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David Krakauer's Klezmer Madness!
with guest DJ So-Called.
Saturday, March 20, 8:00pm

"Jazz and klezmer collide in a dazzling display of clarinet virtuosity. Matched by a stellar ensemble, Krakauer, who has also played with groups such as the Kronos Quartet and the New York Philharmonic, brings prodigious chops and serious mirth to klezmer. . . a treasure not to be missed." (The New Yorker)

Also featuring hip-hop DJ So-Called (aka Josh Dolgin), who has catapulted Yiddish music to new heights.

Co-sponsored by the Jazzschool, Jewish Studies Program of the Graduate Theological Union and UC Berkeley, San Francisco Performances and the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life and Culture.

Wheeler Auditorium
UC Berkeley Campus
$25 General Admission / $20 BRJCC members, seniors & students
 
Ronnie Gilbert:  A Radical Life with Songs
Sunday, March 21 4:00pm
The daughter of a Yiddish-speaking union activist, Ronnie became a folk music icon as a member of the Weavers, when their Israeli single Tzena, Tzena soared to the top of the hit parade in 1950. Despite the McCarthy blacklist, the group toured for more than a decade. Later, Ronnie worked as a singer and actor, recording albums and appearing on and off Broadway. Her inspiring one-woman show celebrates her life as a singer, actor, writer and community activist.

Co-sponsored by Claire Sherman & Ed Anisman and Julie Sherman, in loving memory of Ursula Sherman. Co-sponsored, too, by a Friend of the Festival, in gratitude for Ronnie's wisdom, artistry, and lifelong passion for social justice.


Berkeley Richmond JCC
1414 Walnut Street (at Rose), Berkeley
$20 General Admission / $15 BRJCC members, seniors & students
 
Also March 18 7:30pm
Osher Marin JCC
Call 415-444-8000 for tickets

 
Back to the Sources:
The music collections of S. Ansky and Moshe Beregovski, pioneer Jewish folklorists in Russia and the USSR

Tuesday, March 23, 7:30pm
A dialog and musical demonstration with eminent scholars of Jewish folk music Dr. Izaly Zemtsovsky and Michael Alpert, founding member of the klezmer ensemble Brave Old World.

Co-sponsored by Michael Ziegler.

Berkeley Richmond JCC
$15 General Admission
$10 BRJCC members, seniors & students

     Kinetic Klezmer Jam

Thursday, March 25 7:30pm
Klezmer legend Elaine Hoffman Watts

(percussion) and her daughter Susan Watts Hoffman< (trumpet) are the 3rd and 4th generations of a musical dynasty that goes back to 19th century Ukraine. With Josh Dolgin (accordion), they will teach traditional musical styling through samples of their family's historic repertoire. All instruments and skill levels welcome.
 
Berkeley Richmond JCC
1414 Walnut Street (at Rose), Berkeley
$15 General Admission / $10 BRJCC members, seniors & students
 
Co-sponsored by the Gottesman-Biddle Family

     Philly Klezmer Swing Dance Party

with Dance Lesson by Steven Weintraub
Saturday, March 27
6:30pm dance lesson  8:00pm dance party
It's time to swing to Bei Mir Bistu Shein! Elaine Hoffman Watts, Susan Watts Hoffman and Josh Dolgin are joined by Bay Area jazz allstars Sheldon Brown (former member of the Klezmorim), bassist Richard Saunders and Steven Weintraub, an expert on traditional Jewish dance and swing.
 
In association with The Crowden Music Center.
Co-sponsored by the Coliver Family, in memory of Edith Coliver's love of music, and Leonard Merrill Kurz, in memory of Ursula Sherman.
 
The Crowden Music Center
1475 Rose (at Sacramento), Berkeley
$20 General Admission / $15 BRJCC members, seniors & students