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MAY 2005

Folksbiene Presents World-Class Klezmer Group Brave Old World

Brave Old World

NEW YORK PREMIERE OF
“SONG OF THE LODZ GHETTO”
IN 5-SHOW ENGAGEMENT
MAY 11 TO MAY 15

The pioneering klezmer and new Jewish music group Brave Old World, in a rare New York appearance, brings its highly-acclaimed concert combining authentic Holocaust street songs with contemporary compositions for an exclusive five-show engagement May 11 through 15.  The New York premiere of “Song of the Lodz Ghetto,” presented by the venerable Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre as a major highlight of its historic 90th consecutive season, performs at The Triad Theatre, 158 West 72nd Street, Wednesday May 11 through Sunday May 15.  Showtimes are Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at 9P and Sunday at 2P & 9P.  Tickets, which are $20, can be purchased by phone at (800) 994-3347 or online at www.folksbiene.org.

At the heart of “Song of the Lodz Ghetto” (“Duz gezang fin geto Lodzh”) are rare songs performed in the streets of the Lodz Ghetto between 1940 and 1944, part of an oral legacy that was preserved by ethnomusicologist Gila Flam in the late 1980’s. The songs Flam recorded were either unique compositions—songs of protest and veiled satire—or adaptations of existing Yiddish and Polish songs from the pre-War period. Many were by Yankele Herszkowicz, the acknowledged bard or Lodz who performed standing on a box accompanied by a violinist (until the Nazis outlawed all instruments in 1942). While Herszkowicz did survive (he returned to Lodz where he died in 1972), Flam’s principal interpreters of this street music were three Lodz Ghetto survivors—all teenagers at the time—Ya’akov Rotenberg, Miriam Harel and Ya’akov Flam.

Brave Old World first used these remarkable recordings as a springboard when it premiered “Song of the Lodz Ghetto” in 1990 at the Jewish Museum in Frankfurt Germany. Melding traditional and contemporary sensibilities, the show, now in its fourth incarnation, sets out to link the past and present rather than reproduce history. With over 20 numbers in all “Song of the Lodz Ghetto” spans pre-WWII Europe, the Holocaust and our own time to create a theatrical collage synthesizing traditional Jewish folk with the compositional sophistication of classical music and the idiomatic spontaneity of jazz.

Brave Old World’s personnel includes music director Alan Bern, who plays piano and accordion; Michael Alpert, who sings and plays violin, guitar and percussion; Kurt Bjorling on clarinets, and Stuart Brotman on contrabass, trombone violin and tsimbl. In addition to their concert and recording work Brave Old World, together and individually, are recognized for their heartfelt advocacy of klezmer and Yiddish music—through teaching and their support of innovative modern cultural endeavors such as KlezCanada and Weimar Klezmer Wochen, a 5-week concert & workshop festival in Weimar Germany.

“Song of the Lodz Ghetto” has been seen only recently in the U.S.—in St. Paul and Cincinnatti. A live recording made in Bordeaux France is being released in June on Europe’s prestigious Winter & Winter label, and will be available at the Triad shows.#

“Songs of the Lodz Ghetto” is performed with supertitles in the Triad’s main theatre that features cabaret seating.  Tickets ($20 with a two-drink minimum) are available by calling (800) 994-3347 or (212) 213-2120, or by visiting www.folksbiene.org

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