Tikkun Olam ~ Together in Song, a concert offering healing, hope, and peace during these challenging times. In a time filled with mistrust and division, Koleinu, Boston’s Jewish Community Chorus, A Besere Velt Yiddish Chorus of Boston Workers Circle, and Mizrahi multi-instrumentalist Yoni Avi Battat, will collaborate to strengthen our connections with the rich, multicultural sounds of our wide Jewish musical heritage.
Hello friends,
I just turned 40! I am excited to share with you a big premiere in the spring and many activities in the Yiddish music world.
On April 18, 2026, soprano Rose Hegele with pianist Elias Dagher will premiere my song cycle Di Freyd fun Yidishn Vort on the New Gallery Concert Series. Started in 2024 and having worked on it with my last two Byrdcliffe Artist Residencies, this work is the culmination of incorporating secular Yiddish poetry into my compositional style and I am very excited to share with you the end result.
In the Yiddish world, I just finished my first semester as a Freed Fellow at KlezKanada where I led the festival chorus and opening festival chorale; also, I was able to perform as a solo singer and with Frank London’s City of God. I am teaching a course at Lehrhaus Somerville on October 29th entitled “Yiddish Music From the Shul to the streets, to the stage (and back again)” as well as a series on Jewish mode in the spring. Each class will touch on specific elements of Yiddish music and I hope you can join me for these musical-cultural discussions (musicians and non-musicians welcome!).
As conductor/music director, A Besere Velt will be performing with internationally renowned Golden Thread Septet May 10, 2026 and in a joint concert with Koleinu and Boston’s Jewish Community Chorus on November 16th at Congregation Kehilath Israel. I will also be returning as faculty at Yiddish New York, conducting the chorus and accompanying the Private Vocal Coaching for Advanced Singers with Judy Bressler (Schedule here).
Follow me on Facebook and Instagram to receive updates about upcoming news, including the commercial release of my Partita for Solo Viola (on Jesse Morrison’s Transitions album), a tour and recording session of my Clarinet Quintet “Oh World, Goodnight” with Del Sol Quartet and Nicholas Davies, and my continued work in Partimento and teaching at MIT.
Check out my full calendar here: https://www.derekdavid.com/calendar
Best,
Derek David
www.derekdavid.com
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: