Sarah Lazarus Memorial Concert with ISLE of KLEZBOS ensemble

NYC-based ISLE of KLEZBOS approaches tradition with irreverence and respect. The soulful, fun-loving powerhouse all-women’s klezmer sextet has toured from Vienna to Vancouver since 1998. 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, and the band’s live and studio recordings have also been heard on The L Word (Showtime), WFMU, Northeast Public Radio (Live at the Linda), and film soundtracks for Grace Paley: Collected Shorts, Esther Broner: A Weave of Women, and I Guess I’m Not Going to Get to Vegas, among others. The band has also been commissioned in concert by artist Kiki Smith and for studio recordings of by the Grammy-nominated Scissor Sisters. Singer/songwriter Jill Sobule is featuring Isle of Klezbos for her genre-spanning, gender-bending musical theater project Music from Yentl as seen at Joe’s Pub and Lincoln Center Atrium.

Special ISLE of KLEZBOS projects have included J.EDGAR KLEZMER: Songs from My Grandmother’s FBI Files, original musical documentary theater created by bandleader/composer and lyricist Sicular, praised by The New York Times for “lively score… smartly written;” the show sold out its Off-Off Broadway run at HERE Arts. Collaborating with the likes of Natalia Zukerman (The Women Who Rode Away), Jill Sobule (Music from Yentl at Joe’s Pub & Lincoln Center), and glam rock Grammy-nominee Scissor Sisters (studio sessions), the sextet has also enjoyed guest artist MC’s Jackie Hoffman, Lisa Kron, Jennifer ‘Circus Amok’ Miller, Deb Margolin and many more for their annual KlezBiGay Pride festivities. Recent special appearances: A Letter to Harvey Milk opening night party house band; World Science Festival surprise guest artists in honor of Alan Alda at Jazz at Lincoln Center gala; and Cinema Arts Centre featured music artists with SNL legend Alan Zweibel.

This concert is free to the public, but we ask that you please RSVP. If you have questions about registration please be in touch with YIVO.