 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Remember to check our website ...www.hobartsynagogue.org regularly for calendar updates, interesting info, etc. etc.
Remember that you can get your kosher foods at Coles Sandy Bay in Hobart
Page 13
JEWISH NOTE AT ROYAL WEDDING by Alana Rosenbaum
Together with salmon and gum trees, Carol Samuelson and her daughter Aviva are among hundreds of
Tasmanian exports to have flown to Denmark last week as Crown Prince Frederik prepared to marry
Hobart lawyer Mary Donaldson. The Samuelsons are members of Hobart’s small Jewish community.
Both are also part of the Derwent Valley Concert Band, a 65-piece orchestra that was invited to perform
in Copenhagen in recognition of the bride’s Tasmanian heritage.
Carol Samuelson, 49, said the band was initially asked to submit music, only to be invited in January to
appear in person. Despite the challenges of raising $200,000 in three months, she said it was an invitation
that the closely-knit group of musicians could not pass up. “It was amazing. We are used to being invited
overseas but not to something like this,” Samuelson told the Australian Jewish News from Hobart on the
eve of her departure.
She said the band carefully selected its repertoire to include the aptly-titled Queen of the South, composed
in 1925 by Alex F Lithgow as a tribute to Tasmania. In recognition of Donaldson’s heritate, Australia
presented the couple – who met at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 – with trees from Tasmania,
including huon pines, snow gums and cider gums.
Governor-General Michael Jeffery also travelled to Copenhagen this week, where he treated the bride and
groom, along with Prince Frederik’s parents, Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik, to an Australian dinner
that featured Tasmanian salmon, barramundi from the Northern Territory and Darrell Lea liquorice, flown
in especially for the occasion.
At the wedding itself, guests were to drink a brew of the Danish beer Carlsberg made from Tasmanian
hops. The hybrid is called Carlsberg Crown. Samuelson, who says she could read music before she
could read words, has played the clarinet with the band on and off since its inception a decade ago. Her
daughter, Aviva, 13, who plays the flute, joined about two years ago. “It’s good to have her in the band,”
said Samuelson, who has spent most of her life in Tasmania. “We have a few brothers and sisters in the
band and a few couples who got married after meeting in the band.”
Samuelson said the Derwent Valley Concert Band has a busy schedule in the Danish capital which
includes an appearance at the Tivoli Gardens theme park and a procession to the wedding on Friday
afternoon. Despite being a veteran performer, Samuelson – who will visit Israel with her daughter en
route home to Australia next week – said the royal fanfare had placed her under pressure. “It’s a bit
scary, really. What if I do something wrong at the wedding?”
It is with the kind permission of the Australian Jewish News (reporter: Alana Rosenbaum, editor: Dan Goldberg)
that we reproduce this article which appeared in the recent Melbourne and Sydney editions of that paper.
Our Israeli student friend, Daphna Yalon now has a webpage. Daphna is seeking sponsorship for her time in
Australia and you can read “all about her” by visiting her webpage …. Just go to our own website
www.hobartsynagogue.org and follow the link ….
 |