Yiddish Song Workshop Jul 19 – 25
10 a.m. - 1 p.m. & 3 - 6 p.m.
With Ethel Raim, Josh Waletzky, Sveta Kundish, Sasha Lurje (Coordinator)
Artists-in-Residence: Efim Chorny, Susan Ghergus, Andrea Pancur, Sasha Somish
What is traditional Yiddish Song, how is it different from other European song traditions and what does it share with them? Based on new perspectives gained from four Yiddish Summers focused on Yiddish/German cultural connections and New Yiddish Song, this year we'll revisit the question of "Yidishkayt" in Yiddish song. read more
With Ethel Raim, Josh Waletzky, Sveta Kundish, Sasha Lurje (Coordinator)
Artists-in-Residence: Efim Chorny, Susan Ghergus, Andrea Pancur, Sasha Somish
What is traditional Yiddish Song, how is it different from other European song traditions and what does it share with them? Based on new perspectives gained from four Yiddish Summers focused on Yiddish/German cultural connections and New Yiddish Song, this year we'll revisit the question of "Yidishkayt" in Yiddish song.
A stellar team of faculty and artists-in-residence will provide a multi-faceted view on traditional Yiddish song, old and new. We are happy to welcome back the founder of legendary world music group The Pennywhistlers, Artistic Director of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance (New York) and a living treasure of the traditional Yiddish ballad, Ethel Raim. Joining her is lifelong composer, musician and teacher specializing in Yiddish song, Josh Waletzky. Waletzky was music director for many years at the famed Camp Boiberik, from 1923-1979 the most important secular Yiddish arts summer community in the Hudson valley. Waletzky is also an Emmy Award winner and Academy Award nominated documentary film director. To complete the team, Sveta Kundish will bring her knowledge of Chassidic Cantorial repertoire and style and Sasha Lurje is back with her unique experience in re-interpreting traditional Yiddish song. The workshop will focus on style, repertoire, language and gesture for a wide range of traditional Yiddish song styles, in lectures, plenary sessions, master classes and hands-on classes.
The workshop is designed for singers familiar with Yiddish song at advanced and intermediate levels. Instrumentalists who accompany singers or simply want a deeper understanding of Yiddish Song are also very welcome. If you are not sure whether this workshop is for you, or you have any questions, please contact the workshop coordinator, Sasha Lurje: sasha@forshpil.com.
Workshop fee: Standard 460 € / Reduced 355 € / Supporter 635 € / Under 18: 180 €
For information about the Standard, Reduced and Supporter fees >> read about
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Yiddish Language Classes
10 a.m. - 1 p.m. & 3 - 6 p.m.
You can enjoy three-and-a-half weeks of Yiddish studies in 2015, taught by some of the best teachers and specialists in the world, and surrounded by the incredibly rich cultural program of jam sessions, concerts, and other events of Yiddish Summer Weimar.
The courses are Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced. They build on each other, and you can take all three in a row.
If you only have one or two weeks free, then of course you can also take just one or two courses, as always, according to your Yiddish language level.
Our Yiddish courses are being offered in cooperation with the Seminar for Jewish Studies, University of Halle-Wittenberg. College students can receive credit for their participation. For more information about this, please send an email to:
Begininng Jul 19 – 25
With Dorothea Greve
The Hebrew alphabet ("square script") is the key to one of the world's richest and most fascinating cultures that originated 1000 years ago in the Rhineland read more
Begininng Jul 19 – 25
With Dorothea Greve
The Hebrew alphabet ("square script") is the key to one of the world's richest and most fascinating cultures that originated 1000 years ago in the Rhineland, blossomed in Eastern Europe, and can be found today on every continent – Yiddish culture.
In this intensive course students quickly and playfully learn to read the Yiddish alphabet, opening the door to all sorts of original Yiddish texts, including songs, poems and short stories. You'll get important tips on pronunciation and start to "shmuesn" ("shmooze") in Yiddish from the very first lesson, thus developing a feeling for this expressive and musical language. The course creates an ideal basis for anyone working with Yiddish on stage, e.g. for singers. Previous knowledge is not required, and success is guaranteed! In addition, this course will introduce you to the gripping history of the Yiddish language and you'll experience first-hand what YIDISHKAYT means!
Workshop fee: Standard 460 € / Reduced 355 € / Supporter 635 € / Under 18: 180 €
For information about the Standard, Reduced and Supporter fees >> read about
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Intermediate Jul 27 – Aug 2
With Yuri Vedenyapin
This will be an intensive Yiddish course covering not only grammar but also a wide variety of literary, musical, and audiovisual materials. read more
Intermediate Jul 27 – Aug 2
With Yuri Vedenyapin
This will be an intensive Yiddish course covering not only grammar but also a wide variety of literary, musical, and audiovisual materials. It will provide students with an immersion experience – the best way to learn a foreign language and become completely familiar with a cultural universe. In keeping with this summer's theme, we will be paying particular attention to the "classic" period of modern Yiddish culture and to more traditional material reflecting the centuries-old values, customs, and attitudes of Yidishkayt.
