Music Performance,
Big Jewish Showcase: With a Taste of Shavuos
- Genre EMO -- Jewish-Israel - MUSIC
- URL
- Biography KlezKidz and KidsChorus At a KlezKidz concert, you’ll hear the wail of clarinets, the rousing sounds of Israeli dance music and the sweet melodies of Sephardic romanzas. You’ll see bottles balanced on the heads of dancers, try some bottle dancing yourself and learn easy Yiddish lyrics! Farvos nit, why not? This intergenerational group of musicians, singers and dancers presents interactive concerts of World Jewish Music and mirth. What started out twelve years ago with a few kids, augmented by parents who “used to play” has grown into a 30-piece ensemble with regular rehearsals and a dozen yearly concerts. The group features instrumentalists between the ages of eight and 80. Performing alongside KlezKidz is KidsChorus, a group of youthful singers, who step into the audience to teach easy dances. The musicians are sponsored by Temple Beth Am, a Reform synagogue, in Seattle’s North End. Director Wendy Marcus drew on her many years performing with the Northwest’s pioneer klezmer revival band, The Mazeltones, to create repertoire for KlezKidz. She turned to fellow Mazeltone and spouse, Shawn Weaver, for arrangements easy enough for up-and-coming musicians and interesting enough for audiences old and young. KlezKidz and KidsChorus serve as musical ambassadors for the Jewish people to diverse Northwest audiences. With Westward Jewish migration and a growing number of Jewish aged in senior residential facilities in the Puget Sound region, there is great interest in having KlezKidz and KidsChorus perform for the Jewish and non-Jewish elderly. There is no audition process for KlezKidz and Beth Am membership is not required to participate. “I would have loved to have had this when I was growing up,” Marcus noted. “So I do it for my kids and everyone else’s kids too!” Contact information: Wendy Marcus Music Director Temple Beth Am 2632 NE 80th St. Seattle, WA 98115 206-525-0915 wendy@templebetham.org
