eMusic Wire - 40 Years in Yiddishland: The Yiddish Book Center celebrates the Klezmer Conservatory Band

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Two enduring pillars of the Yiddish cultural resurgence mark 40th anniversaries

BOSTON - eMusicWire -- In 1979, 24-year old Hankus Netsky began organizing student jam sessions at Boston's New England Conservatory to play the little known Eastern European folk music known as klezmer. The Klezmer Conservatory Band's first gig followed in 1980 at NEC's Brown Hall. Meanwhile, in Western Massachusetts, 24-year-old Yiddish literature graduate student Aaron Lansky launched a campaign to save the world's Yiddish books, hoping to rescue the estimated 70,000 Yiddish books believed to be salvageable, a goal Lansky's Yiddish Book Center surpassed in six months.

On Sunday, January 24 at 2 p.m. EST, The Yiddish Book Center looks back on the history and evolution of the Yiddish revival with The Klezmer Conservatory Band and the Yiddish Book Center: Forty Years in Yiddishland, a video special celebrating the 40th anniversary of these two enduring institutions pivotal in spearheading the unprecedented international resurgence of Yiddish culture. The event is free and open to the public. It will be presented via Zoom and will stream live on the Yiddish Book Center's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/YiddishBookCenter). To reserve a virtual seat in the Zoom audience—which will allow you to submit questions—registration is required:

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The broadcast will feature KCB founder and director, New England Conservatory Contemporary Improvisation Department Co-chair and former Yiddish Book Center vice president for education Netsky and Lansky, the Center's founder and president. It will include an historical overview of the band's history along with video concert footage from over the years, including excerpts from acclaimed productions including "A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden" (1986), "The Fool and the Flying Ship" with Robin Williams (1991), and two PBS Great Performances Specials, "In the Fiddler's House" with Itzhak Perlman (1997) and "Rejoice" (2014) featuring the KCB along with Perlman and Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot. The program will present Netsky and Lansky in conversation with L.A. Times and NPR film critic Ken Turan, along with tribute greetings from well-known KCB collaborators, including Itzhak Perlman and Joel Grey.