Since 1995, the Yiddishkeit Klezmer Ensemble has been performing traditional and original Klezmer music at weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, concerts, workshops, festivals, schools and other special events throughout New England and New York.
"One of the top Klezmer bands on the East Coast"
-- Seth Rogovoy, author of "The Essential Klezmer"
-
-
The core group consists of three musicians, each playing multiple instruments:
vocals/trombone/accordion/melodica/tuba
clarinet/fiddle
fiddle/percussion/vocals
The group can also perform as a quartet or quintet, depending on the budget.
- BAND BIOS -
BRIAN BENDER (vocals, accordion, trombone, melodica, bandleader)
Brian Bender has performed Klezmer music at Carnegie Hall, the Presidential Inauguration of Bill Clinton a throughout the United States. He has also performed Klezmer music in Israel, Alaska, Egypt, Italy, France, Germany, Holland, the UK, Russia and Austia. He has also performed Reggae music in the Cape Verde Islands, Russia and Austria and Jazz in Germany and France. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music.
Brian has formerly performed with O.J. Ekemode and the Nigerian All-Stars, Kotoja (African World-Beat), Ibrahima Camera, Black Rebels (African Reggae), La Perfecta (Salsa/Merengue), Lucky Seven (Ska) and the Berkshire Bateria Escola de Samba (Brazilian). He currently performs with the Pangeans (World Beat), the Wholesale Klezmer Band, Di Bostoner Klezmer and Big Bandemonium (Celtic). Brian also leads the Klezmer-African-Latin-Caribbean fusion band Little Shop of Horas. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music.
DAVID TASGAL (fiddle, clarinet, cello)
David Tasgal (M.M. UMass Amherst) is a long-standing member of the Wholesale Klezmer Band as well as a Classical performer and teacher of clarinet and string instruments at the Brattleboro Music Center. He has also appeared in numerous Blues, Rock and Funk bands on keyboards and saxophone. He is author of the method book series "Strings Fun and Easy" and composer of extensive music for young string orchestras.
ANNA SOBEL (poyk, fiddle, dumbek, vocals, tabla)
Anna Sobel frequently performs tabla for the kirtan group Shubalananda and Friends and has been studying tabla intensively for six years under Pandit Divyang Vakil. She has studied dumbek with Raquy Danziger and performed dumbek with Galeet Dardashti's all-female Middle Eastern group Divahn. Anna is also a professional storyteller and puppeteer and trained as a "maggidah," or Jewish storyteller, with Yitzhak Buxbaum. She and her puppets have appeared as Talking Hands Theatre at the Jewish Museum, the 92nd Street Y, the Museum of Jewish Heritage, and at Jewish community centers and synagogues throughout New England. Anna is also a puppet builder and associate artist with the Jewish performance troupe, Storahtelling.
