On Monday, January 31, we hosted a klezmer party featuring Harvard Ph.D. candidate in historical musicology Uri Schreter, klezmer educator Rebecca MacInnes of the band Mamaliga, and Isabel Frey, a visiting scholar from the University of Music & Performing Arts in Vienna. The program focused on Jewish tunes from Poland, including “Pearl from Warsaw,” from which the band took its name. Our chairs filled up quickly and several dozens of Yiddish and Polish language students, visiting scholars, and other members of the Harvard community danced, stood, sat on the floor, sampled traditional foods, and sang along with the band calling for peace in Ukraine.
This event was organized by Yiddish Preceptor Dr. Sara Feldman and Polish Preceptor Iryna Kovalchuk, with support from the Center for Jewish Studies and the Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures. We owe special thanks to Dr. Rachel Rockenmacher, Maura Gould and the staff of the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East for ensuring that all ran smoothly and that we could share Yiddish music not as an artifact, but a joyful expression of culture for new generations.
