Yiddish Summer Weimar 2014, "New Yiddish Culture,"
belongs to history!
Many thanks to all of the artists, teachers, fellows, participants, management team, volunteers, old and new partner organizations, to the city of Weimar and the land of Thuringia, to our other public and private supporters, and especially to our audiences for a wonderful year! Our first ever Festival Week within Yiddish Summer was a great success with full capacity at almost all of the audience participation events, sold-out concerts and film showings, delicious Yiddish cooking and much more. The song, instrument, dance, dance music and children's song workshops produced amazing artistic results, and the Yiddish language classes were full and very lively. The OMA building finally really came to life as a place for events, social meetings and absolutely delicious food!
The success of 2014 gives us a great starting point for planning in 2015, and we plan to announce the subject and basic schedule for Yiddish Summer 2015 by the end of September 2014.
Thanks again to everyone who helped make 2014 such a success!
Welcome to Yiddish Summer 2014!
NEW YIDDISH CULTURE
Welcome to Yiddish Summer 2014, the intercultural Yiddish Culture festival. Our special topic this year is New Yiddish Culture. Why? Because this topic brings together some of the most fascinating and challenging cultural questions of our time: What is traditional? What is new? What parts of tradition do we keep, transform, accept, reject? What keeps an instrumental, vocal or dance tradition alive and growing?
Creativity
Today, young artists creating New Yiddish Culture are responding to these questions with incredible energy and variety. read more 
Creativity
Today, young artists creating New Yiddish Culture are responding to these questions with incredible energy and variety.
For 14 years, Yiddish Summer has been a meeting-place where differences fuel creativity instead of conflict: differences in generation, nationality, language, religion, gender and more. That's why we received the first prize from the German Music Council (Deutscher Musikrat) for intercultural music projects (for The Other Europeans), and why so many exciting and prize-winning music projects were nurtured in our festival. The long list includes Brave Old World (Lifetime Achievement Award, 2009 TFF Rudolstadt), The Other Europeans (German Record Critic's Prize, EC Best Practices Award), Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird (German Record Critic's Yearly Prize), Alpen Klezmer (German World Music Award for 2014 TFF Rudolstadt), Voices of Ashkenaz, Forshpil, Fayvish, Kol Ishe, Figelin, Modern Klezmer Quartet, Sher On A Shier and many more. These are the artists who lead our workshops, concerts and other public events. back 
Unfortunately, we have to cancel the beginning Yiddish language class due to low registration.
For those interested in beginning Yiddish, please keep an eye on the website www.othermusicacademy.eu for announcements about future classes during Yiddish Summer and at other times and places. Thank you!
Hugs,
Alan
SPECIAL FESTIVAL WEEK AUG 5-9
with Nighttime & Daytime PROGRAMS
In 2014, we are proud to offer for the first time a special Festival Week as part of Yiddish Summer.
read more
SPECIAL FESTIVAL WEEK AUG 5-9
with Nighttime & Daytime PROGRAMS
In 2014, we are proud to offer for the first time a special Festival Week as part of Yiddish Summer.
From August 5-9, in addition to a fascinating evening program of films, concerts and late-night events, we also offer a daytime program with events designed for the whole family. Sing-alongs, klezmer jam sessions, storytelling, Yiddish cooking, Yiddish dance, Meet-the-Artist, Weimar cultural history tours and more will be led by our festival artists at small venues throughout Weimar – in cafés, a bookstore, the Volkshochschule, the mon ami culture center, and above all in our very own Other Music Academy (OMA) building, the home for Yiddish Summer Weimar in 2014.
Visitors to the Festival Week can choose to join any of these sessions, many of which are free, and get a taste of Yiddish culture from the inside. And in 2014, we're proud to launch the OMAcafé, a place to mingle with the artists and other visitors and to get refreshed. back
Intensive Workshops in vocal & instrumental music, dance, language
read more
Intensive Workshops in vocal & instrumental music, dance, language
If you come to us as a student, you can take intensive, week-long workshops in Yiddish instrumental music, vocal music, dance or Yiddish language. You can come for a week or longer, as you like.
Our workshops are famous for being an international learning community that includes people from more than 20 countries and all generations. Workshops also include faculty and student concerts, jam sessions, special events and more.
In 2014, our regular workshops are designed for intermediate through advanced students. Beginners are invited to explore Yiddish culture in any of the shorter sessions offered during the Festival Week. back
Concerts and more
If you come to our festival as an audience member, a fan or follower of Yiddish music or simply of great music, you can enjoy our faculty and student concerts, public jam sessions, gala dance evening, Friday night celebrations (A shtim fun harts), and much more throughout the whole festival, from July 19 - August 16. A visit to Yiddish Summer Weimar is fun and stimulating at any time. back
AND FINALLY
Yiddish Summer Weimar 2014 is dedicated to the loving memory of two giants of Yiddish culture who passed away this year. The lifetime work of two great women – Chana Mlotek (z"l) and Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman (z"l) – enriched Yiddish culture throughout the world in more ways than can be described or even imagined. We are grateful for their lives and work and to have known them as friends, and they will be deeply missed.
Warm greetings from Alan Bern, Director, and the whole Yiddish Summer and other music e.V. team
