The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is set to present a concert reading of “Shir Hashirim: The Song of Love” on Dec. 11, 2023.

The operetta by Joseph Rumshinsky and Anshel Shor will be performed by Bard Conservatory Vocal Arts students, using a new score created by the YIVO team under scholar Ronald Robboy.

“Now that we have decoded and reconstructed music and lyrics, and understand their context, we can see why it was all so important,” Robboy said in an official press statement issued by the YIVO Institute. “The work is, in a word, utterly engaging. And it points to how the Yiddish musical theater, along with the broader American musical theater it reciprocally influenced, would develop in the coming years.”

The operetta, which explores numerous love trianges, originally premiered in 1911 to such great success that famed composer George Gershwin knew the score by heart.

Audiences will be able to witness the event live at the Center for Jewish History on 15 West 16th Street in New York and on Zoom.