Yiddish Summer Weimar 2026
Breaking News! (June 5th, 2026)

Dear Friends of Yiddish Summer Weimar!

The full program of YSW 2026 is now online!

Events

You can see all concerts and events under “Events” above or here:

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Festival Week

In addition, all the projects and the full program of the Festival Week are now online and can be found under “Festival Week” above or here:

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Workshops

And workshop registration is still open! You’ll find complete workshop descriptions and artists’ biographies under “Workshops” above. There are workshops for all levels, from introductory to advanced. Everybody is welcome! If you are an intermediate or advanced Yiddish speaker, you can also apply to Yidish-Hoyz and immerse yourself fully in the Yiddish language.

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Caravan Orchestra & Choir

And: our international young musicians’ project Caravan Orchestra & Choir is still open for applicants living in Germany, especially singers!

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Finally, we’re very proud to announce our cooperation this year with the Yiddish Book Center!

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please pay close attention to the description of the workshop levels before you register! For instrumentalists we offer self-tests to get a sense of what we mean by “intermediate” and “advanced.” If you’re not sure whether a workshop is right for you, please contact our office and we’ll try to help.

Thank you, and we hope to see you this summer in Weimar!

Thanks to a generous grant from the German Federal Cultural Foundation, the special topic of YSW 2026 is:

Yiddish Wo:men – Another Story of Modernity

Three new projects will premier in the summer of 2026, conceived and curated by guest curator Dr. Diana Matut:

Togbukh
Rose Shoshana Kahan – A Yiddish Story of Shanghai
A one-woman musical theater piece.

Libretto by Dr. Diana Matut
Music by Dr. Alan Bern
Starring Leila Schütz as Rose Shoshana

Performances:
Sat, Aug 1, 2026: Premiere
Thu, Aug 6, 2026: 2nd performance

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Her:Kol – Yiddish Women’s Song Cultures
New musical settings of Yiddish women’s poetry by contemporary women composer/performers of Yiddish music

Concerts:
Sat, Aug 8, 2026: Premiere

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Yiddish Wo:men and the Story of the Book:
A Different Path to Modernity
An online exhibition exploring the history of Jewish wo:men’s engagement with literature and the medium of the book from the medieval period to the 21st century.
Curated by Alma Roggenbuck & Dr. Diana Matut
Design by Eyal Davidovitch
Yiddish calligraphy by Ella Ponizovsky Bergelson

Events:
Sat, Aug 1, 2026: Project presentation and exhibition opening at OMA

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All three projects will debut during the Festival Week, August 1-8, 2026, which will also feature concerts each evening as well as a daytime program of hands-on mini-workshops for everybody, special intensive workshops, a late-night cabaret, interviews with artists performing in the evening, and more.

Updates & Newsletter

We continuously update our website and social media channels.

You'll find the latest information about all of our projects and activities in our Newsletter Ticker. Sign up today! Subscribe to our mailing list.

Graphic by Sayumi Yoshida /// Photos by Shendl Copitman (Sveta Kundish & Sasha Lurje)

A look back at the history of YSW

>> YSW Archive

Photo Gallery

YSW 25th Anniversary Gala Outdoor Concert

Excerpts from  the Yiddish Summer Weimar 25th Anniversary Gala Concert on the Market Place directly in front of the Weimar City Hall, featuring Tsirk Dobranotsh with Eliana Jacobs & Sam Gurwitt, Alan Bern & Mark Kovnatskiy, Kapela Kotra, Daniel Kahn, Francesca Ter-Berg, Cesar Lerner & Marcelo Moguilevsky, Forshpil, the YSW2025 Ad Hoc Faculty Dance Band, Sayumi Yoshida, and many others. Video by Shendl Copitman.