Newsletter nr. 4
Dear friends,
I am writing to you after a long silence - sorry about that! Autumn and winter are a time for
me to brood upon things this year. Several changes, reflections and new projects are in
preparation at the moment.
Here are the most important things:
New band: A duo with Léa Desaunay with a repertoire of love songs.
The end of my commitment with "Tarafikants"
A trip to Moldova
Upcoming workshops: Belgium (March), Auvergne (April), Normandy with Frank London and Sasha Lurje (May).
Upcoming concerts.
New band: A duo with Léa Desaunay
Mazl Tov! This is a brand new group and project. This project is so recent that I can't even
introduce it by its name, as we don't yet have one (I am looking for ideas if you have any
suggestions). For the moment, we are calling it "Duo Léa Desaunay and Amit Weisberger,
love songs from the east and even further east".
As you may have noticed from this provisional name, this is an intimate little unit. I needed to
create a simple and light project which is easy in terms of organisation as well as technically
and musically. This is how I met Léa, a musician and singer who lives in my village (it's
refreshing to be able to walk to rehearsals!) and who is, like me, passionate about traditional
Eastern European music. She sings, plays the accordion and the guitar whereas I sing and play
violin and mandolin. We sing together in several languages: Greek, Russian, Hungarian,
Hebrew, Bulgarian, Arabic, Romanian as well as Yiddish. All the songs have the subject
of love in common, in all its forms - beautiful, sad, mean, passionate, dreamlike, forced,
rudderless or tragic.
We made our premiere in a restaurant in Savennières, our village, the week before Christmas.
It's great to sing this old repertoire in all these different languages and styles and to expand
out of my pure klezmer and Yiddish habits. Our next concert will be on March 23 in a
friend's house near Angers. (Write to me directly if you'd like to come).
The end of my commitment with "Tarafikants"
Yes, indeed, it's a bit sad, but it's part of the career of a musician - projects are born and others
wane. After nearly 5 years of work together, I've decided to leave the traditional Romanian
group "Tarafikants". I still love this style and repertoire, but it's because I want to travel less
and simplify and lighten my calendar that I needed to stop. Here is a new video that my
colleagues from "Tarafikants" have published recently, obviously without me... I salute you ,
my friends and wish you luck. Multumesc, Norok!
https://www.youtube.com/v=OOmgHW-_YLQ
A trip to Moldova
I have been invited to Chisinau, the Moldovan capital, at the beginning of February, for an
exceptional party in the honour of the excellent Yiddish singer Efim Chorny. Efim is for me
a rare example of an authentic Yiddish traditional singer, the "last Mohican" of Yiddish
singers in Eastern Europe. Efim will gather around him forty-odd Klezmer musicians and
Yiddish singers from all over the world. As well as the joy to meet all these friends and
people, this will be for me the opportunity to get to know this part of the world, a genuine
cradle of Klezmer music. After the party, I'll stay with Efim, his partner, the pianist Susan
Ghergus and some other renowned Klezmer musicians. We'll rehearse with a view to creating
a new project, an international creation.
Upcoming workshops
Belgium (March), Auvergne (April), Normandy with Frank London and Sasha Lurje (May)
As every year, spring is for me, the season of music workshops. Four workshops are on the
horizon:
2-3 March in Brussels (Klezmer for all instruments, intermediate and advanced). For enrolment and information please contact Amandine: amande_seifert@hotmail.com
6-8 March in Ghent (Belgium), in the context of the great festival of traditional violin "Fiddlers on the move". 3 days workshop of Klezmer for all instruments, and klezmer for violin.
27-28 April in Cournon d'Auvergne (near Clermont-Ferrand): 27th: an afternoon of initiation into Yiddish song. 28th: a day of initiation into Klezmer music. With accordionist Jérôme Block and clarinettist Catherine Librini. The day will finish with a Klezmer bal, presented by the "tanz maïster" Pierre Alexis Lavergne. Enrolment and information - Cathy: catherine.librini@yahoo.co.uk
Then, between 30 May and 2 June - the annual "R.D.V KLEZMER" (Rendez-Vous Klezmer) in the magnificent scenery of the "Tapis Vert" in Normandy. Four days of Klezmer madness and Yiddish song with 8 contributors from 5 countries, most notably the New York trumpet-player Frank London and the Latvian singer Sasha Lurje - an instrument workshop (2 levels), song, dance, jam sessions, concerts, a dance evening and other surprises every night... All the information is on: https://drive.google.com And the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/268571190499729 Enrol as soon as possible as places are limited.
Upcoming concerts:
27 January – TRIO KABARETALE, 5pm, PEILLAC (“Pomme d’Orange” festival). Info & booking: culturepeillac@wanadoo.fr
15 February – TRIO KABARETALE, 8pm, LUZY (festival « Fête du violon »). feteduviolon.com
16 February – YIDDISHE FANTAZYE, 8.30pm, MISSILLAC, Espace Garenne.
24 February – TRIO KABARETALE, 5.30pm, Bourg des Comptes (“Entre Là” festival). Info & booking: lespoissonsmarcheurs@gmail.com
1 March – Film screening “Le Voyage des Klezmorim”, followed by a Klezmer jam, 7pm. UJPB, BRUSSELS, Belgium. https://upjb.be/
9 March – Faculty concert, “Fiddlers on the move” festival, 8pm, GHENT, Belgium.
23 March – Duo Léa and Amit, house concert (49). Info & booking: amit.weisberger@gmail.com
27 April – Duo Jérome Block and Amit (accordéon, violon), 9pm Chanonan (Auvergne) . Info & booking: catherine.librini@yahoo.co.uk
28 April – Klezmer dance, 4.30pm, Cournon d’Auvergne, music school. Info & booking: catherine.librini@yahoo.co.uk
See you soon, here or there!
Love,
Amit
