KlezFest 2010 (my first) by a song school participant

To book or join a Yiddish song or klezmer workshop at a venue near you click KlezFest Caravan.

Whatever I thought might happen on the first day, I certainly didn’t expect to be talking Italian!  I came on my own, resolved to say ‘hello’ to other students.  The first person I met was a young Italian (non-Jewish) violinist who was researching klezmer as part of a music degree.  She was accompanied by her mamma (cultural similarity there!), both undeterred by their scant English.  This demonstrates both the pull of klezmer for music lovers world-wide and the diversity of the Klezfest participants.  Meeting the other students and comparing our varied motivations for attending filled the lunch breaks and kept many of us indoors conversing on bright summer days.

I’d enquired about Song School with considerable self-doubt.  I sing in an amateur choir but have no voice training, I can read music but not sight-sing.  I knew and admired the faculty from concerts and CDs and felt daunted about studying with them. But Geraldine and Yvonne gave me the warmest encouragement to enrol, and indeed Song School managed to integrate all levels of experience. 
The days began with physical exercises at 09.00 and Yiddish dancing from 09.15-10.30.  The dances were led by Andreas Schmitges, Guy Schalom and Michael Alpert, with an array of wonderful musicians such as Ilana Cravitz to energise us for the day despite the August heat.  After that we refilled our water bottles and sat down for a more meditative nigun session combining voices and instruments, led by various faculty in turn such as the Strauss/Warschauer Duo.

After coffee the Song School sang, learning an array of Yiddish love songs to fit the week’s wedding theme.  The class was led by Shura Lipovsky and Hilda Bronstein, with beautiful piano accompaniment by Polina Shepherd.  Shura conveyed her gift of bringing a spiritual dimension to even the simplest folk song, while Hilda helped us achieve a sense of Yiddish Theatre in the songs she chose.  Shura began each session with relaxation and a particularly uplifting nigun (I became addicted to this and am glad to have found a version of this on one of Shura’s CDs). The more experienced singers could opt for a masterclass, which was also educational for those of us who just listened to the singing and feedback.  
After lunch we followed our choice of ‘ensemble’ through the week.  There was a tempting choice, offering various combinations of music, song, dance, percussion, drama, Yiddish, Hebrew and poetry.  For example, one ensemble examined the bride’s feelings before the wedding; another developed a creative marriage ceremony; another looked at the influence of other European music on klezmer.  I chose the choral ensemble with Polina, who encouraged us to enliven our singing with Yiddish decorations and improvisation.  Polina is an adventurous performer and teacher who makes it fun to push yourself beyond your comfort zone.  Towards the end of the week she formed an impromptu large choir, getting many musicians to put down their instruments and learn a 7-part arrangement of her own which we sang at the farewell concert after just two half-hour practices.

A highlight of every day was the Big Orchestra session with Frank London, where the voices functioned as an orchestral section.  I have always had to restrain myself from singing-along at klezmer concerts, so it was a great treat to find that was exactly what I was meant to do! One day Vivi Lachs introduced ‘Victoria Park’ – a kind of Yiddish music-hall song from her treasure trove of London history – and it was exhilarating to participate in the creative process as Frank orchestrated this with the instrumentalists and turned it into an exciting performance.

The wedding theme at Klezfest 2010 was enhanced by Barry Davis’s selection of European and American film clips, old and new, showing Jewish weddings. 

Also I must mention the authentic religious wedding party held one evening (coincidentally with a real bride and groom married earlier that day).  Michael Alpert and his ensemble acted the badkhen, Deborah Strauss led the female guests in honouring the bride with dances and the groom was feted by the male students along with some guests from London’s haredi community.

Finally, there were 4 wonderful evening concerts: 3 featuring faculty and 1 featuring students.  My one regret is that I didn’t attend all of these, or I’d never have got home to Surrey and back again for the next morning’s dancing.  I shall have to get in training for Klezfest 2011 so I can manage without sleep!

modified December 6, 2010