Calling all Yiddish songwriters! In this open workshop, we'll learn and get feedback from NYC-based radical Yiddish singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Ira Khonen Temple on everything from writing original lyrics in Yiddish, setting Yiddish poetry to a melody, "tradapting" Yiddish folk song into English, and for instrumentalists, accompanying yourself on your instrument (instruments welcome). Bring an idea, a tune you're working on, and/or your instrument! A little bit of Yiddish and/or singing experience is helpful but not required. All with curiosity and an interest in stories told through Yiddish song are welcome!
Accessibility info: https://grapevinecollective.org/rentals/#accessibility
Ira Khonen Temple is a multi-instrumentalist, music director, and embedded cultural organizer living in Brooklyn, NY. Ira’s new album, Strange Tongue / Mistame-Loshn, is an exuberant and irreverent entanglement with Yiddish protest music, love songs, and anthems. It’s queer, trans antifolk music that is informed by klezmer and Romanian dance. It’s totally bilingual and an amazing gateway into a defiant tradition of survival and solidarity. Raucous and intimate in turns, this music makes as much space for joy as it does for grief.
Klezmer on Ice is an annual wintertime Yiddish music & culture festival in Minneapolis and year-round hub of Yiddishkeit in Minnesota. We promote independently organized Yididsh cultural events from our collective community of makhers. Interested in organizing an event? Contact us