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Klezmer Ensemble to Instruct and Entertain

The lecture/musical program "Mordkhe Gebirtig: Der zinger fun noyt" ("the singer of poverty") will be presented November 15 by Fraidy Katz and the Klezical Tradition (see calendar section for details). The program features traditional klezmer music and interweaves songs written by Gebirtig with Katz's reflections on a 1994 visit to Poland.

The event, which is sponsored by the art museum and the inclusiveness program, focuses on Mordkhe Gebirtig, who was known as the Yiddish folk poet of Krakow. A carpenter and cabinetmaker, Gebirtig enjoys a stature in Yiddish folksong comparable to that of Woody Guthrie in American folk music. Gebirtig's songs of Jewish life, which were performed as folk music and in the Yiddish theatre, made him famous on both sides of the Atlantic. Although he had offers of exit visas during World War II, Gebirtig chose to remain in Poland, and shared the fate of most of the Jews in Krakow.