Workshop fee: Standard 460 € / Reduced 355 € / Supporter 635 € / Under 18: 180 €
For information about the Standard, Reduced and Supporter fees >> read about
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Advanced Aug 3 – 9
With Simon Neuberg
The prose and poetry used in this course has been chosen because it is particularly suited to this summer’s central theme – Yidishkayt revisited. read more
Advanced Aug 3 – 9
With Simon Neuberg
The prose and poetry used in this course has been chosen because it is particularly suited to this summer’s central theme – Yidishkayt revisited. We are planning to focus on works by A. Reisen and Mani Leib, but we can also take your special requests into consideration.
Workshop fee: Standard 460 € / Reduced 355 € / Supporter 635 € / Under 18: 180 €
For information about the Standard, Reduced and Supporter fees >> read about
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Introduction to Klezmer & Yiddish Song Jul 27 – Aug 1
10 a.m. - 1 p.m. & 3 - 6 p.m.
With Deborah Strauss & Jeff Warschauer
Whether you have some experience as a klezmer player, Yiddish singer or dancer, or are completely new to the style, this hands-on workshop offers a feast of Eastern European Yiddish instrumental, vocal music and dance. read more
With Deborah Strauss & Jeff Warschauer
Whether you have some experience as a klezmer player, Yiddish singer or dancer, or are completely new to the style, this hands-on workshop offers a feast of Eastern European Yiddish instrumental, vocal music and dance.
This workshop will be taught with a lively, integrated approach—a marriage of instruments, singing and movement. Working by ear and with written music, we will explore ways to express the full potential of Yiddish music and dance, as individuals and as a group. Daily topics will include Eastern European Jewish modality, klezmer phrasing, articulation and ornamentation, Yiddish song repertoire and style, and Yiddish dance steps, gestures and movement.
Open to instrumentalists, singers and dancers of all ages and musical backgrounds.
No knowledge of Yiddish or previous experience necessary.
Important! Participants who only want to dance and neither play an instrument nor sing are recommended to take the Dance for Everyone workshop that also takes place during this week.
Workshop fee: Standard 405 € / Reduced 315 € / Supporter 555 € / Under 18: 180 €
For information about the Standard, Reduced and Supporter fees >> read about
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Yiddish Dance Orchestra Workshop Jul 27 – Aug 1
10 a.m. - 1 p.m. & 3 - 6 p.m.
With Alan Bern, Emil Goldschmidt, Ilya Shneyveys
Artists-in-Residence: Vanessa Vromans
The Yiddish Summer Weimar Dance Orchestra has always been one of the highlights of the festival. Musicians from different backgrounds and parts of the world work closely together with dancers to restore Yiddish dance music to its original function: making people dance! read more
With Alan Bern, Emil Goldschmidt, Ilya Shneyveys
Artists-in-Residence: Vanessa Vromans
The Yiddish Summer Weimar Dance Orchestra has always been one of the highlights of the festival. Musicians from different backgrounds and parts of the world work closely together with dancers to restore Yiddish dance music to its original function: making people dance!
Focusing this year on the topic of Yidishkayt, we’ll take a close look back at the great Yiddish orchestras of the Golden Era - from Abe Schwartz and Abe Elenkrieg to Lt. Joseph Frenkel and Israel J. Hochman. Recreating some of their classic arrangements will teach us what makes these timeless recordings so danceable… and so Yiddish.
Led by Ilya Shneyveys and Alan Bern with the help of an all-star team of fellows and artists-in-residence, this 6-day intensive workshop is open to all instruments. Participants should have an intermediate technical level or higher on their instrument. In this workshop, we will work with both written music and by ear. If you have any questions about the workshop, please contact Ilya Shneyveys: svobodu@gmail.com
Workshop fee: Standard 405 € / Reduced 315 € / Supporter 555 € / Under 18: 180 €
For information about the Standard, Reduced and Supporter fees >> read about
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Yiddish Dance Jul 28 – Aug 1
10 a.m. - 1 p.m. & 3 - 6 p.m.
Dance for Everyone with Steve Weintraub
Advanced Dance with Zev Feldman
Artists-in-Residence: Zilien Biret, Christina Crowder, Khayele Domergue-Zilberberg
Coordinator: Andreas Schmitges
Have you always wanted to know how to dance to klezmer tunes and how Yiddish (klezmer) music and dance actually go together? In these two dance courses (Dance for Everyone and Advanced Dance), some of the world’s best dancers and dance scholars will answer your questions. And, of course, we will dance together! We’ll dance during the day at the workshops and we’ll dance in the evening at the dance and music sessions in the cafés of Weimar.
There are two main elements to Yiddish dance: a repertoire of set dances, similar to the repertoires of other European dance cultures, and a unique vocabulary of moves that – together with the Yiddish dance music that accompanies it – gives it its unique form of expression. We’ll be looking at both these elements in detail in this year’s courses.
