The Concert Will Feature Rarely Heard Jewish-Themed Classical Music Performed by David Krakauer & Other Acclaimed Artists 

The Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival (PJMF) presents a concert in Weill Recital Hall that honors and celebrates the anniversary of the Zimro Ensemble’s sold-out Carnegie Hall concert 100 years ago. 

The November 4 concert, which is titled David Krakauer: In the Footsteps of the Zimro Ensemble, will feature rarely heard Jewish-themed classical music performed by Grammy-nominated klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer (along with other acclaimed artists). 

The Zimro Ensemble, who the concert is paying homage to, was a sextet of virtuoso musicians who championed early Jewish-themed classical music—their story of one of the immigrant experience as well as one of international musical ambassadorship throughout the early 20th century. In an effort to honor and celebrate this ensemble, the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival will recreate the program of the Zimro sextet that was originally played on the Carnegie Hall stage in 1919. 

The program’s rich, diverse repertoire, at the time, was considered “hot off the press,” and is derived from authentic Eastern European Jewish folk sources. Since then, it has rarely been heard. That’s all set to change with the November 4 concert.

Included in the program, there will be works from Leo Zeitlin, Alexander Krein, Solomon Rowsowsky, and I. Kaplan—all who have been champions of the PJMF’s five-volume album series, Russian Jewish Classics.

The program is a recreation of the 1919 performance, though, it has been modified to fit and entertain a contemporary audience. 

Aron Zelkowicz, the PJMF Founder & Director and cellist, chose to include additional works by several living composers who found inspiration from explicitly Jewish source material—Jan Radzynski’s Three Hebrew Melodies for piano quintet draws on Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and biblical influences; The Divertimento from Gimpel the Fool by David Schiff translates the old world of the Eastern European shtetl through a contemporary-sounding idiom; a pair of Ljova arrangements highlights the appeal of klezmer music and its transcendence over popular and classical music boundaries. 

Krakauer, the Grammy-nominated klezmer clarinetist who is leading the November 4 performance, is considered one of the greatest clarinetists on the planet. He’s been internationally praised as the key innovator in modern klezmer music, as well as a major voice in classical music in general. Krakauer will be joined on stage by a star-studded lineup of award-winning musicians, including, violist Melissa Reardon, violinists Nurit Pacht and Kelly Hall-Tompkins, pianist Kathleen Tagg, and cellist Aron Zelkowicz.

Tickets can be purchased online—prices vary.