The Klezmatics

About The Klezmatics

The Klezmatics play soul-stirring Jewish roots music for our time, recreating klezmer in arrangements and compositions that combine Jewish identity and mysticism with a contemporary zeitgeist and a postmodern aesthetic. Since their founding in New York City's East Village in 1986, the Klezmatics have celebrated the ecstatic nature of Yiddish music with works which are by turns wild, spiritual, provocative, reflective and danceable. The vitality and joy of the Klezmatics' music has uplifted audiences around the world since their inception. They've reached millions of television viewers on PBS GREAT PERFORMANCES (with Itzhak Perlman), LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS NIGHTWATCH, FOX AFTER BREAKFAST, the BBC's RHYTHMS OF THE WORLD and MTV NEWS. The band provided composed music for Judith Helfand's documentary A HEALTHY BABY GIRL which was broadcast on the PBS television series P.O.V., while talk show host Rosie O'Donnell's TV special KIDS ARE PUNNY combined an original Klezmatics cartoon score with the voice of comedian Jackie Mason. For radio they have recorded sessions for the BBC's JOHN PEEL SHOW and regular guests on National Public Radio's NEW SOUNDS LIVE, SOUNDCHECK and A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION with Garrison Keillor. They performed their score for the PILOBOLUS DANCE THEATRE'S recent work, Davenen, which premiered to capacity audiences at Washington, DC's Kennedy Center and continues to be presented internationally. In the summer of 2001 the band, together with Israeli singer Chava Alberstein and Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary), appeared in concert on the site of Berlin's historic New Synagogue. The resulting television program, VOICES- A MUSICAL CELEBRATION, aired nationally over PBS, across Europe and in Israel.