greeted us as we entered the library for our 7 PM concert
The room had really nice acoustics and held a large audience – who enjoyed our playing as much as we enjoyed their active presence
US Attorney for the District of NJ, Philip Sellinger, Itay Milner, Consul for Media Affairs from the Consulate General of Israel in NY, Paul Goldenberg, a former Senior Member of the US Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council, and via video, Alan Dershowitz, Harvard Law Professor and famed advocate. The event was ably emceed by F
US Attorney for the District of NJ, Philip Sellinger, Itay Milner, Consul for Media Affairs from the Consulate General of Israel in NY, Paul Goldenberg, a former Senior Member of the US Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council, and via video, Alan Dershowitz, Harvard Law Professor and famed advocate. The event was ably emceed by Founding Member and Executive Director, Susan Wernick, pictured above
the popular Jewish rapper who brought the audience to its feet when he sang One Day. (All photos used by permission of JBAR).
We were honored to be invited to play this concert! Seating was halved, but an equal number of audience members watched the concert live-streamed on the Library's YouTube channel....https://youtu.be/QgUABlYaQC0
- so we had a full house, all told!
Yiddish New York, the yearly festival of Yiddish culture (music, Yiddish language, lectures on cool subjects - see www.yiddishnewyork.com was on Zoom this year - as was Klezathon, its crowning event. Psachya and Dena were a part of this historic event , See our set at minute 37 at https://www.facebook.com/yiddishnewyork/videos/249191937194037.
It was exhilarating to be on the "stage"
playing for hundreds of people all over the world.
Check out the other fantastic local and international artists while you're there!
The Klezathon made history - it was the world's first concert of
24 hours of non-stop Yiddish music!
The afternoon's dark skies and misty rain gave way to gorgeous evening weather, enabling guest accordionist Matt Schreiber and Dena to play two sets at this fun event in the renowned Bryant Park, adjacent to the New York Public Library’s main branch. We presented a set of traditional tunes including a medley of Dave Tarras and Abraham Ellstein bulgars, and later, a set of primarily Bessarabian tunes - those collected by German Goldenshteyn a"h, and composed by Emil Kroiter - and one of Matt's very lovely composition “Bedbug Blues” - https://matthewschreiber.net/videos/bedbug-blues-%D0%B4%D1%8A%D1%80%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B0-%D0%B1%D0%BB%D1%83%D1%81/
Although we (David and Dena joined by guest accordionist Yuri Lemeshev) played a smorgasbord of klezmer tunes, we were the musical Chinese food offering to a sold-out house. It was terrific to play surrounded by appreciative listeners – the energy level was high and the setting quite beautiful. It was also great to play surrounded by the record of Jewish history in NJ shore towns like Asbury Park. Belmar, and Freehold so beautifully and professionally presented. The museum, located in an historic building is definitely worth a visit - don’t miss the interactive kids’ corner – either by itself or in conjunction with other Monmouth County historic sites. https://www.jhmomc.org/
The library was "born" in the basement of one of the buildings in the 400-unit former Pine Grove Manor cooperative garden apartments in Franklin Township, New Jersey - near New Brunswick. PGM was the first integrated development in New Jersey and Dena’s childhood home. She lovingly remembers that basement location and still has her library card! (number J869)
To the Town’s credit, the library is now housed in an extremely beautiful and well-designed building. The concert organizer, Outreach/Reference Librarian Joan Serpico, did a terrific job of publicizing the concert – every seat was taken and she was able to accommodate the overflow. The audience was multi-cultural, all ages, and spirited: we felt a definite hum of excitement and returned the feeling. A fun time was had by all! https://www.franklintwp.org/
Can you tell we had a good time?.