Violinist Yale Strom (USA) and his klezmer band “Hot Pstromi” will be performing on Thursday, July 10, at 7:30 p.m. at the Georg Büchner bookstore at Ziegenmarkt in Bremen’s Steintor.

It is the only concert by the American-Czech ensemble in northern Germany on this tour. “We are delighted that we have succeeded in bringing these wonderful artists back to Bremen,” writes the Lastoria Historical Society, which is being supported this time by bookseller Beruta Adolf. Yale Strom is a charismatic musician with more than 40 years of concert experience, klezmer researcher, composer, book author, photographer, award-winning documentary filmmaker. On almost 80 research trips to Eastern Europe, he has played with and learned from Jewish and Roma musicians, and he has preserved their musical heritage. Yale teaches at the University of San Diego. The son of progressive Jewish parents grew up speaking Yiddish in Detroit and San Diego.

One of his grandmothers, his Bubbe, was from Belarus, but he also has roots in Ukraine, Germany and Lithuania. “Yale is an ambassador of klezmer”, writes the Bremen historical society Lastoria. And that is to be taken literally: According to the European Center for Jewish Music, Hanover, Yale Strom was the first klezmer musician to perform at the United Nations General Assembly. His wife, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Schwartz, specializes in klezmer from Romania and is also a pioneer: in many a synagogue, she is the first woman to sing in front of an audience. The composition of “Hot Pstromi” changes. As in 2022, the ensemble includes two exceptional instrumentalists from Prague: the renowned double bassist Petr Dvorský comes from the Czech jazz scene. Sascha Yasinski, who comes from Belarus and also lives in Prague, is an enormously versatile accordionist. Together they revive Eastern European Jewish culture and improvise.

Tickets cost 20 euros and are on sale at the Georg Büchner bookshop, Vor dem Steintor 58.

Websites: https://www.yalestrom.com – https://www.elizabeth-schwartz.com – http://petrdvorsky.cz – https://www.yasinski.eu