ENSEMBLE 'LEBEDIK': KARPATN
Sun 12 May 8pm
Feat. Sasha Lurje (LV/DE), Craig Judelman (USA/DE)
and special guest Shaun Williams (US/RO)
The Carpathian Mountains stretch from Czechia to Ukraine, and have been a home for Ashkenazi Jews since at least the 15th century. By traveling a few hundred miles or years one could arrive in modern-day Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia or Moldova, or under the rule of the Habsburg, Ottoman, Soviet, Polish-Lithuanian, Hungarian, Czechoslovakian, Carpatho-Ukrainian governments. These rich borderlands contained a diverse mix of ethnic groups and over the centuries were of varied significance for local and neighboring Jewish communities - a safe haven for refugees of the Khmelnitski pogroms, the birth place of the Hasidic movement, a rare place where Jews could own and work the land and a place of heightened interactions between
Jewish and Roma people.
While modern borders lead us to think in terms of political boundaries, this program celebrates and explore the rich heritage of this multi-ethnic territory and its surrounding areas. From Hasidic nigunim and songs borrowed from local non-Jewish traditions to the songs of Jewish partisans, the rich culture of important Jewish communities in nearby cities such as Krakow, Chernovits and Munkatch and the unique fiddle tunes of the Bukovina and Maramures regions, the music is as diverse as the territory it represents.
Led by celebrated Latvian singer Sasha Lurje and American fiddler and composer Craig Judelman, this project is the latest of a collection of programs and collaborations by the Berlin-based duo under the name Lebedik. The band is devoted to creative yet deeply rooted presentations of a rich variety of Ashkenazi culture. Joined by special guest accordionist Shaun Williams, an American who has spent the last decade studying, performing and teaching in Romania and Ukraine, this program brings together this diverse repertoire to paint a picture of Jewish life through the centuries.
The concert is presented by the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University and will feature some unique songs recorded in testimonies contained the archive.
If you would like to learn more about this material, the artists will also be offering a lecture and workshops in song and instrumental music at the I.V.E. on May 13.
Pre-registration for the 12 May event is obligatory. The event name is LEBEDIK. You can pay at the door by cash or card.
