The fifth annual Ithaca College klezmer gala will take place at Ithaca College on Sunday, February 24, at 7:00 p.m. in the Emerson Suites, Phillips Hall.
Dance specialist Roey Mendel will conduct a pre-gala dance workshop beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the north foyer. Both events are free and open to the public.
The gala will feature a performance by the Ithaca College Klezmorim, a School of Music-supported student ensemble that explores klezmer, the secular music of the Eastern European Jews. Klezmer uses a wide range of instruments that often include the clarinet, violin, piano, accordion, trumpet and trombone.
Under the direction of Professor of Music Peter Rothbart, the ensemble focuses on learning and performing in the traditional vein of klezmer, so that both the musicians and their audiences can understand and appreciate the intricacies and inner beauties of the musical form. The School of Music is one of the few schools in the country to offer klezmer as a regular credit-bearing chamber ensemble.
The Ithaca College Klezmorim have participated in workshops and master classes and have performed with such klezmer luminaries as the Klezmatics, Frank London, Joel Rubin, Susan and Elaine Watts and Pete Rushevsky. The ensemble's debut CD, Music for Hawaiian Gardens, is available on CDBaby.com and through activelistening.org. For more information, visit www.ithaca.edu/klezmorim.
The klezmer gala is sponsored by the Ithaca College Jewish studies program and the School of Music. For more information on the concert or the Jewish studies program, contact Jill Goldsmith at 607-274-1988 or jgoldsmith@ithaca.edu.
