Celebrating Yiddish Music, Language, and Culture!
Thank you for joining us for Yiddish New York 2021! Want to relive a few of the highlights? Check out the articles below!
Scholar Jeffrey Shandler Receives ‘Adrienne Cooper Dreaming In Yiddish’ Award – Forward
How Yiddish became one of the languages used at the POLIN Museum – Forward
For many of us, gathering together on 14th Street is a highlight of our year, and we want YNY to continue to serve as a home for our ever-growing community. We are following the emerging COVID-19 data and guidelines closely, and have yet to determine in what format YNY 2021 will be held—fully online or a hybrid of online and in-person. No matter how we gather together, we look forward to sharing time with you again this December!
We are a community with diverse needs, and we recognize that online programming serves our community in ways that in-person programming cannot, especially during the ongoing pandemic. While it is still unclear what YNY 2021 will look like, we are committed to providing a continuity of engagement and connection for all.
We thank you for your understanding, commitment, and flexibility. Updates on programs will be coming soon–click here to sign up for YNY’s email list, and click here to connect with us on Facebook.
Mit a hartsikn dank,
The YNY Organizing Committee: Daniel Blacksberg, Edy Borger, Nicole Borger, Sarah Gordon, Esther Gottesman, Itzik Gottesman, Tine Kindermann, Jeyn Levison, Frank London, Ethel Raim, Pete Rushefsky, Deborah Strauss, Judy Sweet, Deborah Ugoretz, Josh Waletzky, Michael Winograd. YNY Coordinator: Clara Byom
Yiddish New York — the nation’s largest festival of Yiddish music, culture and language — returns December 26 – 30, 2020, and this time you can participate online in your own home!
Yiddish New York (YNY), the nation’s largest workshop/festival celebrating Yiddish language and culture — including its signature music, klezmer — is proud to announce its return for its sixth year, taking place from Saturday evening, December 26th to Wednesday, December 30th, 2020. YNY 2020 will feature some of the leading performers and scholars of Yiddish culture, including:
And that’s not all — dozens of featured artists and scholars are being confirmed each week!
A group of leading artists/cultural activists founded YNY in 2014 in response to the closure, after 30 years, of KlezKamp, which had been the world’s longest-running arts program dedicated to the continuity of traditional Yiddish folk culture. Usually held in an urban setting, YNY annually draws 500 people of all ages and backgrounds for its daytime workshops, plus thousands more for its evening concerts, dance parties, theater performances, and more. This year you can avoid the commute and join the festivities right in your own home!
“Yiddish New York is the place for people who want to celebrate Jewishness during the peak of the Christmas season through Yiddish culture and klezmer music. While the format of this year’s YNY will be virtual, the community and connection to culture is deeply real and all the more needed in our too-often isolated current world,” says trombonist and composer Dan Blacksberg.
“I’ve met some of my closest friends through the New York klezmer and Yiddish scene,” says 26-year-old Esther, a participant of the festival. “This community is a huge part of my identity, and I love that Yiddish New York is helping to keep our traditions alive.”
Each day, YNY participants can take advantage of a full schedule of workshops in Yiddish language, klezmer music, theater, and more, plus a wide variety of performances, lectures, and films presenting many of the leading figures in Yiddish culture today. Evening programs feature an eclectic series of online concerts and theater performances.
2020 program offerings include:
YNY welcomes individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of Yiddish (no prior Yiddish required!). Special programs for kids and teens are led by leading educators and performers.
Event passes are now available at www.yiddishnewyork.com. YNY also has scholarships and work-study options available to students and participants with financial need.
Partner Organizations: The Center for Traditional Music and Dance (fiscal sponsor), The Museum of Jewish Heritage,The 14th Street Y, The Forward, The Center for Jewish History, The Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center, The Educational Alliance, The Museum At Eldridge Street, The New York Klezmer Series, The Town and Village Synagogue, The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, The Stanton Street Shul,The Workers Circle, The Forward Newspapers, The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, The Yiddish Book Center, The League for Yiddish, Yiddishkayt, The New York Jewish Guide, JewishWorldLife.com, and The New York Jewish Parenting Guide. International partners: Institut Européen des Musiques Juives (Paris), Instituto da Musica Judaica Brasil, KlezKanada (Montreal, QC).
Yiddish New York is grateful for support from the Marinus and Minna B. Koster Foundation, the Atran Foundation, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Covenant Foundation, Con Edison, the Adrienne Cooper Fund for Dreaming in Yiddish, the Yiddish Artists & Friends– Actors Club, Itsik (Jonathan) Sunshine, and Nicola Bird, Nan Bases, Ellie Schweber, Seth Weisberg and family. Promotional support provided in part by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and NYC & Company Foundation.
About Yiddish New York:
Yiddish New York celebrates and engages with East European Jewish (and other Jewish and co-territorial) traditions to foster new creativity, building bridges across borders – a culture under construction! Drawing inspiration from the historic cultural riches of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Yiddish New York is an intergenerational gathering featuring daily workshops and a broad spectrum of performances and programming. Yiddish New York evenings feature concerts, dance parties, and jam sessions at clubs and other venues around this vibrant neighborhood.