Thanks for Yiddish Summer 2013 and looking forward to 2014!
Dear Friends and Fans of Yiddish Summer Weimar!
I want to thank everyone who made Yiddish Summer Weimar 2013 such a great success: the teachers and artists, the staff and volunteers, the participants, the partners and audiences.
New Yiddish Music is a challenging subject, and I think everyone who experienced the festival this year would agree that we grew tremendously because of it. New events and venues included an opening day street festival in front of the OMA, a concert series in the Reithaus, a New Yiddish Dance Flash Mob on the Theaterplatz, a Gala dance evening in the Weimarhalle and a Pool Party at the Schwannseebad. We got a lot of great attention from the press, including a feature in the TLZ portraying a different participant each day. All of the workshops were well attended, and the reactions from participants have been very positive.
In 2014, we'll follow up and develop the theme of New Yiddish Music & Culture.
I hope we can include a Yiddish Theater workshop, add more dance evenings, add a variety of shorter workshops, lectures and other participatory events especially during the concert week, and more. We'll be carefully reading the participant evaluations to learn where we can make improvements.
Keep an eye on this website for updates about next year's program. Thanks to all of you for making Yiddish Summer Weimar what it is, and I hope you'll join us again next year!
Warm greetings from Alan Bern, Director, and the whole Yiddish Summer and other music e.V. team
A word from the festival's director, Alan Bern:
Each summer, artists of all kinds, instrumentalists, singers, dancers and scholars from around the world come to Weimar to dive into Yiddish music, dance, language and culture. Our workshops, concerts, dance parties, jam sessions and more are justly famous for their intensity and high level... read more 
A word from the festival's director, Alan Bern:
Each summer, artists of all kinds, instrumentalists, singers, dancers and scholars from around the world come to Weimar to dive into Yiddish music, dance, language and culture. Our workshops, concerts, dance parties, jam sessions and more are justly famous for their intensity and high level. At Yiddish Summer Weimar, you don't just learn about Yiddish culture, you make it! This year, we welcome back some of the most creative bands in Jewish music today that started out here during Yiddish Summer. This is a great opportunity for students from dozens of countries meet to network, share ideas and inspiration and create new projects.
The results are unique musical hybrids that mix Yiddish traditional music with almost anything you can think of. In honor of this incredible outpouring of creativity, this year's special focus is called "New Yiddish Music." It might be jazzy or classical, acoustic or electric, cool or hot; the one sure thing is that it will be unpredictable.
Our workshops this year are led by recognized pioneers of New Yiddish Music and Dance such as Grammy-Winner Frank London (New York), Alan Bern (Berlin), Efim Chorny (Moldova) and Steven Weintraub (New York), as well as a new wave of artists including Daniel Kahn (Berlin), the Michael Winograd Trio (New York), Sasha Lurje (Riga), Ilya Shneyveys (Riga), Mark Kovnatskiy (Hamburg), Mitia Khramtsov (St. Petersburg), Vivien Zeller (Berlin), Sveta Kundish (Berlin), Diana Matut (Halle), Andreas Schmitges (Köln) and more!
And for the first time in 2013, we present a very special week of nightly double-concerts featuring the best of New Yiddish Music. The week ends with a Gala Dance Party on Saturday night and the first ever Yiddish Pool Party on Sunday afternoon. So come to the festival and revel in this incredible atmosphere. Wherever you come from, and even if you're not a musician yourself, you'll find something here for you - a week of concerts, dance workshops and other programs in the day, or visit the many historic sites in Weimar, once home to Luther, Bach, Goethe, Herder, Liszt, Wagner, the Bauhaus and Buchenwald.
Whether you're a Yiddish Summer regular or a first-time visitor, we hope to see you this summer in Weimar for what will surely be an unforgettable exploration of New Yiddish Music and Dance! back 
