What makes In the Fiddlers House extraordinary is the way in which Itzhak Perlman, whose career has focused on classical music, embraces his Jewish musical heritage and collaborates with the top talents of the contemporary klezmer scene. Join local scholar Miriam Isaacs and musician Vladimir Fridman to explore this work, as well as a general look at the revival of Yiddish religious, folk and theater music and how this musical form speaks to audiences today. The presenters will share how they have each engaged with the tradition in different countries, and illuminate how Jewish musical traditions and especially Yiddish songs find expression across cultural and geographic spaces.
This event is part of Strathmore’s Windows series of performances and accompanying programs. Learn more
Meet the Panelists
Panelist
Miriam Isaacs
Miriam Isaacs holds a doctorate in linguistics from Cornell University. She has published on Yiddish culture and literature and taught at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Her scholarly work has been in the field of sociolinguistics, on language and culture and language maintenance. She has published on Hasidic Yiddish, on Yiddish literature in translation. She has taught internationally. Born in a DP camp in Germany, and raised in Montreal and Brooklyn, she is a native speaker of Yiddish with language skills in English, French, German, Modern Hebrew, and Russian.
Her research and publishing has been on the question of language loyalty in the Displaced Persons Camps. She has also researched an important music archive. The Stonehill collection of 1948 –postwar songs. She has held a Fulbright Fellowship in Sweden and Fellowships at the US Holocaust Museum and the National Yiddish Book Center. Most importantly, Miriam Isaacs has taught Yiddish in many venues, at university level and in adult contexts. She has lectured and taught in Sweden, Czech Republic, Israel, Lithuania, and Germany.
Panelist
Vladimir Fridman
Vladimir Fridman was born and raised in Moscow, Russia, with music a major part of his life. He was active in Moscow theaters and in a Philharmonic orchestra, and appeared on Russian TV. With Jazz Balalaika Group, Vladimir toured Europe, the Middle East and Japan and released four albums.
Since his arrival to the United States in 1998, Vladimir frequently performs solo and with leading musicians as member of Music Pilgrim Trio and TransAtlantic Duo. He has recorded solo and group albums, one of which, Ole Guapa with Gypsy Strings, won a WAMMIE award. Vladimir sings in English, Yiddish and Russian. Students from his guitar studio have received awards at the Maryland State Guitar Competition.