Video 1: The Klezmatics play live at Town Hall NYC with special guests. Barikadn,a song by Shmerke Kaczerinsky (ca 1930’s )With Lorin Sklamberg, Frank London, Matt Darriau, Lisa Gutkin, Paul Morrisett and Richie Barshay and friends. This video is taken from the Klezmatics documentary “The Klezmatics – On Holy Ground” DVD

Video 2: “Lolly Lo” Words by Woody Guthrie. With Lorin Sklamberg, Frank London, Matt Darriau, Lisa Gutkin, Paul Morrisett and Richie Barshay and friends. This video is taken from the Klezmatics documentary “The Klezmatics – On Holy Ground” DVD

The famous and entertaining Klezmatics are performing on Thursday, March 3, 2022 7:30-9:30 PM at the Kulkarni Theatre, Penn State Harrisburg, Middletown, PA. If you can’t make the trip, you can purchase a ticket to the livestream show, and watch from home! The Kulkarni Cultural Series presents this Klezmatics concert in partnership with the Susquehanna Folk Music Society.

The Klezmatics are globally-renowned world music superstars — and the only klezmer band to win a Grammy award. Excerpts from their website: The Klezmatics emerged out of the vibrant cultural scene of New York City’s East Village in 1986 with klezmer steeped in Eastern European Jewish tradition and spirituality, while incorporating contemporary themes such as human rights and anti-fundamentalism and eclectic musical influences including Arab, African, Latin and Balkan rhythms, jazz and punk. In the course of over twenty years and nine albums they have stubbornly continued making music that is wild, mystical, provocative, reflective and ecstatically danceable.

Members include: Lisa Gutkin, Matt Darriau, David Lindsay, Kurt Bjorling, Paul Morrissett, David Licht, Matt Darriau, Frank London, David Krakauer, Margot Leverett, Paul Morrissett, Lorin Sklamberg, David Lindsay, Lisa Gutkin, Richie Barshay, David Licht, Kurt Bjorling, Richie Barshay, Paul Morrissett, and Alicia Svigals

Since their emergence more than 30 years ago, the Klezmatics have raised the bar for Eastern European Jewish music, made aesthetically, politically and musically interesting recordings, inspired future generations, created a large body of work that is enduring, and helped to change the face of contemporary Yiddish culture. Often called a “Jewish roots band,” the Klezmatics have led a popular revival of this ages-old, nearly forgotten art form.

They have performed in more than 20 countries and released 11 albums to date—most recently the album Apikorsim (Heretics), produced by Danny Blume (who helped the band win a Grammy in 2006) and the first of the band’s albums to feature only the 6 members. On their Grammy-winning 2006 album Wonder Wheel, the Klezmatics set a dozen previously unsung Woody Guthrie lyrics to music, widening their stylistic base by largely diverging from klezmer. They have also recently served as the subject of a feature-length documentary film, The Klezmatics: On Holy Ground. During their third-of-a-century existence the Klezmatics have collaborated with such brilliant artists as violinist Itzhak Perlman, Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner and Israeli vocal icon Chava Alberstein, plus many other prominent artists working within multiple genres.

Today, with three original members—Lorin Sklamberg (lead vocals, accordion, guitar, piano), Frank London (trumpet, keyboards, vocals) and Paul Morrissett (bass, tsimbl, vocals)—still on board, alongside longtime members Matt Darriau (kaval, clarinet, saxophone, vocals) and Lisa Gutkin (violin, vocals), the Klezmatics are without a doubt the most successful proponents of klezmer music in the world. The Klezmatics’ music is rooted in but is not a strictly traditional variety of the klezmer genre. Rather it is a comfortable hybrid that appeals equally to those with no previous exposure to the music and those already familiar with it.