Song Workshop for singers, instrumentalist & arrangers
Aug 7 – Aug 13 @Musikschule
10 a.m. – 1 p.m. & 3 – 6 p.m.
With Daniel Kahn, Sasha Lurje & Josh Waletzky
Artists-in-residence: Cantor Sveta Kundish & Patrick Farrell
Academic credit for this workshop!
Are you an undergraduate or graduate student at a university or conservatory? If so, you can probably get 1-3 academic credits for taking this workshop, thanks to our new cooperation with the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar, Germany. Please send an email to for more details.
Every year, the Yiddish Summer Weimar song workshop creates a special atmosphere for singers, professional as well as semi-professional, providing space for learning and creating. This year is no exception. In keeping with the theme of YSW 2019, this year's song workshop will explore the fertile period of the Weimar Republic and its representation in Yiddish song and poetry. Led by a team of internationally acclaimed masters of Yiddish song, participants will delve into the worlds of Yiddish cabaret and 20th-century Yiddish art song, and learn and create new compositions based on Yiddish poetry from the Weimar Republic.
This year's faculty brings together some of the world's most eminent Yiddish singers and songwriters. Josh Waletzky is renowned for his innovative songwriting and deep understanding of the traditional Yiddish song repertoire and style. Sasha Lurje is a multifaceted Yiddish singer who blends a range of styles and genres - from Yiddish cabaret and theater to unaccompanied lyrical songs and rock music - to create original worlds of sound. Daniel Kahn is known for his Yiddish punk cabaret, modern songwriting, translations and theater work. Artists-in-residence Sveta Kundish and Patrick Farrell have been working together on developing a new style of Yiddish art song that draws on folk and contemporary classical music traditions. Bringing together this wide spectrum of styles and genres, the faculty members look forward to working with the workshop participants to create new and exciting musical worlds.
The focus of this year's workshop will be on getting acquainted with the Yiddish theater, cabaret and art song repertoire; examining political and social satire, poetic creativity and the relationship between traditional and new classical and theatrical styles, as well as songwriting, composing and poetry setting. If you have any questions, feel free to contact workshop coordinator Sasha Lurje at .
If you're unsure about whether this workshop is right for your musical level of experience, please click here.
Workshop fee: 460 € Standard / 355 € Reduced / 635 € Sponsor / 180 € under 18.
For information about the Standard, Reduced and Supporter fees >> read about
The evening program that caps each workshop day has much to do with the unique atmosphere of Yiddish Summer Weimar. On some evenings we meet for jam sessions in Weimar's cafés or in the Other Music Academy (OMA), a great opportunity to put into practice what you've been learning during the day and connect with the other participants. On other evenings, we present concerts connected to the workshop topic performed by internationally recognized artists. During the Festival Week (July 27 - August 3), directly following each evening's featured event in the mon ami cultural center, we meet again in the OMA for the Late Night Cabaret, an informal and fun atmosphere for short performances by anyone ready to jump on stage. In Yiddish Summer Weimar, learning, playing and connecting with each other go hand-in-hand.