Jewish Klezmer Music Concert at Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – Do you know how to dance to the riotous, celebratory music of a Jewish wedding? Have you ever heard it? Members of the Holy Cross community, the greater Worcester Jewish community and the general public are invited to attend a free concert by the world-renowned Klezmer Conservatory Band on Sunday, Feb. 10, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Ballroom of the Hogan Campus Center.

The concert will consist of music, dancing and educational opportunities, where the audience will learn about the cultural context of klezmer music. This particular form of music draws from a wide variety of sources, including the songs of itinerant medieval Jewish minstrels, Eastern European folk traditions, synagogue chant, American blues and Jazz.

Now entering its 17th season, the Klezmer Conservatory Band has performed all over the U.S., at such venues as Radio City Music Hall, the Ravinia Festival, the Saratoga Music Festival and the Mann Music Center. The band regularly tours Europe, having appeared in the first-ever International Yiddish Festival in Krakow, Poland, and at the Dranouter Folk Festival in Belgium. They have also performed at Australia's Adelaide Festival and New Zealand's International Festival of the Arts.

The event is co-sponsored by the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, the Kraft-Hiatt Fund for Jewish-Christian Understanding, the Jewish Federation of Central Massachusetts and the Office of Student Programs and Leadership Development.

The Kraft-Hiatt Fund is endowed through gifts to Holy Cross and Brandeis University (Waltham, Mass.) from the late Worcester philanthropist Jacob Hiatt, and his daughter and son-in-law, Myra and Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots. The goal of the fund is to encourage greater understanding between Christians and Jews.