Jul 21 Thursday
Do you love to read? So do we! That’s why we’ve launched the NEPM Book Club — a new quarterly meet-up dedicated to bringing NEPM friends together to chat about new, diverse and interesting fiction.
Our next meeting will be Thursday, July 21 at 7 p.m. on Zoom. We'll be talking about Telephone by Pervical Everett. It tells the story of perpetually dissatisfied geologist Zach Wells, who returns home from a desert field trip to find his world crumbling. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Telephone is a deeply affecting story about the lengths to which loss and grief will drive us. The catch? There's three (yes, THREE) versions of the book. Don't panic — you only have to pick up one!
Learn more about the NEPM Book Club and register for our next meeting at nepm.org/bookclub.
Jul 07 Thursday
Yaakov Yanky Lemmer was born and raised in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, where many of the great cantors of the Golden Age used to sing. His earliest performances took place in the Beth El synagogue. With an ensemble led by Frank London of the Klezmatics, Yaakov brings fresh interpretations to traditional liturgical prayers and Hasidic nigunim, as well as to some more obscure Yiddish songs. This will be Yaakov’s Yidstock debut.*Helen and Irving Sunshine Memorial Concert
Yidstock: The Festival of New Yiddish Music is back, in-person, bringing the best in klezmer and new Yiddish music to the stage at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts. Don't miss out on what promises to be a great festival of music, talks, workshops, film, and dance. This event is sponsored by WAMC Northeast Public Radio. PLEASE NOTE: Lineup is subject to change. All ticket sales are final. Visitors over the age of 12 will be required to show their vaccination card and proof of booster. Vaccines will be required for children who are eligible. Full schedule and registration at www.yiddishbookcenter.org/yidstock.
Jul 08 Friday
Join clarinetist Michael Winograd and The Honorable Mentshn in celebration of their latest album, Early Bird Special. Packed with the energy, passion and drive that listeners have come to expect from the Honorable Mentshn, Early Bird Special delivers the schmaltz-drenched, hard-hitting klezmer that your soul craves and that gets you up and dancing. In addition to clarinetist/bandleader Michael Winograd, the Honorable Mentshn are Daniel Blacksberg (trombone), Will Holshouser (accordion), Carmen Staaf (piano), Zoe Guigueno (bass), and David Licht (drums).*Concert in Memory of Ruth Schwartz
Eleanor Reissa is a Brooklyn-born native Yiddish speaker whose work on both English and Yiddish stages as a director, actor, writer, and singer has earned her a Tony Award nomination. A longtime favorite and friend of Yidstock audiences, Eleanor debuts a new ensemble – led by her frequent collaborator, trumpeter Frank London of the Klezmatics – to share her unique takes on Yiddish song, as she continues to reinvent the art of storytelling through Yiddish cabaret.
Jul 09 Saturday
Paul Shapiro's Ribs & Brisket Revue celebrates the unique era when Jewish music was merging into the American mainstream. Blending jazz, Yiddish swing, R&B, klezmer, and humor, this joyous ensemble swings hard and is endlessly entertaining. Featuring vocalists Cilla Owens and Eleanor Reissa, this program features the 1950s repertoire that underscores The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, particularly the music of the Barry Sisters. The band features Jerry Koran on piano, Dave Hofstra on bass, and Tony Lewis on drums.*Inaugural Lorraine Libby Buch Memorial Concert
Jul 10 Sunday
Socalled aka Josh Dolgin is an artist based in Montreal, Quebec, who has been performing and creating internationally for over 20 years. As a music producer, performer and composer, Josh is the de facto godfather of Klezmer Hip Hop, wherein he uses new technologies and contemporary production styles to rework and reexamine Yiddish music in the 21st century. Josh writes and presents musicals, studies the music of Kurt Weill, produces, sings, plays, and arranges in a myriad of ensembles, including an Austrian Big Band, his own pop ensemble, and Di Frosh, a project with a string quartet (presented at Yidstock in 2018). Josh will sing solo at the piano and accordion in a rare, intimate, unplugged program of Yiddish and Yiddish-related music and history. *Joan A. Backman Memorial Concert
For the past five years, vocalist Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell and accordionist Dmitri Gaskin have been entertaining audiences internationally as the duo Tsvey Brider (Two Brothers in Yiddish), performing their original and stylistically diverse settings of 20th-century Yiddish modernist poetry. Their collection of songs, now reimagined through Gaskin’s arrangements for string ensemble, bring a whole new world of sound, texture, and color to the work of Tsvey Brider. Joining them will be Matthew Stein (fiddle) and Misha Khalikulov (cello) of the San Francisco Bay Area klezmer trio, Baymele.
The Klezmatics–the internationally acclaimed, Grammy Award-winning modern klezmer outfit–was founded in New York City in 1986 and has been performing around the world since then. Blending instrumental and vocal virtuosity and experimentation with theatricality firmly rooted in klezmer and Yiddish tradition, the Klezmatics brought the revival of klezmer into the rock era, blazing the path for the klezmer renaissance with one foot in the shtetl and the other in the downtown avant-garde. The Klezmatics are Lorin Sklamberg (vocals, piano, and guitar), Frank London (trumpet and keyboards), Matt Darriau (clarinet, saxophone, and recorders), Lisa Gutkin (violin), Paul Morrisett (bass and tsimbl), and Richie Barshay (drums).*The Bernard and Reva Broder Memorial Concert
Jul 29 Friday
Set in the picturesque, rolling Litchfield Hills, we are excited to be able to welcome back audiences IN-PERSON this summer! The Litchfield Jazz Festival was established over a quarter century ago. That first line-up in 1996 would be the envy of any major festival today—Diana Krall, Christian McBride, Terence Blanchard, Russell Malone, Peter Bernstein, Ahmad Jamal, Renee Rosnes, JJ Johnson ... If you remember this or any of the wonderful festivals that followed, you won’t want to miss Litchfield Jazz Fest 2022.
IN-PERSON AND A NEW PERFORMANCE HALL! - As you may know, the Litchfield Jazz Festival is the public face of the non-profit Litchfield Performing Arts, while Litchfield Jazz Camp is its heart. In 2019, we moved the Festival from the Goshen Fairgrounds to the Frederick Gunn School (FGS), the summer home of Litchfield Jazz Camp. This year we welcome audiences to the Tisch Auditorium in the new, state-of-the-art (and air-conditioned) Thomas Perakos Performing Arts Center.The Opening Night Gala, Friday, July 29, will be hosted at The Performing Arts Center. Best Friend, and Friday Patron ticket holders will enjoy music by top Litchfield Jazz Camp Combos, hors d'oeuvres, and fine French wines from Vandoren Vineyards. Gala tickets include the Fest opening concert starring Samara Joy, the latest jazz vocal sensation -- winner of the Sarah Vaughan Competition and the 2021 Jazz Times Poll for Best New Artist.
27th Annual Litchfield Jazz Festival. Saturday July 30, 11-6:30. Ticket options include Best Friends and Friends VIP packages with prime, reserved seating and General Admission seats with perfect sight lines. Lunch is available on-site for purchase.The Sunday Jazz Brunch, July 31. On the final day of the Festival you won’t want to miss our popular Sunday Jazz Brunch. Held at the beautiful Bourne Hall Courtyard at FGS. Brunch tickets-- included in Best Friend packages-- may be purchased separately. Guests will enjoy a rousing good time with a delicious buffet and beverages and music by Albert Rivera and the Litchfield Jazz Camp Faculty All-Stars. The Brunch sold out in 2019, so get your tickets early!
Jul 30 Saturday
Jul 31 Sunday
