ISLE of KLEZBOS approaches tradition with irreverence & respect. Based in NYC, this soulful, fun-loving powerhouse all-women's klezmer sextet has toured from Vienna to Vancouver. Band repertoire ranges from rambunctious to entrancing: neo- traditional folk dance, mystical melodies, Yiddish swing & retro tango, late Soviet-era Jewish drinking song, re-grooved standards, and genre-defying originals. ISLE of KLEZBOS concert footage has been broadcast internationally on CBS Sunday Morning, CNN WorldBeat, and PBS In The Life. ISLE of KLEZBOS music has also featured on The L Word (Showtime), WFMU, Northeast Public Radio (Live at the Linda), and film soundtracks for Grace Paley: Collected Shorts and I Guess I'm Not Going to Get to Vegas. The band has also made studio recordings of Klezbos arrangements for the double platinum, glam pop Grammy-nominated Scissor Sisters.

The Michael Winograd Klezmer Trio performs at Stanford

Mark your calendars! Thursday, January 6 at 8 PM (with an art exhibition opening and reception at 7:30)

Celebrate the new year with the sweet sounds of Ashkenaz! On Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 8 PM the Michael Winograd Klezmer Trio will be giving a free performance at the Koret Pavilion at the Ziff Center (Hillel at Stanford), 565 Mayfield Avenue, at the corner of Campus Drive East. The Michael Winograd Klezmer Trio features three of the top young musicians playing Klezmer music in New York today--blending traditional Yiddish songs and new Klezmer compositions with chamber-like improvisations and spontaneous arrangements. A reception and photography exhibition, featuring the work of Gideon Spiegel, will be held at 7:30PM before the performance, in conjunction with Hillel at Stanford. Please come and attend both parts of this cultural evening (click here for more details).

Clarinetist Michael Winograd has recorded and performed with SoCalled, Budowitz, Frank London, and the Klezmer Conservatory Band. He has led workshops and concertized near and far, with highlighted performances in Reunion Island, the Dawson City Music Festival (Yukon), the Winnepeg and Calgary Folk Festivals, Klezmore Festival (Vienna) and Carnegie Hall in New York City. He has taught Klezmer music at the Paris Klezmer week, KlezKanada, and Living Traditions KlezKamp. In his spare time he produces records, composes music and plays synthesizer in the Brooklyn based metal band Yiddish Princess.

Accordionist/composer Patrick Farrell, specializes in new-music, free-jazz, cabaret, theater, klezmer and various other forms of East-European folk music. He leads his own group, Stagger Back Brass Band, as well as playing with Ljova and the Kontraband, Frank London's Klezmer Brass All-Stars, Veveritse Brass Band, Romashka and in multiple other groups and odd situations around New York City.

Bassist/vocalist Benjy Fox-Rosen has toured internationally performing throughout the United States and Europe as a member of the Luminescent Orchestrii and with his own ensemble, performing new renderings of Yiddish folk songs as well as original setting of the poetry of Krakow's Mordechai Gebirtig. Benjy performs regularly as a bassist with many of New York's finest Klezmer, Hungarian, Jazz and improvising musicians.

This is an event of Hillel at Stanford and the National Yiddish Book Center, funded in part by the Righteous Persons Foundation, the Covenant Foundation, and the Estate of Ruthe B. Cowl. This performance is also generously co-sponsored by the Taube Center for Jewish Studies, the Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages, the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, the Stanford Arts Initiative, and the Jewish Student Association.

For more information, please contact Isaac Bleaman.

The SKB is now on YouTube

From our performance at the CoHo, June 9, 2010

There are more videos available online. Simply type "Stanford Klezmer" into the YouTube search bar.

KlezCalifornia Yiddish Cultural Festival

Klezmer Dance Party!!!

Shake your tukhes off!

The Stanford Klezmer Band, the Jewish Student Association, KlezCalifornia, and the National Yiddish Book Center invite students and young adults in the community to hear music by the Stanford Klezmer Band and learn Yiddish dance with Bruce Bierman.

Thursday evening, 8PM - 9:30PM
Koret Pavilion at the Ziff Center for Jewish Life (Stanford Hillel)
565 Mayfield Avenue, at the corner of Campus Drive East

Bruce will be leading about an hour-long class, followed by dancing with the band. The event is free of charge, and refreshments will be provided.

RSVP appreciated. Visit us on Facebook (you can also search "Klezmer Dance Party" and look for our logo) or contact Isaac Bleaman.

Feel free to distribute flyers (select the version that suits your needs: text only, black and white, and color).

The SKB is seeking new members for 2009-2010.

Tsi vilt ir shpiln mit undz? Aderabe-veaderabe!

The Stanford Klezmer Band will be holding auditions for the upcoming year on Wednesday, September 23, beginning at 4 PM in Braun 106. Musicians playing any instrument will be considered.

The auditions are primarily a way for us to meet you and have a chance to hear you play. We'd appreciate if you could come prepared to play something (klezmer or otherwise). We'd also like you to sight-read and/or try to play something by ear. This is a pretty low-pressure audition--we'd just like to see where you are and determine how we as a band can proceed most effectively.

Whether you have experience playing klezmer or any other genre, contact us if you're interested in joining!

Send an e-mail to Isaac Bleaman with a brief introduction, and we'll make sure to pencil you in with a time slot.

We look forward to meeting you! Don't hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns.

Want to meet us/learn more about the band before the auditions? Come by Hillel for the Jewish Students Association barbecue on Tuesday, September 22, at 5:30, where the SKB will be represented.