Michael Alpert
Encyclopedia
Michael Alpert is a klezmer
singer and multi-instrumentalist and has been called a key figure in the klezmer revival of the 1970s
and 1980s
.
He has played in a number of groups since that time, including Brave Old World
, the New York Bandura Ensemble
, Khevrisa, Kapelye, and also with clarinetist David Krakauer
and bandurist
Julian Kytasty
. He is also a noted teacher of Yiddish folkdance and has worked to see dance retake its traditional place in klezmer music.
Alpert has travelled in Eastern Europe
and the Americas to find older musicians, and wrote an article in American Klezmer : its roots and offshoots about an elderly klezmer drummer called Ben Bazyler. (readable here on Google Books.) He can also partially be credited for reviving the use of rhythm "sekund" fiddling in klezmer music, an important aspect of traditional klezmer string bands which had fallen out of use in the revival.
He was also musical director of the PBS special Itzhak Perlman
: In the Fiddler's House.
Fiddler on the Move by Mark Slobin. p. 30.
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
singer and multi-instrumentalist and has been called a key figure in the klezmer revival of the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
and 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
.
He has played in a number of groups since that time, including Brave Old World
Brave Old World
Brave Old World is an international klezmer band formed in 1989.Members hail from the US and Germany. The Washington Post called Brave Old World "the revival's first supergroup. Every player is a virtuoso"....
, the New York Bandura Ensemble
New York Bandura Ensemble
The New York Bandura Ensemble is a New York based music ensemble currently led by singer and bandurist Julian Kytasty. The ensemble is devoted to various forms and styles of Ukrainian music, from Renaissance and Baroque, through authentic folk, to contemporary and avantgarde music, presenting...
, Khevrisa, Kapelye, and also with clarinetist David Krakauer
David Krakauer
David Krakauer is an American clarinetist. He is a graduate of the High School of Music & Art, class of 1974. He is mostly known for his klezmer compositions. He became involved with klezmer music in the late 1980s while working as a classical musician, joining The Klezmatics...
and bandurist
Bandurist
A bandurist is a person who plays the Ukrainian plucked string instrument known as the bandura.-Types of performers:There are a number of different types of bandurist who differ in their paricular choice of instrument, the specific repertoire they play and manner in which they approach their...
Julian Kytasty
Julian Kytasty
Julian Kytasty is a Ukrainian-American composer, singer, kobzar, bandurist, flute player and conductor. He was born January 23 1958 in Detroit, Michigan, in the family of refugees....
. He is also a noted teacher of Yiddish folkdance and has worked to see dance retake its traditional place in klezmer music.
Alpert has travelled in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
and the Americas to find older musicians, and wrote an article in American Klezmer : its roots and offshoots about an elderly klezmer drummer called Ben Bazyler. (readable here on Google Books.) He can also partially be credited for reviving the use of rhythm "sekund" fiddling in klezmer music, an important aspect of traditional klezmer string bands which had fallen out of use in the revival.
He was also musical director of the PBS special Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-born violinist, conductor, and instructor of master classes. He is regarded as one of the pre-eminent violinists of the 20th and early-21st centuries.-Early life:...
: In the Fiddler's House.
External links
- Michael Alpert.com
- Interviews with some klezmer revivalists including Alpert
- In the Fiddler's House link on Amazon.com
Sources
Fiddler on the Move by Mark Slobin. p. 30.