Intermediate/Advanced Song Workshop

July 18 - 25, 2024 (unstructured “free” day on July 22)
10 a.m. – 1 p.m. & 3 – 6 p.m.

with Efim Chorny, Suzanna Ghergus, Vassilis Ketentzoglou and Eftychia Mitritsa

We are delighted to welcome back Efim Chorny and Suzanna Ghergus to YSW after an absence of several years! Together with Eftychia Mitritsa and Vassilis Ketentzoglou we’ll explore Yiddish, Greek and Moldavian song repertoires, looking for historical connections, musical similarities and differences, and common song subjects. These three cultures weave a complex tapestry in the context of late Ottoman culture, and we’ll try to understand some of the patterns.

We’ll work on certain songs and topics all together in one group, moving to break-out groups for more focused work on topics such as vocal production, pronunciation, ornamentation and music theory. We’ll also work with Yiddish folk songs collected by composer Zev Bitkin during ethnographic expeditions in Moldova in the 1980s-90s. In addition to the final concert, there will be many informal opportunities for performing, singing together and trading songs at evening jam sessions in Weimar’s cafés and singing circles at the OMA café.

Is this workshop the right one for you? If you have several years of experience singing Yiddish, Greek, Moldavian or Romanian traditional songs and you’re interested in exploring how these traditions are connected, then this is the right workshop for you!  It is not necessary to be experienced already  in all of these traditions! If you’re more interested in Yiddish song and not so much on its intercultural connections, then we recommend you take the Introduction to Yiddish Song workshop, even if you’re an advanced singer.

The primary language of instruction in this workshop will be English, with assistance offered in Yiddish, Greek, Romanian, German, Russian and French as needed. This workshop includes one, unstructured “free” day for practicing alone or with others, reviewing materials, or just resting.

We hope you’ll join us for a musical adventure full of surprises, shared moments and inspiration!

Workshop fee: 530 € Standard / 355 € Reduced / 740 € Sponsor / 180 € under 18

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