Join me for an afternoon of Yiddish Songs of Social Change, featuring the Golden Thread Ensemble:

May 10, 2026 @2:00 PM
The Armory
191 Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02143
In Person & Livestreamed

Sing Out, Fight Back! Yiddish Songs of Social Change
A Besere Velt Yiddish Chorus of Boston Workers Circle
Derek David, Music Director
and Golden Thread Ensemble

Golden Thread Ensemble is a pioneering new chamber-klezmer group led by Craig Judelman, featuring The Klezmatics’ frontman Lorin Sklamberg, and a virtuosic string quintet made up of leading klezmer musicians. Combining a deep grounding in klezmer, Yiddish theater, classical and contemporary art music, this new project has already received rave reviews at North America’s premiere klezmer festivals for its program celebrating the power of music to carry and communicate the human experience, and its critical role in the important struggles for improvements in the living and working conditions for millions of people over the last 150 years.

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.

Please join me as I direct ‘A Besere Velt’, the chorus of the Boston Workmen’s Circle for their first concert in three years, featuring a program of old and new Yiddish songs with guest artists Polina Shepherd and Lorin Sklamberg.

A Besere Velt will perform my four arrangements (and adaptations of arrangements) of various Yiddish songs arranged for the chorus and soloists. These include worker's songs, folksongs, and a Yiddish Version of I am open by Holly Near. I have also adopted two beautiful Yiddish choral works from the 30's for our choir, one of which is a Mayday song. Additionally, I have created Yiddish texts to two exquisite canons for the chorus by Clemens non Papa and William Byrd.