Potsdam, NY, May 04, 2012 — The Crane School of Music Klezmer Band, Klez-mania, will perform at Beth El synagogue in Potsdam this Sunday at 4:30.

Todd Moe talks with clarinetist Matt Wurtzel about the group, Klez-mania, and their brand of this spirited and uniquely Jewish musical style. He says klezmer music combines the Yiddish folk melodies of Eastern Europe with early American jazz styles.  Go to full article

Potsdam, NY, Jul 15, 2011 — The Jewish "fusion" group, Zetz will perform their unique array of Jewish genres, including Klezmer, Israeli and Ladino music in Potsdam this Sunday. The concert, at noon at Temple Beth El, is in honor of the Crane School of Music's 125th Anniversary. Their first CD, Hine Ma Tov...How Good It Is, has received outstanding reviews. Todd Moe has a preview.

The concert begins at noon after a 10:30am brunch at the synagogue. All are welcome. RSVP at info@potsdamsynagogue.org  Go to full article

Aug 23, 2006 — The 11th annual Klezkanada is this week, in the Quebec countryside just north of Montreal. It's the place to be for players and fans of klezmer and other Yiddish music. The goal is to bring together younger and older generations to learn from each other. Gregory Warner went to the opening night concert. He sent this audio postcard.  Go to full article

Jun 13, 2006 — A yiddish play that once landed its producer and cast in court on obscenity charges is being staged in Montreal. Scholem Asch wrote God of Vengence in 1907. It's a dark tale about a Jewish brothel owner whose one dream is to marry off his daughter to a rabbi's son. But those dreams are thwarted when the daughter falls in love with one of his prostitutes and is stolen away by a rival pimp. Upon reading the manuscript, the Yiddish literary lion I.J. Peretz is purported to have screamed, "Burn it Asch, Burn it!," so controversial was the play's subject matter.

The play was an instant classic on the Yiddish scene, but it caused a scandal 15 years later when it was translated into English and put on Broadway. Leading rabbis decried the lesbian-love storyline as anti-semitic, and an on-stage smooch between two girls got the cast dragged into court and convicted of performing "an obscene and immoral play."

You can see God of Vengence in the original Yiddish - with English and French subtitles - at the Leonor and Alvin Segal Theatre, 5170 Cote Ste. Catherine Rd., Montreal until June 22. Box Office: (514) 739-7944. Actress Cheryl Blum told Gregory Warner that their audiences don't always realize what they're getting into.  Go to full article

Apr 10, 2002 — David Sommerstein talks with Yiddish musician and folklorist Yale Strom about klezmer, the music of central and eastern European Jews. Strom and his band, "Hot Pstromi", perform their klezmer-blues-jazz fusion Thursday at 8pm at St. Lawrence University in Canton.  Go to full article