The brand-new YAM Ensemble brings together young professional musicians living in Germany, Greece and Turkey to explore the rich musical connections between East European Jewish and Ottoman music. “YAM,” which means “sea” in Yiddish and Hebrew, is an homage to the intertwined musical traditions of the region around the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, including Greco-Turkish, Middle Eastern and Yiddish music. 

After a rehearsal week in the "Music Village" Agios Lavrentios near Thessaloniki, the 20-piece ensemble, directed by multi-instrumentalist and leading klezmer musician and conductor Ilya Shneyveys, comes to Thuringia to presents a program that celebrates each of these distinct yet interconnected traditions. 

Get ready for an energetic concert from a young, enthusiastic new generation of musicians who are bearing these musical traditions into the future.