Who’s Who in KlezFest, Ot Azoy!
and the Jewish Song School 2005
posted 25 March 2005
- Michael Alpert: dance, fiddle and ballads
- Paulina Achkenazi-Shepherd: accompanist, Yiddish vocal ensembles
- Khayele Beer: Ot Azoy! director
- Matt Darrieu: clarinet and reeds
- Barry Davis: Ot Azoy! film programme
- Josh Dolgin: piano and accordion
- Peysakh Fiszman: Ot Azoy! Yiddish programme
- Lisa Gutkin: fiddle
- Ruti Halvani: mezzo soprano, Song School hospitality director
- Jacinta: Ladino and Yiddish song
- David Licht: drums
- Shura Lipovsky: Yiddish song, Song School programme director
- Frank London: brass KlezFest programme director
- Sara Manasseh: KlezFest, Ethnomusicologist
- Paul Morrissett: bass, tsimbl
- Sonia Dratwa-Pinkusowitz: Ot Azoy! Yiddish programme
- Lorin Sklamberg: vocals, accordion
- Merlin Shepherd: clarinet, dance band leader
- Judith Silver: KlezFest, Yiddish and New Song
- Sophie Solomon: fiddle
- Deborah Strauss: fiddle
- Jeff Warschauer: plucked strings, cantorial improvisation
- KlezFest Assistant Faculty
KlezFest
Michael Alpert (New York):
klezmer dance, fiddle, traditional
Yiddish ballads
Michael is an important link between Old World Jewish musicians and the
klezmer revival through his research work at New York's YIVO Institute.
He is also internationally known for his instrumental and vocal performances
and recordings with Brave Old World, Khevrisa, Kapelye, David Krakauer
and others. Alpert was the Emmy Award-winning musical director of ‘Itzhak
Perlman: In the Fiddler's House’ and its subsequent concert tours,
and executive producer of the resulting CDs. He is a program director
of Canada's ‘KlezKanada’ and a longtime staff instructor at
‘KlezKamp’ in America and KlezFest London. Alpert is translator
and co-editor of ‘Jewish Instrumental Folk Music,’ the seminal
1938 work on klezmer music by Soviet Jewish ethnomusicologist Moyshe Beregovski.
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to top Matt Darriau (New York)/Klezmatics: reeds, flutes, ethnic woodwinds
In addition to the Klezmatics, Matt leads his own Balkan rhythm quartet,
Paradox Trio, which regularly performs at major European jazz and world
music festivals. With his five-piece Recycled Waltz Orchestra he toured
the USA playing the film music of Bernard Herrmann. Along with fellow
Klezmatic Frank London he set up the septet Ballin’ the Jack, which
plays early swing repertoire fused with contemporary improvisation. Darriau
is also a member of Celtic band Whirligig. He has composed for film, theatre
and dance. Jazziz magazine named him one of the 150 most influential jazz
musicians of the last fifteen years.
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to top Josh Dolgin (Montreal)
Socalled: piano, accordion
Josh is a magician, cartoonist, pianist, photographer, animator, DJ, choirmaster
and beat-writer. He gives workshops on hiphopkele (the melding of Jewish
rhythms, modes and melodies with contemporary technological music forms)
at KlezKanada and KlezFest London where he also teaches accordion. He
collaborated with Sophie Solomon to create the HipHopKhasene and performs
and records with his band Shtreimel.
Lisa Gutkin (New York)/Klezmatics: fiddle
Lisa’s varied musical palette has led to collaborations with a wide
array of artists and the founding of the Celtic group, Whirligig. Lisa
also composes for film, radio, television and theatre and appears on over
100 recordings. Her most recent compositions can be heard in Sex and the
City’s final season. Lisa has performed and recorded with some of
the best traditional Irish musicians on either side of the Atlantic. As
part of the Fast Folk collective, she appeared with amongst others Suzanne
Vega. Her most recent collaboration is with Dutch choreographer Maggie
Boogaart for which she composed and performed the music.
