Great Songs of the Yiddish Theatre, a 4-session course with Cindy Paley

You are warmly invited to register for KlezCalifornia’s third multi-session Yiddish singing course, this one on Great Songs of the Yiddish Theatre. The course will take place on four Tuesdays: November 8, 15, and then November 29 and December 6, 5:30-7pm, Pacific Standard Time (PST). Please confirm your local time. Registering means paying the tuition of $80, due in advance. You may not register for just one session, only for the series.

The American Yiddish musical theatre was a powerful force in the turn-of-the-century immigrant experience. The theatre brought to life immigrants’ dreams, their difficulties in the new world, and their nostalgia for the Old Country. It all began with Abraham Goldfaden, the father of Yiddish theater, and Boris Thomashefsky, the father of Second Avenue. We’ll learn and sing songs by Molly Picon. Aaron Lebedeff, and great composers Alexander Olshanetsky, Abraham Ellstein, Joseph Rumshinsky, Sholom Secunda and others. Songs will include Mayn Shtetele Belz , Yidl Mitn Fidl, Abi Gezunt, Mazl, and Oy, Mame, Bin Ikh Farlibt. We will view video clips, listen to recordings, and learn about the composers.

You will learn songs and their backgrounds and most importantly, sing! This course will provide you with recordings, video clips, class videos, sheet music, and song sheets in transliteration and with English translation. The day after each class, you will receive a link to the class video for your review and as a “make-up” in case you cannot participate live. By singing songs repeatedly over four classes you will remember them (and learn Yiddish vocabulary, too)! Lomir Zingen! Let’s sing!

This course has enough people signed up and will begin Tuesday, November 8.

About Cindy Paley Cindy Paley has delighted Jewish communities with her timeless albums and dynamic performances. A Los Angeles native, she is known for her contagious enthusiasm and passion for both traditional and contemporary Jewish music. As music educator and song leader at Valley Beth Shalom for 36 years, Cindy brought Jewish music to countless children and families. For the past 21 years. she has been the cantorial soloist for Lev Eisha and Valley Beth Shalom’s N’shama Minyan, two women’s services in Los Angeles and also serves as the High Holy Days Cantorial Soloist for Kehillah Chen v’Chesed. Additionally, Cindy performs Yiddish music throughout California and Poland and teaches annual workshops at the Krakow Jewish Culture Festival. These past three years, Cindy taught a variety of Yiddish music courses through the Skirball Cultural Center, KlezCalifornia, and Workers Circle and presented numerous Yiddish and Hebrew song workshops/concerts via Zoom. Although best known for Jewish music, Cindy also performs American folk songs of the 1960s with a trio called The Folk Experience.

To reserve a space, scroll down and complete the registration form.

Registering for this event includes giving KlezCalifornia permission to take still and video images and use them for educational or other organizational purposes. If you do not agree to such use, please turn off your video when you join the event. To keep you informed of future events, we enroll registrants in our free monthly newsletter which includes klezmer and Yiddish culture events in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. You may unsubscribe at any time. KlezCalifornia does not share its lists with other organizations.