Zoë Aqua and Ira Temple will open the concert with some new compositions as well as old favorites, followed by Cookie Segelstein and Joshua Horowitz of the acclaimed Bay-Area band Veretski Pass.  With its colorful instrumentation, unique arrangements and compositions, this seminal duo carries on the ancient tradition of klezmer musicians, playing music of all kinds, but with a recognizably Jewish sound. Get ready for some enthralling and beautiful tunes! 
Register for this event

ABOUT THE MUSICIANS

Cookie Segelstein and Joshua Horowitz are founding members of Veretski Pass, which offers a unique and exciting combination of virtuosic musicianship and raw energy that has excited concertgoers across the world.

Cookie, violin and viola, received her Masters degree in viola from The Yale School of Music in 1984. Until moving to California in 2010, she was principal violist in Orchestra New England and assistant principal in The New Haven Symphony. Cookie has presented lecture demonstrations and workshops on klezmer fiddling all over the world.

Joshua, chromatic button accordion, cimbalom and piano, received his Masters degree in Composition and Music Theory from the Academy of Music in Graz, Austria, where he taught music theory and served as Research Fellow and Director of the Klezmer Music Research Project for eight years. Joshua has performed and recorded with Itzhak Perlman, The Vienna Chamber Orchestra, and Theodore Bikel.

Playing in an unbound, energetic village style, this veteran duo plays Jewish Instrumental music of historical Eastern Europe; melodies from Ukraine, Carpathian-Ruthenia, Bessarabia and Rumania. Much of this rare music has been gleaned from field recordings gathered by the musicians themselves in over 14 countries spanning over 20 years. With its colorful instrumentation, unique arrangements and compositions, this seminal duo carries on the ancient tradition of klezmer musicians, playing music of all kinds, but with a recognizably Jewish sound.

Their music has won numerous awards, among them BBC’s Critics Circle award for best CD, the Belgian Gandalf Award for Best Concert and The Viennese Fritz Spielmann Award. They have twice been chosen as ambassadors representing traditional Jewish Music of Eastern Europe for the German World Exhibition of Klezmer History (Klezmerwelten) and have headlined the Jewish Music Festival of the University of London. They have been featured in concerts worldwide at the most prestigious venues, such as the Amsterdam Concertgebeouw and the Vienna Concert Hall and their CDs have repeatedly been on the 10-best recordings lists of journalists.

Cookie and Joshua live in Berkeley, California with their dog, and their occasionally visiting adult children.  

Zoe Aqua and Ira Temple have collaborated as founders of Tsibele, the radical-traditional klezmer band formed in Brooklyn in 2015.

Zoë Aqua is a violinist, educator, and composer living in Brooklyn, NY. In 2017, she was the full-time understudy for the Klezmatics' Lisa Gutkin in Indecent on Broadway. She is a sought-after player in many klezmer bands around the NY area.

Ira Khonen Temple is a multi-instrumentalist, music director, and embedded cultural organizer living in Brooklyn, NY. Recent credits include accordionist for Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish off Broadway, and music director of Indecent at the Weston Playhouse.

WE HOPE YOU'LL JOIN US!

Sign up below to attend An Evening of Klezmer Violin and Accordion, the last in a series of four Celebration of Yiddish Culture events offered by B’nai Havurah's Year of Learning and sponsored by the CBG Family Fund.

All four of the Celebration of Yiddish Culture events are FREE, and voluntary donations are welcome from those able to support the musicians/speakers and our small congregation. Thank you!

YIDDISH SONGS OF LOVE AND HOPE, January 23, 2021, with Deborah Strauss and Cantor Jeff Warschauer and Denver musicians Hal and Annie Aqua.  For video recording click here.

YIDDISH CULTURE EVENTS ARE HAPPENING EVERYWHERE!
Check out this list of additional Yiddish-themed events and resources.