New Yiddish Song
Contemporary Repertoire & Yiddish Songwriting

July 24 - 31, 2025; unstructured (free) day: July 28
10 a.m. - 1 p.m. | intermediate
3 - 6 p.m. | advanced

with Daniel Kahn & Isabel Frey

This workshop explores both contemporary Yiddish song repertoire and the craft of creating new Yiddish songs. Both the intermediate and the advanced workshop will start each day with Part 1 and then move on to Part 2.

Part 1:
Mittsaytlerishe Yidishe Lid-landshaften / Contemporary Yiddish Songscapes
Explore the radical and deeply-rooted work of some of the 21st century's master Yiddish song-makers, from the living and growing repertoires of artists such as Josh Waletzky, Sarah Gordon, Michael Alpert, Efim Chorny, and many others (including the workshop teachers, Isabel Frey and Daniel Kahn) to the work of master songwriters of the recent past, such as Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman, Arkady Gendler, and Adrienne Cooper.

The intermediate course will focus on pieces ideal for zingerayen (sing-alongs) and choruses. The advanced group will dive into individual interpretation.

Part 2:
Lid-Arbeter Varshtat / Song-Worker Workshop
Are you a singer, writer, composer, translator, adapter, mixer, collector, tinkerer, maker, faker, taker, or breaker of Yiddish songs? This workshop will focus on polyglot performance, “tradaptation”, multi-musical-mashup, new song forging, poetic songification, and other modes of border-crossing in modern song work.

The intermediate course will focus on adapting existing material as a gateway into the creation of new Yiddish songs. The advanced group will focus on writing new Yiddish lyrics and music.

Please note!
This is a 3-hour workshop. It can only be booked in combination with another 3-hour workshop during the same time period, not separately. Please select a second 3-hour workshop during the same time period.
The fee for two 3-hour workshops is the same as for a standard 6-hour workshop.

Workshop fee for two 3-hour workshops:
530 € Standard / 355 € Reduced / 740 € Sponsor / 180 € under 18