The two courses work together for about a third of the time, looking at the most important dances and where they originated. For the remaining two-thirds, the class will be divided into two groups:
In Dance for Everyone Steve Weintraub will focus on the large repertoire of traditional dances and will look at questions of style. This course is aimed at everyone (including beginners) who wants to find out about Eastern European dance traditions. The dances will be placed in the context of the traditional Jewish wedding, allowing us to explore some dances specific to weddings like the Broyges Tants (dance of anger and reconcilliation) and Mezinke Tants (dance in honor of parents who’ve married off their last daughter). The course will culminate with a model wedding enactment for our final ball.
In the Advanced Dance Class, Zev Feldman will look closely at bearing, gestures and the relationship between dance and dance music. The focus will be on the dances of the non-Chassidic Jewish population of Eastern Europe. The course is aimed at dancers who already have some experience of Yiddish dance and who want to concentrate on their style. Advanced dancers experienced in other folk dance styles are also welcome to come along.
Workshop fee: Standard 345 € / Reduced 270 € / Supporter 470 € / Under 18: 180 €
For information about the Standard, Reduced and Supporter fees >> read about
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Traditional Klezmer Workshop Aug 3 – 9
Intermediate & Advanced Level
10 a.m. - 1 p.m. & 3 - 6 p.m.
June 8 Update! This workshop has reached its capacity, but we're keeping a waiting list in case something opens up. Please let us know if you would like to be placed on the waiting list. We'd also like to invite you to consider the Yiddish Dance Orchestra workshop and the Introduction to Klezmer and Yiddish Song workshops. The Yiddish Song workshop is also a great opportunity for instrumentalists to learn first-hand about Yiddish vocal style, which deeply informs klezmer style, and to explore accompaniment.
With Alan Bern, Christian Dawid, Mark Kovnatskiy, Joel Rubin, Ilya Shneyveys, Deborah Strauss & guest lecturer: Walter Zev Feldman
What makes Yiddish instrumental style so distinct and different from Balkan and other Eastern European music styles? How do we discover this in the historical tradition, and what meaning does that have for us today? These and other questions will guide this year's Klezmer Workshop for intermediate and advanced instrumentalists.
World premiere! The heart of this workshop is previously unknown, pre-WWI klezmer/instrumental recordings from Eastern Europe. Master clarinetist and internationally renowned klezmer scholar Joel Rubin will present this repertoire for the first time in Weimar before he releases it on CD later this year. The teaching team of Rubin, Alan Bern, Deborah Strauss, and Ilya Shneyveys will direct master classes, instrumental classes, ensembles and sessions on klezmer history and theory, and guest lecturer Walter Zev Feldman will give several lectures based on his long-awaited, forthcoming book on klezmer music.
Participants in this workshop should be comfortable learning and playing by ear and should be comfortable playing at least 15 pieces of the "standard" klezmer repertoire. Intermediate and advanced players of other folk music may also apply after consulting with workshop director, Alan Bern: alan.bern@othermusic.eu.
Intermediate and advanced sections of this workshop will meet separately some of the time and together some of the time, depending on the topic.
Workshop fee: Standard 460 € / Reduced 355 € / Supporter 635 € / Under 18: 180 €
For information about the Standard, Reduced and Supporter fees >> read about
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Yiddish Children’s Songs Workshop Aug 4 – 9
Final presentation: Aug 9, 11 a.m.
The subject for 2015: Kadia Molodowsky (1894-1975): Yidishe kinder
With Diana Matut & Andreas Schmitges
In this year’s children’s song workshop we’ll be looking at a very special woman and the poems and stories she wrote for children. Her name was Kadia Molodowsky. She was a teacher, for instance in Warsaw, and she wrote a lot about and for children. read more
With Diana Matut & Andreas Schmitges
In this year’s children’s song workshop we’ll be looking at a very special woman and the poems and stories she wrote for children. Her name was Kadia Molodowsky. She was a teacher, for instance in Warsaw, and she wrote a lot about and for children.
Our course will be taking a new direction: we want to sing songs to poems written by Kadia, find out all about what a teacher is and can be, and take a close look at “her” Jewish children in Ukraine and Poland. What were their dreams and hopes? How did they spend their days?
In other words, we won’t only be singing but also acting, drawing and painting, reciting poems, and making things for our concert.
The course is suited for "big and small" children aged 6 - 120.
This is what you need to bring along: a folder to put the songs in, paper, a pair of scissors, pencils, paint brushes and paint, glue and so on.
Anything else? (If you have any of these): a blue umbrella, clothes, aprons (for instance, a leather apron for a boy), headscarves, flowers (but not real ones), a doll or your favorite soft toy, old sheets for the stage.
Workshop fee: Children up to 14 years 180 € / Childer over 14 years 315 € / Family (up to 2 children and parents or grandparets) 460 €
There are no further discounts for this workshop other than the Early Bird registration discount and the one-time reduction for members of other music e.V.
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