Sunday, December 5, 2021 - 4pm
$15 youth, $20 Senior/Student, $25 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Veretski Pass, the internationally renowned klezmer super group is LIVE, on stage again! Using archival material and original material, this chamber trio spins melodies, some of them hundreds of years old, into new arrangements and compositions. In the tradition of folk musicians all over the world, these musicians put their own recognizable mark on music from the Jewish Pale of settlement and beyond. In a true collage of Carpathian, Jewish, Rumanian and Ottoman styles, typical suites contain dances from Moldavia and Bessarabia; Jewish melodies from Poland and Rumania; Hutzul wedding music from Carpathian-Ruthenia; and haunting Rebetic aires from Smyrna, seamlessly integrated with original compositions.
YOUR SAFETY IS PARAMOUNT TO OUR OFFERING THIS SHOW: Proof of full vaccination is required to attend, and a properly-worn mask is required at all times. Admission will be limited to 50% of capacity. All performers and staff are fully vaccinated.
Artist Profiles:
Cookie Segelstein, 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, and served on the music faculty at Southern Connecticut State University. She is the founder and director of Veretski Pass, a member of Budowitz, The Youngers of Zion with Henry Sapoznik, has performed with Kapelye, The Klezmatics, Frank London, Klezmer Fats and Swing with Pete Sokolow and the late Howie Leess, Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys, and The Klezmer Conservatory Band.
Cookie has presented lecture demonstrations and workshops on klezmer fiddling all over the world, including at Yale University, University of Wisconsin in Madison, Marshall University in Huntington, West VA, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, University of Oregon in Eugene, Pacific University, SUNY-Cortland, and at Klezmerwochen in Weimar, Germany.
She is a regular staff member at Living Traditions' Klez Kamp, Klezmerquerque, Klez Kanada, Klez California, Klezmer Festival Fürth, Klezfest London, and has been a performing artist at Centrum's Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Wash.
She was featured on the ABC documentary, “A Sacred Noise,” heard on HBO’s “Sex and the City,” appears in the Miramax film, “Everybody’s Fine” starring Robert De Niro, and heard on several recordings, including the Veretski Pass self titled release, Trafik, and The Klezmer Shul, Budowitz Live, the Koch International label with Orchestra New England in The Orchestral Music of Charles Ives, Hazònes with Frank London, A Living Tradition with the late Moldovan clarinetist, German Goldenshteyn, Fleytmuzik with Adrianne Greenbaum, and Budowitz Live.
She is also the publisher of "The Music of..." series of klezmer transcriptions. Active as a Holocaust educator and curriculum advisor, she has been a frequent lecturer at the Women’s Correctional Facility in Niantic, CT. She is on the boards of both the North California Viola Society, and the American String Teacher Association, Bay Area chapter. Cookie is also an Apple Certified Support Professional, and owns and operates The Macmama. Cookie lives in Berkeley, California with her husband, Josh Horowitz, 2 cats, a dog and her occasionally visiting adult children.
Stuart Brotman, bass, basy (cello), tilinca (shepherds’ flute) and baraban (bass drum), has been an accomplished performer, arranger and recording artist in World Music for over 50 years. A founding member of Los Angeles' Ellis Island Band, he has been a moving force in the klezmer revival since its beginning, and has defined klezmer bass (as a large instrument that plays really low and has a Jewish accent).
He holds a B.A. in music with a concentration in Ethnomusicology from the University of California at Los Angeles, and has taught at Klez Kamp, Buffalo on the Roof, the Balkan Music and Dance Workshops, Klezmerquerque, Klez Kanada, Klez California, and numerous European festivals and institutes, including Oxford University, Klezfest London, Yiddish Summer Weimar, Klezmer Festival Fürth, and the Krakow Jewish Festival.
Stu has been recording, touring and teaching New Jewish Music with the world class ensemble, Brave Old World since 1989, and is featured in the PBS Great Performances film and CD, “Itzhak Perlman, in the Fiddler’s House,” and in the 2010 documentary, “Song of the Lodz Ghetto, with the music of Brave Old World.”
Long admired as a versatile soloist and sensitive accompanist in traditional and pop music circles, he has toured and recorded with Canned Heat, Kaleidoscope, and Geoff and Maria Muldaur, and played cimbalom on Ry Cooder’s celebrated recording, “Jazz,” which premiered at Carnegie Hall.
Stu appeared in the Los Angeles production of Joshua Sobol’s “Ghetto,” the San Francisco production of “Shlemiel the First” by Isaac Bashevis Singer, played cimbalom in “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” and contrabass balalaika in “Love Affair.” He produced The Klezmorim's Grammy nominated album, "Metropolis," has recorded with The Klezmorim, Kapelye, Andy Statman, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, Davka, The San Francisco Klezmer Experience, and Khevrisa. Stu can be seen in the 2010 documentary, “Song of the Lodz Ghetto,” and performs with Itzhak Perlman in the 1995 PBS Great Performances film and CD, “Itzhak Perlman, in the Fiddler’s House.” Stuart lives in Berkeley, California.
Joshua Horowitz, 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, was Director of the Yiddish Music Research Project and served as Research Fellow for nine years. He is currently adjunct Professor at Sonoma State University.
Josh is the founder and director of the ensemble Budowitz, and a founding member of Veretski Pass. He has performed and recorded with The Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Theodore Bikel, Ben Goldberg, Joel Rubin, Brave Old World and the late Adrienne Cooper. He was a featured accompanist for Itzhak Perlman on PBS’s 40th Year Celebration of the Great Performance TV series and his own recordings have achieved international recognition.
Joshua is the recipient of numerous awards for his work as both composer and performer. He received the Prize of Honor by the Austrian government for his orchestral composition, “Tenebrae,” and the “Award for Outstanding Talent in Composition” from the City of Graz for his children’s Opera, “Der Wilde Man.” Joshua was twice finalist in the National American ASCAP competition. While teaching at the Graz Academy of Music he was awarded both The David Herzog and Fritz Spielmann Awards, and received ongoing support from Louise M. Davies for his dedication to music creativity and education. Films featuring his music and scoring have been nominated for an Emmy (Defiant Requiem) and have been awarded the Indie Film Fest Award of Merit and second place in The Palm Springs International Film Festival 2013 (Blast Zone) as well as the British Sandford St. Martin Trust Religious Broadcasting Award (Some of my Friends are Jewish).
In 2001, Joshua’s group, Budowitz, was chosen by the Austrian government to represent the country in the International Celebration of World Culture’s held at the “House of the Cultures of The World” in Berlin. His music has also been featured on the International Emmy Award winning German TV series, “Berlin, Berlin.”
Joshua worked as a music therapist in Austria and is a co-founder of the Austrian experimental composer collective, “Die Andere Saite.” He taught Advanced Jazz Theory at Stanford University with the late saxophonist Stan Getz and is a regular teacher at Klez Kamp, Klezmerquerque, Klez Kanada, Klez California and was Music Director of the Klezmer Festival Fürth, Germany for over a decade. His musicological work is featured in four books, including The Sephardic Songbook with Aron Saltiel and The Ultimate Klezmer, and he has written numerous articles on the counterpoint of J.S. Bach. His most recent opera, “Lilith The Night Demon” was premiered by the San Francisco Choral Artists and he will be touring and performing live music to the silent film, “The Yellow Ticket” with Alicia Svigals in 2017. Josh is also currently working with Veretski Pass on Anthony Russell’s Convergence project, to be released soon on CD.
