Musical Ensembles

	Musical ensembles
			Avishai Cohen, brilliant bassist, composer and band leader, has been called "Jazz visionary of global proportions" by Downbeat Magazine and was declared one of the '100 Most Influential Bass Players of the 20th Century' by Bass Player Magazine.

			Pharaoh's Daughter - Lead by Basya Schechter, the band has been playing their unique brand of cutting edge contemporary singer/songwriter material mixed with Klezmer, Middle Eastern, Indian and Balkan influences.

			Giora Feidman, one of the most important interpreters of contemporary music, has over the decades evolved into a phenomenon. He is an artist, a discoverer and a sensation, a tireless ambassador with an act of undiminished appeal. It is difficult to describe what he does on stage with his clarinet, how it laughs, cries and narrates, captivating his listeners, constantly amazing them with something new.

			HaBanot Nechama are a live band in the deepest sense, having built themselves a huge and very dedicated following before releasing even one single. Reggae influences, soul-folk melodies, one of a kind harmonies and impeccable song-craft are highlights of this perfect showcase of how English and Hebrew can co-exist.

			Diego Urcola, trumpet, is is an outstanding Jazz performer, composer and bandleader, having toured the world and recorded with such masters as Wynton Marsalis, Joe Henderson, Slide Hapmton, Wayne Shorter and Jimmy Heath. He is a member of Avishai Cohen's International Vamp Band, and in 2001 he received the Latin Grammy Award as a member of the Paquito D'Rivera Quintet. He has released two albums with his own band.

			The Strauss/Warschauer Duo draws from Klezmer, Yiddish, Hasidic and liturgical traditions. Violin, guitar, mandolin and accordion combinations create a dynamic atmosphere and exceptional range of feeling - from delicately refined to foot-stomping exhuberance.

			The Gerard Edery Ensemble explores several of the world's musical traditions. Commanding songs in some dozen languages, these gifted musicians bring an ancient repertoire to the contemporary stage.

			Clarinetist and saxophonist Alex Kontorovich was born in Russia and currently resides in New York City. Alex's newest project, Deep Minor, features all of his original compositions and experiments with an improvisatory harmonic and structural interplay between jazz and klezmer genres.

			Howard Leshaw and The Golden Land Orchestra - Top-notch New York City jazz players achieve a unique blend of imagination, ethnic integrity and straight-forward virtuosity that regularly leaves audiences breathlessly begging for more. Klezmer and much more!

			Two Faiths One Voice - Maria Krupoves and Gerard Edery present a beautiful fusion of music drawn from their respective roots in the Christian and Jewish cultures. By weaving together folk songs, chants, and prayers from across centuries and across Europe they show that the human need for spiritual dimension defies all boundaries of time and place.

			Nikitov - Yiddish songs meet Gypsy Jazz. Led by charismatic Yiddish song maven Niki Jacobs, this brilliant acoustic quartet has riveted audiences in Europe and the US with its originality and driving Eastern European rhythm. A rising star on the World Music scene.

			Divahn seeks to underscore the interconnectedness of diverse Middle Eastern cultures and religions. The group captures the breadth and diversity of Mizrakhi and Sephardic music throughout the centuries, while simultaneously creating and redefining innovative directions for the music in the present.

			Soulfarm's textured wall of sound is nothing if not unique, and offers those rarest of qualities in contemporary music: multigenerational and cross-cultural appeal. A heaping helping of international flavors, many of them Middle Eastern in origin.

			Klezmer Mountain Boys - Virtuoso clarinetist Margot Leverett joins forces with today's stars of klezmer and bluegrass to explore the shared musical spirit of two genres literally worlds apart. Appalachian and southern fiddle tunes meet klezmer melodies from pre-war Russia and Eastern Europe. The resulting medleys and improvisations are at once raw, funny, melancholic and footstomping.

			Sons of Sepharad - Three stars join their voices to weave centuries-old vibrant melodies with the pulsating rythms of today. Mystical ballads, hymns of celebration, ancient melodies and liturgical songs in eight languages.

			The Afro-Semitic Experience is a band of African-American and Jewish-American musicians dedicated to preserving, promoting and expanding the rich cultural heritage of the Jewish and African Diasporas. With interpretations from the rich traditions of our two cultures: Gospel, Klezmer, Nigunim, Spirituals, Bebop and Swing, they also frame the music, telling stories about what the pieces mean, how they relate to us as individual members of the community, and how they reflect upon the relations between Blacks and Jews.

			A soul-stirring musical journey, The Spirit of Sepharad: From Casbah to Caliphate traces the unique migration of Sepaharadic music from medieval Spain, across North Africa, to the Middle East. Combining music, dance and illuminating projections, this dynamic mixed-media performance brings to life all the rich cultural strains that influenced Sepharadic/Mizrahi Jews.

			Romashka! Lithuanian-born singer Inna Barmash fronts a band of multifaceted American musicians and one half-Romanian-half-Japanese madcap accordionist, who bring years of Klezmer, Jazz and Rock experience to their Gypsy musical journey.