In its Spring 2008 concert, the UVA Klezmer Ensemble under the direction of McIntire Department of Music’s Director of Music Performance, Joel Rubin will perform a new program of instrumental klezmer and hasidic music. The ensemble, made up of UVA undergrads and grad students, faculty and other members of the greater Charlottesville community, is dedicated to exploring klezmer and other Jewish musical traditions from the 18th century to the present. The concert will focus on repertoire from the hasidic and klezmer traditions of the mid-18th to early 20th century Eastern Europe, as well as on instrumental klezmer dance music from early 20th century New York and Philadelphia.

The selections draw on the repertoire of Rabbi Eli Silberstein of Ithaca, New York. A Lubavitcher Hasid born in Antwerp, who stems from a long line of religious scholars from Russia and Lithuania, Silberstein commands a large repertoire of Eastern European nigunim, hasidic melodies of spiritual elevation. The UVA Klezmer Ensemble will be performing with Rabbi Eli singing on March 30 at Gravity Lounge at 3:00 pm in an event “The Joy of the Nigun” sponsored by the Linden Lectureship of Congregation Beth Israel. With additional support from the Jewish Studies Program, on March 31-April 1, Silberstein will be in residency at UVA and will coach the group on their interpretation of nigunim in preparation for this concert. The remainder of the program will feature instrumental dance numbers, which the group learned in preparation of its collaboration with Yiddish dancing master Steve Weintraub this past January, a series of events that included a dance workshop and party at Congregation Beth Israel as well as a two-day residency by Weintraub at UVA, also co-sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program.

• Who: University of Virginia Klezmer Ensemble
  Joel Rubin, Music Director
• What: UVA Klezmer Ensemble Spring 2008 concert
• Program: Traditional klezmer and hasidic repertoire from late 18th to early 20th century Eastern Europe, as well as klezmer tunes from early 20th century New York and Philadelphia.
• When: Sunday, April 6, 2008 at 8:00 pm
• Where: Old Cabell Hall at the University of Virginia
• Tickets: Single tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students, and 5 Arts$ for UVA students, and can be purchased at the Cabell Hall Box Office at (434) 924-3984, 12pm to 5pm, Monday through Friday.

For more information, contact Marcy Day at (434) 924-6492 or mday@virginia.edu
For tickets, please call the Cabell Hall Box Office at (434) 924-3984.