World-renowned composer coming to local festival

The Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit will host the Stephen Gottlieb Music Festival beginning on Wednesday, March 23 and ending on Sunday, April 3.

The festival venues will be split between the Jewish Community Centers in West Bloomfield, located at 6600 W. Maple Road, and in Oak Park, at 15110 W. Ten Mile Road.

The featured performer will be multi-award winning composer Marvin Hamlisch, who will be the first act to perform at West Bloomfield’s new Berman Center for the Performing Arts inside the community center on March 23.

Hamlisch’s is regarded as one of the all-time great composers, having won Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony awards, along with a Pulitzer Prize.

He has composed scores for Broadway productions such as “A Chorus Line,” as well as movies including “The Way We Were” and “The Sting.”

The Berman Center is built to seat 600 people.

Shelley Wright, the festival’s director, said there will be a diverse group of performers appearing at the festival, including Jewish hip-hop artist Y-Love, as well as a chamber orchestra concert and a Motown show by the Michigan Board of Cantors.

All performances are open to the public, and a full schedule of performers, venues and ticket prices is now available at the festival’s official website, musicfest.jccdet.org.

Tickets can be purchased online at the website, at the Jewish Community Center, or by calling 248-661-1900.