Host Janna Sailor interviews violist Jesse Morrison about his newly recorded album of solo viola works entitled "Transitions", soon to be released on all major streaming platforms!
The second, fifth, and sixth movements were featured.
On Sunday, September 14th, I am honored to be on of the hosts for the 10 hour Workers Circle Yiddish Song Marathon, leading the 11:00am—12:00pm block with the theme "Long Live the Yiddish Chorus”. Join me on the livestream!
From The Workers Circle:
Celebrate 125 years of the Workers Circle / Arbeter Ring / אַרבעטער רינג with 125 songs from the Yosl and Chana Mlotek Yiddish Song Collection, a five-volume masterpiece digitized and available to all on yiddishsongs.org.
Over the course of 10 hours, Yiddish performers and culture-makers from across the globe will share their favorite songs and recollections, including rarely seen historical footage of memorable performances from decades ago.
Do you have a favorite song from this incredible collection? Let us know!
This event is free but donations to support our Yiddish programming are welcome.
June 21, 2025 @7:30 PM
First Parish Church
1446 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138
In Person & Livestreamed
Boston Workers Circle's ABV Chorus, led by Musical Director David Derek, will be joined by musical guest, the Boston-based klezmer band, Levyosn to present Building Bridges Through Solidarity, a concert that is sure to inspire and sustain our ongoing work for collective freedom.
A Besere Velt, the vibrant intergenerational Yiddish Chorus of Boston Workers Circle, is excited to announce the annual concert featuring the Boston-based klezmer band, Levyosn.
Levyosn is a new ensemble specializing in Yiddish song and klezmer. The band takes its name from the Ashkenazi Hebrew word for the leviathan, a mythical sea creature traveling the world’s oceans collecting songs, krill, and dreams. Their repertoire includes both traditional music and original songs in Yiddish, Hebrew, Ladino, and English, and draws from adjacent Eastern European folk traditions. Their intricate arrangements and rich vocal harmonies create a unique musical experience.
Yiddish Folksong: Living Passions From A Jewish Past
March 3, 2025 | 5:30-6:45pm
Lehrhaus
425 Washington Street
Somerville, MA 02143USA (map)
This class will introduce students to the world of Yiddish folksong through historic and vibrant ethnographic field recordings from Eastern Europe. This class will be immersive in select musical jewels via their texts (Yiddish with English translation), music content, as well as their social context within Ashkenazic life. The class will be inclusive to all backgrounds with no need to read music necessary (but it wouldn’t hurt!). In this class, students will encouraged to embrace their inner musician, become immersed in the power of the music and sing as a group to connect to the songs!
More info here: https://www.lehr.haus/classes/yiddish-folksong-living-passions-from-a-jewish-past
Tickets here: https://www.showclix.com/tickets/yiddish-folksong-living-passions-from-a-jewish-past-9yp3htu
Music Street presents the premiere of my Duettino for Violin and Cello, a seven minute arrangement of “Children’s Song” and “Counterpoint and Chorale'“, performed by Sophia Szokolay and Alan Toda-Ambaras.
Sunday, February 23 | 7:30pm
Bemis Hall, Lincoln, MA
For more information about the work, visit here:
Take a look & listen to my Partita for Solo Viola (2023-24) by the incomparable Jesse Morrison from my MIT concert this past October.
For more information about the work, visit here:
I was selected as an artist for Byrdcliffe’s Communal Artist Residency Program at the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild and will be in Woodstock from June 28-July 23! In addition to starting on the expansive Yiddish song cycle, I will be working on some partimento projects, finishing the string quartet cycle, and prepping for another wonderful season with A Besere Velt.
Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild
In other news, I finished the last movement of my Partita for Solo Viola, written for the brilliant violist (and my friend), Jesse Morrison. The completion of the total composition comes a year after it began due to 9 months of injury, difficult loss, and an overall challenging year in my life. The story that I try to tell in this work is a sad one, but it's necessary. It is a massive weight off of my shoulders to finish..
from Partita for Viola (2024)
Lastly, I am a proud recipient of a MIT CAST (Council on Arts, Science, & Technology) Fay Chandler Creativity Grant for a concert of my music coming this fall!
As of today, I have accepted the position of permanent, full-time Lecturer at MIT. A position that comes with job security, full benefits, academic freedom, and the greatest students and colleagues in the world to work with. To say that this is a dream come true is a dramatic understatement. I am foolishly happy and it doesn't seem real. My five years as being adjunct at MIT have been some of the happiest and creative of my life, and to think that this is my future is unreal. Many thanks to my amazing colleagues who all supported me through these years. I am forever grateful.
