Benjamin Hackman on Grief

On July 1, 2020 at the Historic Kiever Synagogue, composer Benjamin Hackman and The Holy Gasp will present Grief - a sunset to dawn music performance with 10 vocalists, 2 pianists, percussion, and a sign language interpreter. The public is invited to record the names of their deceased loved ones here https://theholygasp.com/grief/. The names will be inscribed into a scroll and read during this all-night mourning ritual. I've met with Benjamin at the Kiever Synagogue one morning in June and we talked about life, death, theodicy, grieving, whether losing one's parents is permanently wounding, the actual effects of praying - as well as his music, what his residency at a place of worship involves, bodily endurance art... and the unparalleled cool of Bugs Bunny. The photo of Ben Hackman is by Alex Earl Gray. Intro and outro music is by Menachem Engel/Kabbalistic Village SoundCloud