Bente Kahan born in Oslo in 1958, is trained as an actor in Tel-Aviv and New York and has been working as a performing artist since 1981. She began her career in the classical theatres of Habima, Israel's national theatre, and Nationaltheatret in Norway. Her first Yiddish performance was in Oslo, in 1983, with "Above the Town", and after several years as a member of diverse Oslo ensembles, she performed in "Bessie - a Bluesical" and "Letter Without a Stamp", both monodramas co-written with the Norwegian stage director Ellen Foyn Bruun. In 1990, she founded Teater Dybbuk - Oslo (TDO), whose aim is to convey Jewish-European culture and history through drama and music. Of the most well known productions, can be mentioned "Yiddishkayt" (a concert and CD), "Farewell Cracow" (a concert and CD), "Voices from Theresienstadt" (a theatre play and CD in German, English and Norwegian versions) and "HOME" (a concert and CD). The two Polish musicians Dariusz Swinoga and Miroslaw Kuzniak have worked with Ms. Kahan since 1992 and accompany her in most of her productions. She also appears alone with her guitar or collaborates with European klezmer bands such as Gjertrud's Gypsy Orchestra (Norway), Di Gojim (The Netherlands), Jowel Klezmorim (Germany), "Sabbath Hela Veckan" (Sweden) and Chudoba (Poland). Bente Kahan tours internationally with her programs and is repeatedly called upon to perform in connection with official commemorations paying homage to the victims of the Holocaust. Her work unfailingly receives critical praise by newspapers and audiences alike. May 2005, the Jewish Community in Wroclaw, Poland, appointed Bente Kahan as the artistic director of the Jewish Cultural and Educational Center of the White Stork Synagogue. 24th of June 2006 Ms. Bente Kahan got The Wroclaw Mayor's Award. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.