Ongoing: Once again curated by Aaron Alexander, the New York Klezmer Series resumes on Tuesday nights at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue (30 W. 68th St.) Among the groups already booked are Klezmerfest! w/Greg Wall, Jordan Hirsch, Zev Zions (March 10), the Sy Kushner Jewish Music Ensemble (April 7) and Yale Strom’s Hot Pstromi (May 5). Keep checking the calendar at http://aaronalexander.com/wp/concert-schedule.
Feb. 22: A fun Pre-Purim Yiddish musical program, Lorin Sklamberg and Rob Schwimmer, performing Yiddish songs with the theremin, and magician Shane Baker. I think it’s safe to say you won’t see another Purim event quite like this one. Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center (3301 Bainbridge Ave., Bronx), at 1:30 p.m. (917) 930-0295.
March 1: The Sway Machinery, CD launch party and performance. Guitar god Jeremiah Lockwood and his merry band celebrate their new album “Purity and Danger” in Williamsburg. Baby’s All Right (146 Broadway, Brooklyn), at 6 p.m. (718) 599-5800.
March 8: “Sounds Jewish, Doesn’t It?” Isabelle Ganz, lead singer for Alhambra, turns to Tin Pan Alley and Broadway for her new project. Accompanied by pianist Jed Distler she will survey the intertwined Jewish roots of Yiddish folk song, klezmer and the Great American Songbook. Cornelia St. Café (29 Cornelia St.), 6 p.m., corneliastreetcafe.com.
March 25: “From the Ashes: Sylvan Winds Presents Women Composers of the 20th Century.” The Sylvan Winds ensemble performs a program in memory of the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, featuring works by American women composers written from the early 20th century to the present, including selections from Elizabeth Swados’ oratorio “From the Fire,” and concluding with a marvelous transcription of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8, a passionate protest of injustice. Museum at Eldridge Street (12 Eldridge St.), at 7 p.m. eldridgestreet.org.
March 31: National Yiddish Theatre/Folksbiene’s Centennial Gala Concert. Appropriate celebration for a century of performers, this major event stars Itzhak Perlman, performing from his highly acclaimed “In the Fiddler’s House” album. The gala, held in collaboration with UJA-Federation of New York, will also include internationally leading klezmer musicians conducted by music director Hankus Metsky. They include vocalist Michael Alpert, accordionist Alan Bern, clarinetist Kurt Bjorling, vocalist Judy Bressler, string bass player and cellist Stu Brotman, trumpeter Frank London, vocalist and accordionist Lorin Sklamberg, clarinetist Andy Statman and the Klezmer Conservatory Band. In short, a real klezmer supergroup in a one-time only gathering. Carnegie Hall (57th Street and Seventh Avenue). (212) 213-2120 x203.
May 5: Zion 80 in weekly residence at Joe’s Pub. Jon Madof and his hard-charging synthesis of Fela and Reb Shlomo will be performing every Tuesday night until June 9, with an array of special guests. Joe’s Pub (425 Lafayette St.), 9:30 p.m. publictheater.org/en/Joes-Pub-at-the-Public.
May 7: Deborah Strauss and Jake Shulman-Ment in Concert. The cream of klezmer fiddlers, Strauss and Shulman-Ment will be playing a mixture of traditional klezmer violin melodies, composed pieces, both religious and secular, by forgotten or unknown composers, and their own original compositions. Museum at Eldridge Street (12 Eldridge St.), 7 p.m. eldgridgestreet.org.
May 31: “From Paris to Peretz: A Musical Tour.” The spring concert of the Jewish People’s Philharmonic Chorus will feature something truly memorable — a Beethoven world premiere. As artistic director Binyumen Schaechter explained in an e-mail, “We are singing a brand new choral adaptation of (as Beethoven composed it) a purely instrumental section of the last movement of his 9th Symphony. And the words? I. L. Peretz’s poem, “Ale mentshn zaynen brider” (All people are brothers), which was inspired by, and written to fit the rhythm of, the ‘Ode to Joy’ melody. … We took a purely instrumental section, in which the melody was restated four times — first in unison, then in simple harmony, then in more complex harmony, and then with a big climax — and we’ve re-written it for Chorus.” Symphony Space (95th Street and Broadway). (212) 864-5400, symphonyspace.org/home.
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