Acclaimed performers highlight Atlanta’s 'Side By Side' series

ATLANTA - Audiences around the world know Joe Alterman as a dazzling jazz pianist. But the Atlanta native also spends time behind a different kind of keyboard — that of a computer — as executive director of culture and concert series Neranenah.

"Neranenah is a word in Hebrew that means ‘let’s come together and sing,’" explains Alterman. "We are a Jewish organization, but music’s for everyone, and we need to reflect that. And to me, the Jewish part of the music is really the story about the music, not necessarily the music itself."

And those stories will take center stage during Side By Side, a live performance series hosted in partnership with The Breman Museum and taking place at notable venues throughout the city.

"Often when you have an institution such as The Breman Museum, the focus is on bringing as many people as possible through the doors," says the museum’s executive director Leslie Gordon. "However, it’s very important to us that we reach out and share our culture and our stories…so our logical partnership with Neranenah helps us bring our stories and open conversations and have a lot more dialogue with non-traditional audiences that might not come here."

The series opens Aug. 21 at Atlanta’s Plaza Theatre, with a performance by the Joe Alterman Trio and a screening of the documentary Live at Mister Kelly’s. Events continue through Sunday, August 28th; for a list of events and ticket information, click here.