Zisl Slepovitch is a musical phenomenon. Versatile in composition, performance and more, you can learn about the many projects in which he has immersed himself and produced music, valuable to all generations in preserving culture. D. Zisl Slepovitch, a native of Minsk, Belarus, is an internationally renowned multiinstrumentalist and ethnomusicologist (Ph.D.), klezmer, classical, and improvising woodwind and keyboard player; conductor, composer, educator, founding member of critically acclaimed bands Litvakus, Zisl Slepovitch Trio, and Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble.
Having attended several of his presentations and met him, I can share that Zisl is friendly, talented, enthusiastic and approachable. Many of his arrangements include the accordion featuring well known Klezmer accordionists such as Ilya Shneyveys and Joshua Camp.
Here are Zisl’s latest releases:
Magid book Release Video, Bandcamp Friday & more! The video recording of the “Treasures from Sofia Magid’s Jewish Collection, Volume 1” (Klezmer Tunes from Belarus and Ukraine) is now available on the Center for Traditional Music and Dance website. (See top photo)
It’s an insightful long-form conversation between a constellation of the leading scholars and performers of Klezmer music (Walter Zev Feldman, Christina, Crowder, Michael Lukin, Joshua Horowitz, Cookie Segelstein, and Joel Rubin, moderated by Pete Rushefsky), all of whom have been involved, in one way or another, in study, exploration, and recording of Sofia Magid’s sound archive, obsolete until now, but gradually becoming more available to the world, thanks to all those efforts.
To purchase the book: https://zisl.bandcamp.com/album/magids-klezmer-book-vol-1-concert-key-and-bb-instruments(Available for Concert Key and Bb Instruments) – You can also listen to the original source recordings made by Magid.
In other news, May 2, 2025 is the now-traditional Bandcamp Friday. You can purchase the book and all of his music day, but if you do so on May 2nd between midnight and midnight Pacific Time (3am Eastern Time, 9am May 2nd — 9am of May 3rd CET), your contributions will go directly to the artists.
Photo left: Joshua Camp who is a founding member of many bands including One Ring Zero, Chicha Libre, C.A.M.P.O.S., and Locobeach, has played in projects of various genres over the years, including: country, indie rock, klezmer, latin, and experimental groups as well as composing music for film, dance, theater, commercials, and multi-media installations. As an accordionist, Joshua has been in the recent Broadway productions of “Fiddler on the Roof”, “Three Penny Opera”, and on the soundtrack to the Lincoln Center production of “The Coast of Utopia” by Tom Stoppard.
On Thursday, May 22, 2025 Zisl, his daughter, Dinah Slepovitch, joined by Dmitry Ishenko (bass) and Ilya Shneyveys (accordion) will appear in the celebration of Boris Sandler’s life and work— Mit Yidish Ibern Lebn / A Lifetime of Yiddish, with a world premiere of my new song set to Boris Sandler’s poem, as well as beloved classics. The concert features Evgeny Kissin, Susanna Philips, Efim Zubritsky, and others — at Florence Gould Theater at L’Alliance New York, 55 East 59th St., NYC.
Excerpts from his website: D. Zisl Slepovitch is the musician in residence at Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University. Slepovitch’s theatre, film, and television work includes multiple productions by National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (off-Broadway), Rejoice (dubbed “Eternal Echoes” CD, Sony Classical) with Itzhak Perlman and Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot (PBS, Sony Classical),Defiance movie, and many others. Dr. Slepovitch has taught Yiddish language and culture at The New School, has been a guest artist and visiting lecturer at many universities and cultural organizations worldwide.
He is the founder and artistic director of the Litvakus klezmer band, Zisl Slepovitch Trio, Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble, The Beary Brothers project, Assistant Music Director / Music Director / Music Coordinator, and woodwind player in many productions by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, including “Fiddler on the Roof” in Yiddish directed by Joel Grey (off-Broadway). He also played the clarinet in scenes in the movie, “Defiance”.
Ilya Shneyveys is a freelance musician, player of accordion and various other instruments (percussion, guitars, keys, winds), bandleader, conductor, teacher, arranger, composer and producer of creative content in the field of Yiddish music, traditional and contemporary.
For further information: info@dmitrislepovitch.com
