YIVO Premiering Two Online Concerts of Folksongs from the Early 1900s

(New York, NY) – This fall, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research will be premiering two Sidney Krum Young Artists Concerts featuring Hebrew and Yiddish folksongs from the 1920s and 1930s.

The first concert, taking place on Tuesday, October 19, 2021 at 1:00pm (ET), will feature a performance of Lazare Saminsky's Ten Hebrew Folk Songs and Folk Dances Op. 22 (c. 1924) by pianist Thomas Kotcheff. It will premiere on YIVO’s Facebook and YouTube channels. This collection of ten works for solo piano features arrangements of Yiddish and Hebrew folk melodies, wordless nigunim, and instrumental dance melodies.

Born in Vale-Gotzulovo, Ukraine in 1882, Saminsky was one of the earliest members of the Society for Jewish Folk Music in St. Petersburg – a group of composers committed to forging a new national style of Jewish classical music infused with Jewish folk melodies and liturgical music. Saminsky immigrated to the United States in 1920 where he co-founded the League of Composers in 1923, and was the music director of Temple Emanu-El in New York City from 1924-1958. Saminsky’s musical oeuvre represents a broad cross section of Jewish music ranging from sacred to secular.

The second concert, premiering on on Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at 1:00pm (ET) will feature a performance of Alexander Krein's Ten Yiddish Songs Op. 49 (~1937) by singer Lucy Fitz Gibbon with pianist Ryan MacEvoy McCullough. These 10 songs reimagine Yiddish folksong texts and melodies in rich and imaginative arrangements for piano and voice.

Born in 1883, Krein was raised in a family of musicians and performed cello with his father’s Klezmer band. After studying at the Moscow Conservatory where Krein enrolled at age 13, he became an active member of the Moscow branch of the Society for Jewish Folkmusic. Krein wrote music that was harmonically adventurous, taking influence from modernist composers such as Alexander Scriabin. While many of the composers affiliated with the Society for Jewish Folkmusic emigrated to Palestine or the United States, Krein remained in the Soviet Union. Krein was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Soviet Union, and was active writing music for theatrical performances including for Moscow’s Hebrew-language Habimah Theater as well as for Yiddish state theaters in Moscow, Kiev, and Minsk.

Program:      10 Hebrew Folk Songs and Folk Dances by Lazare Saminsky
When:            Tuesday, October 19, 2021 at 1:00pm (ET)
Where:          Premiering on Facebook and YouTube
Reservations Available at:  yivo.org/Saminsky2021

Program:      10 Yiddish Songs by Alexander Krein
When:            Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at 1:00pm (ET)
Where:          Premiering on Facebook and YouTube
Reservations Available at:  yivo.org/Krein2021

These programs are part of the Sidney Krum Young Artists Concert Series. The Sidney Krum Young Artists Concert Series is made possible by a generous gift from the Estate of Sidney Krum. These programs are also supported by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

For more information contact:
Alex Weiser
Director of Public Programs

YIVO

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is dedicated to the preservation and study of the history and culture of East European Jewry worldwide. For nearly a century, YIVO has pioneered new forms of Jewish scholarship, research, education, and cultural expression. Our public programs and exhibitions, as well as online and on-site courses, extend our outreach to a global community. The YIVO Archives contains 24 million unique items and YIVO’s Library has over 400,000 volumes—the single largest resource for the study of East European Jewish life in the world. yivo.org / yivo.org/the-whole-story