David Licht (New York)/Klezmatics: drums
David plays many styles of music, including jazz, blues, folk, rock, Brazilian
and African. In 1985, David quickly became part of the second wave of
the klezmer revival, listening and learning from vintage 78rpm recordings,
which continue to be his biggest influence. He has performed on over thirty
recordings and toured with legendary bands. He composes and performes
music for modern dance. He has performed and recorded with Andy Statman,
David Krakauer, Michael Alpert, Pete Sokolow and Klezmer Plus, Giora Feidman
and Zalmen Mlotek. He has been staff percussion instructor for KlezKamp
since 1987.
Shura Lipovsky (Amsterdam): director of Yiddish song
Shura Lipovskyis one of the best-known singers of Yiddish song in Europe.
She has performed and taught also in Russia, the USA and Canada. She studied
singing at the Rotterdam conservatory and she had a folkdance education,
after which she specialised in Judaic mysticism and dance. She is widely
appreciated for her teaching of the Yiddish song repertoire combined with
contextual study of the history and background of the composers and poets.
She conducts masterclasses for singers and workshops in Chasidic dances,
songs and stories.
Frank London (New York)
Klezmatics: trumpet brass
Innovative and creative founder-member of Klezmatics and Klezmer Brass
Allstars and many other world known ensembles, Frank is now exploring
cantorial music for trumpet and Jewish mystical songs and performances
with his Hasidic New Wave ensemble. He has written music for theatre and
ballet and is one of the most charismatic and respected members of the
current klezmer scene. He has performed and recorded with a showcase of
great names including John Zorn, Mel Torme, Maurice El Medioni and Gal
Costa, and is featured on over 100 CDs. Most recently he has performed
Woody Guthrie’s Chanukah songs.
Paul Morrissett (New York)/Klezmatics: bass, tsimbl
Paul is a collector and accomplished player of traditional folk instruments
of the Balkans and Scandinavia. He has travelled the world studying with
ethnic masters such as Norway’s premier Hardanger fiddlers and Bulgaria’s
most esteemed folk artists: gaida and gadulka players. With Zlatne Uste
Balkan Brass Band and the George Tomov Dance Ensemble Orchestra, Paul
has recorded and performed in venues from Lincoln Center to Zagreb, on
instruments including kaval, bass, zurla, violin, trumpet, accordion and
tamburitza. He conducts workshops at festivals and has been on the staff
of Lark in the Morning, Buffalo on the Roof and the Balkan Music and Dance
camps.
Merlin Shepherd (Brighton):
clarinet, Dance Band co-ordinator
Internationally acclaimed performer, composer and educator, Merlin has
developed a special method of teaching klezmer instrumentalists by ear,
which has influenced many teacher’s practises throughout the world.
Merlin has taught at many international Yiddish Arts Programmes in North
America and Eastern Europe. He has performed with The Burning Bush, and
Budowitz and is a regular member of Sukke and the Klezmer Brass Allstars.
He also leads the Sound & Light Cinematic Duo who play live accompaniment
to rare black and white silent Jewish films.
www.merlinshepherd.co.uk
Lorin Sklamberg (New York)/Klezmatics: vocals, accordion
Lorin was a founder-member of the Klezmatics. As a Yiddish singer he is
in great demand and can be heard on over three dozen recordings in collaborations
with legendary performers, labels, venues and producers such as Don Byron,
The Knitting Factory, Tzadik, Frank London, Adrienne Cooper and Itzhak
Perlman. He co-founded the non-profit organization Living Traditions and
for fourteen years Lorin coordinated its annual KlezKamp: the Yiddish
Folk Arts Program (the world’s first major instructional institution
for klezmorim). He co-produced and recorded its children’s CD. Lorin
currently serves as the Sound Archivist of the YIVO Institute for Jewish
Research.
