as chamber 
music,
” Michaels said. 

Pianist Henry Kramer to perform May 21.

Free Concert at 
Temple Israel

SEAN SHAPIRO SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS 

Henry Kramer

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