The Myths and the Realities of the Klezmer Clarinet

Gastvortrag in englischer Sprache mit D. Zisl Slepovitch (New York City)

Clarinet is perhaps a most representative instrument, along with the violin, in the hierarchy of the instrumental nomenclature of the klezmer music as seen by the modern audiences. In his talk, Zisl Slepovitch attempts to review the phenomenon and the art of klezmer clarinet and clarinetists in historical-sociological context. He will discuss key features of the old time and modern world performers, drawing distinctions and parallels between the two and attempting to define the multidimensional reality (including relevant revivalist movements) in which klezmer clarinetists, from novices to masters, function in the multi-tiered cultural environments. The talk will be illustrated by audiovisual materials and Slepovitch’s live performance.

Dr. D. Zisl Slepovitch is a native of Minsk, Belarus, who has resided in the United States since 2008. He is a musicologist and ethnomusicologist (Ph.D., Belarusian State Academy of Music, 2006); a multi-instrumentalist klezmer, classical, and improvisational musician (woodwinds, keyboards); a composer, arranger, conductor, a music and Yiddish educator. Slepovitch is a founding member of the critically acclaimed klezmer collective Litvakus and Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble. He has served in multiple performance and creative roles in numerous productions by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (New York), State Jewish Theatre (Bucharest), He serves as the Musician-in-Residence at Yale University’s Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, and in that capacity produced three critically acclaimed records. Among Slepovitch’s numerous theatre, film, and TV credits are the Defiance movie, Eternal Echoes album (Sony Classical), Rejoice with Itzhak Perlman and Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot (PBS), and Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (off-Broadway). @zislepovitch zislepovitch.com

Der Vortrag findet in Seminarraum AW U 0213 statt.