July 16, 2000

Yiddish World Beat Dance Party Brings Klezmer Band to MASS MoCA

(July 16, 2000 -- North Adams, MA) MASS MoCA's Courtyard D will house a rollicking Yiddish dance party when Klezperanto fills the dance floor with dynamic Klezmer-based music on Saturday, August 12, at 7:30 pm. With an all-star line-up from the helm of the Klezmer revival playing irresistible dance grooves with true Yiddish soul, Klezperanto is unique in both the new Jewish and world music scenes. Eve Cameron, the dance instructor arranged by Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival will offer a half-hour lesson to start the night.

Klezperanto is a six-piece instrumental band which "re-grooves" traditional Klezmer and Mediterranean tunes. Their diverse repetoire incorporates original zydeco, rockabilly, New Orleans funk, samba, and Yiddish tunes, as well as Romanian surf music, and some very non-standard jazz standards. Klezperanto has been performing for enthusiastic audiences throughout greater Boston and New York. Of a recent performance in Northampton, VMAG, said "The disparate elements of klezmer, jazz and rock combine in such a way that I falter at describing their sound... The unifying theme of this gumbo is the incessant desire to dance that it creates."

Klezperanto's leader, Ilene Stahl, has been the featured clarinet soloist with the Klezmer Conservatory Band for more than a dozen years, during which she has performed extensively throughout the United States internationally playing at festivals and concerts and appearing on radio and television broadcasts. Most recently, she has been involved with the Klezmer Conservatory Band's collaboration with Itzhak Perlman for the PBS Great Performances program In the Fiddler's House and on two recordings and an on-going concert tour of the same name.

In addition to Stahl, Klezperanto includes Klezmer Conservatory Band veterans Evan Harlan on accordion, Mark Hamilton on trombone and Grant Smith playing drumsand Mike Bullock on the bass. Rounding out the band is Boston native Brandon Seabrook on banjo, guitar, and mandolin.

Tickets to the Yiddish World Beat Dance Party are $12 for adults and $6 for kids. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office at 87 Marshall St. in North Adams from 10 am until 6 pm daily. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or purchased online at www.massmoca.org. In case of inclement weather, the Yiddish World Beat Dance Party will be moved inside.

Also, at 5 pm on Saturday, August 12, MASS MoCA presents Rockin' the Shtetl: The Essential Klezmer, a music talk by Seth Rogovoy, Berkshire Eagle music critic and author of The Essential Klezmer: A Music Lover's Guide to Jewish Roots and Soul Music. Rockin' the Shtetl is free with museum admission.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Katherine Myers
(413) 664-4481 x8113
katherine@massmoca.org