Artists

Strauss/Warschauer Duo

Jeff Warschauer

Cantor Jeff Warschauer is internationally renowned as a one of the foremost exponents of the klezmer mandolin, as an innovator in the development of a klezmer guitar style, as an expressive Yiddish singer and as a skillful and inspirational educator. A graduate of the H.L. Miller Cantorial School at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Jeff is the cantor at The Jewish Center of Princeton, NJ. He is on the faculty of Columbia University, and is a Founding Artistic Director and Senior Artistic Advisor of the KlezKanada Institute for Yiddish/Jewish Culture.

Deborah Strauss

Deborah Strauss is one of the leading klezmer fiddlers of her generation. She is also an award-winning children's educator and a highly regarded Yiddish dancer and dance leader. She has performed with the Klezmatics and appears in the film, Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem. Deborah is co-director of both the instrumental music program and the dance program at Yiddish New York and, with Alan Bern, is the author of Klezmer Duets for Violin and Accordion, published in 2017 by Universal Edition, Vienna.

Levyosn

Adah Hetko

Adah Hetko is a Yiddish singer, songwriter, and dance leader active in the international Yiddish culture scene. She has studied since 2013 with celebrated Yiddish singers including Judy Bressler and Ethel Raim, and received songwriting mentorship from Daniel Kahn and Josh Waletzky. She holds an MA in Jewish Studies from Indiana University and teaches Yiddish language and culture to audiences throughout the Boston area and beyond, with support from organizations including the New Jewish Culture Fellowship and the Yiddish Book Center.

Lysander Jaffe

Lysander Jaffe is a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist known for building community through collaborative music-making. He serves as violist and co-artistic director of Palaver Strings and sits on the board of Village Harmony. He studied klezmer violin as part of a master's degree in Contemporary Improvisation at New England Conservatory.

Veretski Pass

Taking its name from the mountain pass through which Magyar tribes crossed into the Carpathian basin to settle what later became the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Veretski Pass offers a unique and exciting combination of virtuosic musicianship and raw energy that has excited concertgoers across the world. The trio plays Old Country Music with origins in the Ottoman Empire, once fabled as the borderlands of the East and the West. In a true collage of Carpathian, Jewish, Rumanian and Ottoman styles, typical suites contain dances from Moldavia and Bessarabia; Jewish melodies from Poland and Rumania; Hutzul wedding music from Carpathian-Ruthenia; and haunting Rebetic aires from Smyrna, seamlessly integrated with original compositions. Their CDs have repeatedly been on the 10-best recording lists of journalists since 2002.

Cookie Segelstein

Cookie Segelstein, violin and viola, received her Masters degree in Viola from The Yale School of Music in 1984. Until moving to California in 2010, she was principal violist in Orchestra New England and assistant principal in The New Haven Symphony, and served on the music faculty at Southern Connecticut State University. She is the founder and director of Veretski Pass, a member of Budowitz, and has performed with Kapelye, The Klezmatics, and the Klezmer Conservatory Band, among others. She is a regular staff member at Klez Kamp, Klez Kanada, Klez California, and Klezmer Festival Fürth, and is heard on numerous recordings including the Veretski Pass self-titled release, Trafik, and The Klezmer Shul. Cookie lives in Berkeley, California with her husband, Joshua Horowitz.

Joshua Horowitz

Joshua Horowitz, chromatic button accordion, cimbalom and piano, received his Masters degree in Composition and Music Theory from the Academy of Music in Graz, Austria, where he taught Music Theory and served as Director of the Yiddish Music Research Project for nine years. He is currently adjunct Professor at Sonoma State University. Joshua is the founder and director of the ensemble Budowitz, and a founding member of Veretski Pass. He has performed and recorded with The Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Theodore Bikel, and Brave Old World, and was a featured accompanist for Itzhak Perlman on PBS. He received the Prize of Honor from the Austrian government for his orchestral composition "Tenebrae," and his musicological work is featured in four books, including The Sephardic Songbook and The Ultimate Klezmer. Joshua lives in Berkeley, California.

Stuart Brotman

Stuart Brotman, bass, basy (cello), tilinca (shepherds' flute) and baraban (bass drum), has been an accomplished performer, arranger and recording artist in World Music for over 50 years. A founding member of Los Angeles' Ellis Island Band, he has been a moving force in the klezmer revival since its beginning. He holds a B.A. in music with a concentration in Ethnomusicology from UCLA, and has taught at Klez Kamp, Klez Kanada, Klez California, and numerous European festivals including Klezfest London and Klezmer Festival Fürth. Stu has been recording, touring, and teaching New Jewish Music with Brave Old World since 1989, and is featured in the PBS film and CD, "Itzhak Perlman, in the Fiddler's House." He has also toured and recorded with Canned Heat, Kaleidoscope, and played cimbalom on Ry Cooder's "Jazz." Stuart lives in Berkeley, California.