Press
“Dramatically different… These pieces are gems indeed…TING TWUSTERS: TEN TONGUE-NUMBING NUMBERS, for voice and piano by Mary Feinsinger, a composer/lyricist at the BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop in New York City, is wacky and wonderfully witty. Feinsinger has created a jazzy, inventive, and clever set of ten short pieces out of some very funny and well-known tongue twisters…The vocal lines and rhythmic settings of the texts show a keen sense of the tactile feel for language. The piano parts are inventive and have melodic, rhythmic and harmonic independence that translates what might be a diction exercise by a lesser composer into something much more intellectual and artistic. Though they are terrific teaching pieces for students, their sophistication would provide a hilarious contrasting set on any recital and are guaranteed to get a hail of hollers rather than a smattering of snickers from the audience.”
(Sharon Mabry - The Journal of Singing)
“These ten short songs are settings of familiar, and not so familiar, tongue twisters. It is a clever idea, and the songs are amusing and light. The vocal lines are syllabically set, often using the “patter song” device of rapid delivery of words on a single tone, an approach perfectly suited to saying a “ting twuster” as fast as possible. The piano parts are mostly supportive of the voice, occasionally descriptive of the text, and straightforward in general. Most of the songs are quite easy, though two or three have rhythmic intricacies. These would be cute encore songs where something light, fast, and funny is needed, or choices could be made for a short group. ” (Judith Carman - The Journal of Singing)
Testimonials about Mary Feinsinger's music
“You did some beautiful things...The amazing thing is how you turned folk
material into art song—what a transformation!”
— Jeff Klepper
“I will undoubtedly suggest [TING TWUSTERS] to students for graduation
recital material—although they are not for the faint of heart, or tongue!”
— Leslie DeʼAth
“I look forward to ...using the [TING TWUSTERS]. They indeed look very
interesting and very, very useful.”
— Joan Patenaude-Yarnell, The Journal of Singing
"I am consistently impressed by your wonderful arrangements"
— Cantor Robin Sparr-Rothman (Worcester, MA)
“Thank you so much for your musical brilliance.”
— Cantor Barbara Slader (Portland, OR)
“…I am taking the opportunity to thank you for Kol Dodi. What a superb collection! Many thanks on a beautiful job!”
— Cantor Judy Daniel (Columbia, MD)
“The music is strikingly lovely."
— Rabbi Jim Cohn (Greenville, SC)
“Mary Feinsinger has done four settings from the Open Door Haggadah -- and her 'Miriam Han'viah' is terrific -- we just performed it tonight, and my congregation loved it.”
— Cantor Susan Cohen DeStefano (Englewood, NJ)
“I just love your music!!”
— Cantor Karen Dworsky (Thousand Oaks, CA)
“I received lots of wonderful ideas and many, many referred to your work.
… I am a fan and have sung a number of your pieces for the High Holy Days etc."
— Cantor Lisa B. Segal (Brooklyn, NY)
“… I sang your 'Arise and Come Away' from the Kol Dodi
anthology with flute and guitar at a wedding this past Sunday. It was so lovely -- thank you!
— Cantor Rachel Hersh Epstein (Bethesda, MD)
“'Mi Van Siach' is a lovely arrangement...A very happy couple will be using this selection.”
— Melissa Arbetter, Violinist (Highland Park, IL)
Re 'B’Chol Dor Vador': “It’s beautiful.”
— Ellie Wackerman, Flutist (New York, NY)
“I recently ran across your 'Y'varech'cha' in the Shalshelet (2004) Festival Songbook. It is very beautiful.”
'Your “Sim Shalom' was very well-received, with some people crying (for the right reasons!) during the refrains especially... We really like your contemporary style and the feel you create.”
— Scott Kumer, Music Director, Chicago Sinai Congregation (Chicago, IL)
“I just loved all three of your pieces at the Shalshelet Festival (2008). I was very impressed (and I’m usually a tough critic.)”
— Cantor Irene Steiner (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY)
Re Two Ladino Songs: “These are the best!”
— Cantor Richard Botton (Harrison, NY), Cantor Emeritus, Central Synagogue, NYC
Re Jewish Wedding Music “is a must-have for any synagogue musician or anyone planning a Jewish wedding. The beautifully-arranged selections are drawn from a wide range of Jewish cultures, including Eastern European, Sephardic, Israeli, and of course contemporary American, some well-loved favorites and some welcome surprises. One of the volume’s best features is the flexibility it offers in the choice of instrumentation, ranging from piano or organ solo to string quartet, trumpet, violin, and more. This volume is eminently worth buying on its own, but combine it with KOL DODI, Feinsinger’s earlier volume of vocal music for Jewish weddings, and the two-CD set of pieces from both volumes (also called KOL DODI) and you have all you’ll ever need for classy, beautiful, and authentically Jewish weddings."
— Cori Ellison, Artistic Director, Opera Company of the Highlands
Re Jewish Wedding Music "I am consistently impressed by your wonderful arrangements."
— Cantor Robin Sparr-Rothman , Worcester, MA
Re Jewish Wedding Music "With this volume, Jewish Wedding Music: Processionals and Recessionals, Jewish couples now have fully orchestrated processional and recessional music that is both authentically Jewish and also reflects the solemnity, awe, and joy of the marriage service. . . Above all, the music in Jewish Wedding Music: Processionals and Recessionals is beautiful, reflecting Mary Feinsinger’s brilliance, sensitivity, musicality, and deep feeling for Jewish culture."
— Cantor Richard Botton, Cantor Emeritus, Central Synagogue, New York, NY
Re Jewish Wedding Music "Thank you so much for your musical brilliance."
— Cantor Barbara Slader,
Portland, OR "The music in Jewish Wedding Music: Processionals and Recessionals is an invaluable resource for me as a cantor.... The day after I got the book, I needed to find music for a wedding. I opened the book, and there was Feinsinger’s magnificent arrangement of the Bobover Processional wedding march. Though written for instrumental ensembles, it was easy for me to sing as a nigun. Everyone loved it.!"
— Cantor Michael Kasper, Nyack, NY
Re Jewish Wedding Music "The music is strikingly lovely."
— Rabbi Jim Cohn, Greenville, SC
Re Jewish Wedding Music "With the publication of this book of instrumental scores, the author has completed a most impressive and much needed project that began with KOL DODI I, an earlier collection of vocal arrangements. Together with the previously released two-CD set of pieces from both volumes, it is a tremendous resource for anyone wanting to enhance the setting of a wedding that will be both moving and based in tradition. These arrangements cover a variety of moods and modes, providing stylistic choices appropriate for both contemporary and more traditional marriage services. This is a truly comprehensive, beautiful collection."
— Mary Padilla, PhD, Armonk, NY
Re Jewish Wedding Music "Any couple — Jewish or not — will find the perfect music for their wedding ceremony here!"
— Evelyn Tam, Queens, NY
Re Jewish Wedding Music " I am taking the opportunity to thank you for Kol Dodi. What a superb collection! Many thanks on a beautiful job!”
— Cantor Judy Daniel, Columbia, MD
Re Jewish Wedding Music "I just love your music!"
— Cantor Karen Dworsky, Thousand Oaks, CA
Re Jewish Wedding Music “These are such nicely selected pieces, and I love love love the arrangements!!!
— Joan Wikler (Corvallis, OR)
“You have done a masterful and invaluable service by providing these musical settings for Jewish wedding ceremonies.”
— Cantor Murray Simon, Academy for Jewish Religion
Click here for the online store