Klezmer Master Class
January 2003

The class was taken by Deborah Strauss and Jeff Warschauer and was held this time Cross Street Chapel in central Manchester.

We had a good turn out with about 35 musicians and our ads in the Jewish Telegraph attracted a goodly number of people new to us.

There were half a dozen each of fiddles and clarinets, several plucked instruments, keyboards and a number of percussionists.

Deborah and Jeff's teaching style uses lots of singing and dancing and Deborah kicked off the workshop without ado by teaching us to sing a new tune before we played it on our instruments. Before we knew it we were dancing it and singing it at the same time.

The tune we learned is available on our repertoire page.

Everyone joined in - including people of the classical persuasion who were quickly convinced that they could play a tune without the aid of sheet music.

Jeff split us up into two groups and had us clapping bulgar cross rhythms - stressing the importance of accurate timing - and after this the group of rather disparate musicians sounded a lot like a decent band. Amazing! A promising sign for the Klezmer Dodgy Big Band Concert in the early summer.

Jeff and Deborah have a CD out soon, I have had a cheeky preview and recommend that you all go out and buy it when it is released.

Hope they are back again soon. Brilliant.

Deborah Strauss and Jeff Warschauer biogs

Deborah Strauss and Jeff Warschauer are two of the most active and well-respected performers and teachers in the klezmer and Yiddish music scene. They are members of the Klezmer Conservatory Band and have performed with violinist Itzhak Perlman on film and in concert. As the Strauss/Warschauer Duo, they have performed to overwhelming acclaim in such diverse venues as the Amsterdam International Yiddish Festival, the Jewish Culture Festival in Cracow, the Ashkenaz Festival in Toronto, and the Folksbiene Yiddish Theater in New York City. They lead workshops and classes throughout North America and Europe and are on the faculty of the KlezKamp and KlezKanada Yiddish culture programs.

Deborah Strauss

Deborah (violin, accordion, vocals) is one of the finest practitioners of traditional Jewish violin today. She has appeared on numerous recordings and is a member of the Chicago Klezmer Ensemble. Strauss studied violin at Rutgers University and ethnomusicology at the University of Chicago.

Jeff Warschauer

Jeff Warschauer (guitar, mandolin, vocals) is known internationally as one of the foremost exponents of the klezmer mandolin, as an innovator in the development of a klezmer guitar style, and as an expressive Yiddish singer. Warschauer, a graduate of the New England Conservatory, is also a composer whose music has been heard in films and theater productions, on Public Radio International and HBO. Jeff's solo CD, 'The Singing Waltz: Klezmer Guitar and Mandolin', has received widespread critical acclaim.

 

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