I don’t know why exactly, but I always feel like my creativity peaks on gray and dreary days. Maybe something about the comfort of working at my desk and looking out the window… who knows!

Klezmer is still heavily on my mind for the next month or so as I wrap up work on my upcoming lecture recital and dissertation defense. For those unfamiliar with klezmer, I’ve tried my best to sum up my view in the abstract for my dissertation:

“Klezmer” is the term commonly used today to refer to music Jewish music from Eastern Europe and is often associated with the Yiddish language and Ashkenazi Jews. Since the 1970s a renewed interest in klezmer has led musicians, both Jewish and non-Jewish, to explore this style with its hallmark modal melodies and rhythmic patterns, and to interpret it through their own individual cultural lenses. These varied interpretations of klezmer nonetheless share a certain set of characteristics, from melodic and harmonic tendencies to a core repertoire which has persisted since the beginning of the twentieth century.

To give a little better demonstration, and as a preview of my upcoming lecture recital, here’s a brief excerpt of my piece for concert band “The Badchen.” I hope it piques your interest!