Yale Strom and Elizabeth Schwartz lecture-concert “Sounds from Travels”
On Wednesday, 14 May, at 6 p.m., in the Event Space of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania (3rd floor) a lecture-concert “Sounds from Travels”, featuring American klezmer musicians, violinist, professor Yale Strom and vocalist Elizabeth Schwartz, will take place. This is another event organised by the Centre for Judaic Studies to celebrate the Jewish musical heritage of klezmer music.
In addition to being a well-known violinist, Dr. Y. Strom is also a composer, lecturer, film-maker, book author, photographer and playwright. His ethnographic expeditions in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans have yielded a wealth of valuable material on Jewish music, the influence of Roma and Jewish communities on each other, and their musical and linguistic links. Strom uses his research material both in the repertoire of his klezmer band “Hot Pstromi” and in academic books on the history of klezmer music, its performers and performance art.
In 2023, on the occasion of Vilnius’ 700th birthday, the Centre for Judaic Studies, together with its partners, organised a “Mini Klezfest” – a concert and a lecture featuring Y. Strom. Two years later, Yale is again in Vilnius, this time with his wife Elizabeth, with whom he performs both as a duo and in the band “Hot Pstromi”. So, we invite you to an event where you will have the opportunity to hear a story about klezmer music and Roma-Jewish musical juxtapositions. The story will be complemented by songs and melodies collected from informants during ethnographic research in the Carpathians and Bessarabia, performed by Y. Strom and E. Schwartz.
The event will be held in English.
Yale Strom is one of the most famous names in klezmer music in the United States. Elizabeth Schwartz is the lead singer of “Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi”, performing songs in Yiddish, Hebrew and Ladino. Yale and Elizabeth’s duo combines klezmer music with Hasidic melodies (nigunim), traditional Roma music, Balkan and Sephardic motifs.