Sophie Solomon (London): fiddle
A founder-member of Oi Va Voi, (whose debut album was in NY Times Top
Ten Albums 2003), Sophie Solomon fuses traditional fidl technique with
electronic wizardry in pyrotechnic live performances. Her debut solo
album will be released by Decca Records later this year. Sophie’s many
collaborations include Rufus Wainwright, Heather Nova, Theodor Bikel and
Solomon & Socalled’s HipHopKhasene which won a prestigious German
Record Critics’ Award for Album of the Year 2004. With Maxim Vengerov
and Christian Garrick, Sophie is an Artistic Advisor to the Genius of
the Violin Festival. She teaches regularly internationally, most recently
at the Royal Academy of Music and Weimar Conservatory of Music.
Deborah Strauss (New York): fiddle
Deborah is internationally acclaimed as one of the finest of the contemporary
klezmer instrumentalists and as a true musical descendent of the most
eloquent traditional Jewish violinists. She is a member of the Strauss/Warschauer
Duo and was a long-time member of the Klezmer Conservatory Band and the
Chicago Klezmer Ensemble. As a violinist, singer and accordionist, Deborah
has appeared on numerous recordings. She is a beloved teacher of Yiddish
music and dance to students of all ages, and has taught for many years
at countless workshops throughout Europe and North America, including
KlezFest London, KlezKamp and KlezKanada.
Jeff Warschauer (New York):
plucked strings, cantorial improvisation
Internationally renowned mandolinist, guitarist, Yiddish singer and
teacher, Jeff is a member of the Strauss/Warschauer Duo and was a
long-time member of the Klezmer Conservatory Band. He is on the faculty
of Columbia University, a program director for KlezKanada, a long-time
instructor at KlezKamp and a frequent instructor for the Jewish Music
Institute/SOAS at the University of London. He is also a composer
whose music has been heard in films and theater productions, on Public
Radio International and on HBO. Jeff's solo CD, The Singing Waltz:
Klezmer Guitar and Mandolin, has received widespread critical acclaim.
The KlezFest Assistant Faculty are:
Ilana Cravitz (London)
Fiddle
Helene Domergue (France) Dance
Sara Manasseh (London) Iraqi-Jewish song
Guy Schalom (Manchester) Technical and percussion
Andreas Schmitges (Germany) Dance
Judith Silver (London) Yiddish and new song
Dr Sara Manasseh
Dr Sara Manasseh
is an ethnomusicologist, lecturer, performer
and researcher in the musical traditions of the Jews of Iraq, and of the
Bene Israel Jews of India . She was Head of Music at London Comprehensive
schools for a number of years, and later, Senior Lecturer in Music at
Kingston University , Surrey . More recently, she has lectured in Jewish
Music at SOAS. Her publications include articles on music in religious
and life-cycle events, in the Babylonian (or Iraqi) Jewish tradition,
the role of Iraqi Jewish women in music performance (in Iraq and in Israel),
and with her mother, Rachel Manasseh, a historical and social account
of the Baghdadian Jews of India. She has also produced a number of CDs.
Sara is the founding director of the group Rivers of Babylon, performing
religious and secular music in the Iraqi-Jewish and Bene Israel traditions,
and in February 2005 participated in a lecture and performance tour of
7 cities in India. Sara was born in Bombay of Iraqi-Jewish parents, and
moved to London in 1966.
http://www.saramanasseh.com
http://www.riversofbabylon.com
Judith Silver (London):
Yiddish and new song
is a musician and music facilitator, working across the community. Much
of her work concerns encouraging singing, either teaching songs new
to a group (usually harmony songs from all over the world), or sharing
classics. She is an established and respected singer/songwriter influenced
by Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and many others; her composition also includes
an increasing repertoire of unaccompanied harmony songs for groups.
Within a more specifically Jewish context, Judith has a wide and ever-increasing
knowledge and love of Yiddish songs, which she performs and teaches
regularly, constantly developing her own repertoire and working to improve
at the language. Over recent years, she has begun to lead a group of singers
at Finchley Reform Synagogue for the High Holy Days services. Her involvement
with and interest in Jewish music is growing all the time.
