Yiddish Song Workshop with A Glezele Tey at the Maine Jewish Museum
Sun Jan 26, 2025 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Maine Jewish Museum, 04101
Description
Yiddish Song Workshop & Zingeray at the Maine Jewish Museum
Join members of A Glezele Tey for an afternoon of singing Yiddish folk songs and learning about
Ashkenazi music & culture, with live musical accompaniment! From old classics to newly written
melodies, we will explore the breadth and depth of the Yiddish song movement and the current
surge of creativity & cross-generational collaboration happening today! Songbooks will be
provided, and participants will come away with the tools to continue singing and creating new
interpretations, translations, and songs of their own. No prior knowledge of Yiddish needed—all
are welcome!
This event will be held at the Maine Jewish Museum at 267 Congress St, Portland, ME 04101.
Individual bios
Rachel Leader (violin) is passionate about cultivating vibrant community-led spaces, and is a
klezmer violinist, cultural organizer, and educator based in Northampton, MA. She is a founding
member of the critically acclaimed klezmer quartet Mamaliga, performing and teaching
internationally at Yiddish Summer Weimar, KlezKanada, and Yiddish New York. Rachel is also a
founder, violinist, and producer of the Magid Ensemble’s "Shterna & The Lost Voice," an
immersive musical storytelling production that transports audiences into the rich world of
Yiddish folklore. Rachel received the 2021 Klezmer New Leaders Fellowship from the Brooklyn
Conservatory of Music, and is a founding member of in-demand klezmer bands Burikes, A
Glezele Tey, among other projects. She also regularly performs with Chaia (Kleztronica),
blending house and techno grooves with electric fiddle and archival samples to create
innovative soundscapes of Jewish diasporic identity. Rachel is the co-founder and director of
KlezCummington, an annual klezmer and Yiddish cultural festival on her family’s land in
Cummington, MA.
Ariel Shapiro (accordion, vocals) is a klezmer accordionist, cultural organizer, and
multi-disciplinary artist based on Nipmuc, Nonotuck, and Pocumtuc land in so-called
Northampton, Massachusetts. Ariel believes deeply in the transformative power of music and
art that is centered around community and intergenerational relationship-building, rooted in
culturally-informed history and artistic practices, and committed to justice and collective care
work. Ariel is a core organizer of KlezCummington, an annual Jewish cultural festival dedicated
to the creation and deepening of Yiddish diasporic music and cultures, as well the People's
Puppet Parade, a community-based, devised spectacle theater processional exploring radical
histories and communal expressions of grief and joy. Ariel is a founding member of klezmer
bands Burikes, A Glezele Tey, and Khaloymes, performing fresh takes on traditional klezmer
tunes and Yiddish songs, leading community jams and zingerays (Yiddish sing-alongs), and
accompanying Yiddish dancing and theatrical productions, including Jenny Romaine/Great Small
Work’s “Three Cookbooks in the Garden: A stage illusion”, The Un-nameable Children's Project
“Across the Ninefold River”, and A.C. Weaver’s “Inhabiting the Tsadik of the Woods”. Ariel also
collaborates with Der Tkhines Proyekt, setting old Yiddish prayers (written for and by women
and gender non-conforming folks) to new melodies, and composing new works to be sung in
the streets, around kitchen tables, and anywhere they can be used to help tear down systems of
injustice to build a frayer velt (a freer world).
Richie Barshay (percussion) began drumming inside kitchen cabinets at an early age, and
continues banging on things worldwide to this day. From his multi-percussion work with Herbie
Hancock in the 2000s, to tours and recordings with Chick Corea, Esperanza Spalding, The
Klezmatics, Fred Hersch, and Kenny Werner, he's been dubbed "a major rhythm voice on the
rise" by Downbeat magazine, and “a major innovator who also knows how to have fun” by The
Guardian (UK). He’s also performed with Natalie Merchant, Bobby McFerrin, Joe Lovano, Lee
Konitz, Donald Harrison, Lionel Loueke, Julian Lage, the Curtis Brothers, Joey Weisenberg,
Gabriel Kahane, Pete Seeger, and the Tony Award winning musical The Band’s Visit on Broadway
and national tour. Since 2004 he’s traveled across 5 continents teaching and performing as an
American Musical Envoy with the U.S. State Department, and can be heard on over 90
recordings including two self-produced albums: Sanctuary featuring Chick Corea (2014), and
Homework featuring Herbie Hancock (2004). Based in Northampton, Massachusetts and New
York City, he is an AmSAT certified Alexander Technique teacher helping performing artists and
others regain more body-mind coordination and ease of movement. More at
www.richiebarshay.com.
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Join A Glezele Tey for their performance at Mayo Street Arts on January 25, more info here.
Funded in part by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.
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Sunday, January 26 at 4:00 PM, 90-minutes
Tickets are available for $5 - 15 sliding scale - choose your pricing option below.
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PAY WHAT YOU CAN
No one will be turned away from MSA events for lack of funds; please contact us at 207-879-4629 or info@mayostreetarts.org to learn more and reserve tickets. Our box office staff are also happy to help.
EVENT PARKING
Free on-street parking is available in Maine Jewish Museum's neighborhood.
There is one paid parking lot conveniently located a six-minute walk from the venue: Top of the Old Port Parking (119 Pearl St, Portland ME 04101)
Mayo Street Arts is accessible by Greater Portland Metro bus routes with nearby transfer points 7, 9A & 9B. Click here to learn more.
ACCESSIBILITY
All performances and most other events held at Mayo Street Arts are wheelchair accessible. There are two accessible spots directly in front of our building, however there is not yet a curb cut out at that location.
If you would benefit from additional information or accommodations, we invite you to contact us at info@mayostreetarts.org or 207-879-4629.
COMMUNITY HEALTH
Audience members — in addition to artists, staff & volunteers — who feel sick or exhibit symptoms of illness should stay home out of respect for others.
SEATING POLICY
We will save your reserved seat until showtime, at which point any unclaimed seats may be offered to other people. Please call our box office at 207-879-4629 if you are running late.
CANCELATION POLICY
MSA has a no refund policy for all reservations. In the event that MSA is forced to cancel an event due to weather, illness, etc., refunds will be offered via the Ticket Tailor platform.
Location
Maine Jewish Museum, 04101