UVa Klezmer Ensemble
The University of Virginia McIntire Department of Music presents the Klezmer Ensemble on Thursday, November 19th at 8:00 p.m. in Old Cabell Hall.
Directed by Joel Rubin, the Klezmer Ensemble focuses on the music of the klezmorim, the Jewish professional instrumentalists of Eastern Europe, as well as related Jewish and other East European traditions from the 18th century to the present. The ensemble is made up of both undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, alumni, and other members of the greater Central Virginia community.
This concert focuses on repertoire from the new anthology of historic recordings, Chekhov’s Band: Eastern European Klezmer Music from the EMI Archives 1908-1913 (Renair Records, 2015) for which music director Joel Rubin worked as academic consultant and co-wrote the booklet text. The recordings, which sat untouched in EMI’s archive for over a hundred years, were rediscovered by British discographer and co-author, Michael Aylward. These rare recordings open a window to Jewish instrumental klezmer music in turn of the 20th century East Europe, with recordings from Odessa, Kharkov, Poltava, Czernowitz, Lemberg and Vilna. Click here for the anthology.
Now in its tenth year, the UVA Klezmer Ensemble has become a vital part of the musical community of Central and Northern Virginia. Performing in Old Cabell Hall as well as at conferences and festivals in Central and Northern Virginia. The ensemble is made up of both undergraduate and graduate students from across grounds, faculty, alumni and other members of the greater Central Virginia community, and is dedicated to exploring klezmer and other Jewish and eastern European musical traditions from the 18th to the 21st century. The group is committed to ethnic, racial, cultural and religious diversity. Current and recent members have backgrounds from the US, Russia, Israel, Lebanon, Armenia, Iran, and India, with religious backgrounds ranging from Jewish to Christian, Hindu and Muslim.
Joel Rubin was a 2013-14 recipient of the Mead Endowment, a program whose mission is to promote the University’s unique tradition of faculty involvement with students by identifying outstanding teachers and encouraging them to take part in that tradition. The Mead funding enabled the UVA Klezmer Ensemble to record a CD documenting its work at culmination of spring 2014 semester, “Let’s Dance”, which was released in August 2014 (http://uvaklezmerensemble.bandcamp.com/track/lets-dance). In 2014 Rubin was a featured performer at the International Festival of Sacred Music in Fribourg, Switzerland (to be broadcast on Swiss Public Radio) and the KlezCalifornia festival.
Tickets for the Klezmer Ensemble performance are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Tickets for University of Virginia students are free if reserved in advance at the Arts Box Office www.artsboxoffice.virginia.edu. Tickets are available in advance or at the door.
Old Cabell Hall is located on the south end of UVA's historic lawn, directly opposite the Rotunda. (map) Parking is available in the central grounds parking garage on Emmet Street, in the C1 parking lot off McCormick Rd, and in the parking lots at the UVA Corner. Handicap parking is available in the small parking lot adjacent to Bryan Hall.
All programs are subject to change.