Jewish Song Summer School
Shura Lipovsky (Amsterdam): Programme Director, Yiddish
song
Shura is one of the best-known singers of Yiddish song in Europe. She
has performed and taught also in Russia, the USA and Canada. She studied
singing at the Rotterdam conservatory and after finishing her formal education
she specialized in Judaic mysticism and dance. She is widely appreciated
for her teaching of the Yiddish song repertoire combined with contextual
study of the history and background of the composers and poets. She conducts
masterclasses for singers and workshops in Chasidic dances, songs and
stories.
Polina Achkinazi-Shepherd (Brighton):
song accompanist,
vocal ensemble
Composer, singer, pianist and the leading choral conductor of Yiddish
song in the Former USSR. She has performed and taught internationally.
Her specially developed choral teaching methods are based on instrumental
ornamentation and Jewish modes. Performs with her own a capella ensemble,
‘The Vocal Quartet Ahkenazim’ and works with the Sound &
Light Cinematic Duo, who play live accompaniment to rare black and white
silent Jewish films. Polina's music is performed by choirs and soloists
all over the world.
www.ashkenazim.ru
Ruti Halvani (London):
Jewish Art song
Israeli Mezzo-Soprano Ruti Halvani is Director of the year-round JMI Jewish
Song School and is accomplished in classical, opera, oratorio and art
song as well as contemporary music. Since completing a postgraduate degree
with distinction at Trinity College of Music, she has worked with the
world's finest orchestras and singers at prestigious venues. Amongst numerous
awards, Ruti won first prize in the Leoncavallo Competition in Switzerland,
and most recently, her JMI Millennium Award led to research into Jewish
art songs and launched MezzoMorphosis, a programme dedicated to classical
adaptations of Jewish folk songs from the 19th and 20th centuries. She
has also recorded a CD of Yiddish art songs for the Milken Archive.
Jacinta (Paris): Yiddish and Ladino song
Jacinta was born in Buenos Aires and studied the guitar. She came to Paris
in 1978 and sang the Judeo-Spanish romances in the show ‘chant profound
Juif’ at the Festival d’Avignon. She is an author and a composer,
and as a comedienne she has played in Dibouk and Mortadela by Alfredo
Arias. She sings and teaches Yiddish, Sephardi and Argentine repertoire
and also her own compositions in Spanish and French. Her voice can be
heard in many films and on television as well as CDs. She has presented
shows in Paris and toured France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Spain, Finland,
Canada and Argentina.
Michael Alpert and Lorin Sklamberg will also participate in the song programme
Ot Azoy!
Khayele Beer (Oxford):
Course Director Yiddish language
Khayele Beer taught Yiddish at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish
Studies and is a veteran of Yiddish Intensive Summer Courses in Oxford,
Brussels, Paris and is the Course Director of Ot Azoy! London. She is
the William Margulies Lecturer in Yiddish, Department of Hebrew and
Jewish Studies, University College London. She produces an annual Yiddish
Purim Shpil with students at UCL and produced a full length Yiddish
play in 2002. She is the Director of Yiddish Studies for the JMI International
Forum for Yiddish Culture.
Barry Davis (London):
Film co-ordinator
Yiddish actor and scholar, Barry teaches Yiddish for the Spiro Ark and
the London Jewish Cultural Centre. Has coached Yiddish and acted in several
films.
Sonia Dratwa-Pinkusowitz (Brussels): Yiddish language
Sonya is one of the most sought after and popular teachers of Yiddish
in Europe. A mainstay of Ot Azoy! her teaching is enjoyed by young and
old who find her methods extremely engaging and effective.
Pesakh Fiszman (New York):
Yiddish language
Pesakh is one of the world’s favourite Yiddish teachers and story
tellers. His knowledge of the language and its literature and his humour
and care for students is legendary.
Programme and faculty may vary.
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