ROM Speaks

Jewish Cafe Culture: Holocaust-Era Sanctuary

Grand Prize Winner at the 2023 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Toronto jazz singer-songwriter Ori Dagan has attracted a dedicated and growing audience worldwide, and maintains a busy schedule as musician, curator, producer, and host. Known for his enchanting voice, infectious swing, and charismatic performance style, he has entertained thousands across Canada, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Morocco, Macedonia, Israel, and Germany. Beyond creating his own music, Dagan is a community builder for Toronto musicians, audiences, venues, and presenters. He is the Artistic Director of JazzInToronto, a community hub and presenter, and has written for publications such as The New York City Jazz Record, The WholeNote, and BlogTO.

Fern Lindzon is a JUNO Award nominated, multi-faceted pianist/vocalist/arranger possessing a musical technique described by respected jazz critic Mark Miller as “secure in her sense of herself, her art, and her craft” and by The WholeNote as “breathtaking beautiful”. Her solo CDs move comfortably and creatively through a highly personal repertoire of her own arrangements of jazz standards and original compositions inspired by World, Classical and Baroque music. Her second CD, Two Kites received a JUNO Nomination for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year. Lindzon also composes and performs scores for silent films and has worked as a Musical Director for theatrical productions. She performs with Lenka Lichtenberg’s JUNO-winning Thieves of Dreams, and was a member of Sisters of Sheynville, which won a Canadian Folk Music Award as Vocal Group of the Year. 

A child of Holocaust survivors, Tova has toured the world as a Yiddish Diva! Tova wrote, co-produced, and starred in STILL THE NIGHT, which won four Dora Awards and garnered a Governor General Award Nomination. Tova has received both Gemini & CSA nominations for her on-camera performances, has headlined major music festivals, and has won rave reviews for her CD’s of Yiddish Jazz. Planet Jazz described Tova as a "towering, pan-cultural jazz-cabaret diva ". In 2025 Tova received the King Charles lll Coronation Medal and was also named the Cayle Chernin Woman of the Year. 

Aviva Chernick is an award-winning, multi-lingual, Global music artist. She creates for, leads, and tours with her own ensemble, Aviva Chernick and La Serena Quartet. Reimagining traditional Judeo-Spanish folk music with intimacy and emotional range, Aviva and her band bring this musical legacy into the present. She was the first Canadian to be awarded a Virginia Folk Life apprenticeship to study with ‘American National Treasure’ and Sephardic musician Flory Jagoda, whose music she celebrates in La Serena. As a founding member and lead singer of the Canadian World Music group Jaffa Road, and while leading her own ensembles, Aviva has toured across Canada, the United States, Israel, Brazil, and as a guest of the Canadian Ambassador to the UAE at Expo in Dubai. As a partner to performing, Aviva practices and trains others in the vocal movement of Emotionally Integrated Voice, is a Mindfulness Meditation teacher, and is the Director of the Centre for Spiritual Wellbeing at Beth Tzedec Congregation in Toronto. Aviva dances Gaga and cares for her Chihuahua Luz in her spare time.

Originally from Winnipeg, Judith Lander has become an internationally acclaimed singer, ballet composer, Broadway actress, and cabaret performer. Her life experiences and wide repertoire of musical styles reflect both her immense talent and strong dedication to her craft.

Starting out as a folk singer in Winnipeg, she sang in the Rosh Pina Synagogue choir, won trophies at the Manitoba Music Festival, performed on CBC Radio and Television as well as on CBC Francais. While studying Television Arts in Toronto, Judith was chosen by the New York City company of “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris” in 1968 to perform in the Toronto production. She later reprised her role in a successful run of the show in Boston and Washington, D.C. Stephen Schwartz, the renowned American musical theater lyricist and composer, recently said that her “voice is so rich, evocative, and heartbreaking” and her “profound way with a lyric has only gotten stronger over time.” She released her critically acclaimed recording “In My Life” in 2015 featuring songs by Weill, Brecht, Schwartz and others.

The Czech-born JUNO winner, vocalist, composer, cantorial soloist, and producer regularly tours internationally, and aspires to build bridges among cultures through a passionate and often deeply spiritual celebration of her roots. Her seven albums transcend folk, jazz, global roots, and classical genres, winning many awards and nominations. Lenka’s latest project, Thieves of Dreams, was based on her grandmother’s notebooks from Theresienstadt, and won the 2023 JUNO Award for Global Album of the Year. The 2024 English-language album Feel With Blood continues her exploration of art created during the Holocaust. Lenka has produced four of her own albums, including Thieves of Dreams and Canadian Folk Music Award-winning Songs for the Breathing Walls.