ABOUT

World-renowned violinist, composer, researcher and educator, Craig Judelman was raised in Seattle, spent his formative years in New York and is now based in Berlin. He has built a reputation on both sides of the Atlantic for his thorough research and passionate playing of both American folk music and Eastern European Jewish music, performing and teaching at major festivals as well as organizing a couple himself. He has toured and recorded with leading artists in both genres including a duo album with one of the pioneers of the modern klezmer movement, Michael Alpert and an album with legendary American ‘Old Time’ musician John Cohen.

Eli Ellere is a singer who specializes in Latvian traditional multi-part singing. As a big believer in “what changes will survive”, they challenge traditional music into new forms of existence in various genres and projects, such as the Latvian Balkan folkrock band Alum Alu, the folktronica duo Sun Horse, the neo folk-punk project Drisā Rudzi, and the back-to-the-roots traditional singing group Saucējas. With Saucējas, Ellere has presented Latvian heritage to audiences all around Europe.

Ilga Vālodze Ābelkina has been connected with folklore since birth, playing various folk musical instruments and mastering traditional singing techniques. In 2016, she and a group of like-minded friends founded the folk group Banga, which develops conceptual projects and concert programs, among them the “Džingale” programme of Latvian Jewish music (2020). Ābelkina is also a doctoral student at the University of Latvia, focusing in her research on the Latvian folklore movement and the transmission of the revitalized tradition.

Originally from Riga, Latvia, but now based in Brooklyn, NY, Ilya Shneyveys is an accordionist and multi-instrumentalist, educator, composer, arranger, and producer of Yiddish music. With expertise spanning from traditional klezmer accordion to experimental and fusion projects, he performs and teaches at festivals around the world, in venues ranging from Carnegie Hall to your local synagogue catering hall. A renowned scholar-practitioner, Shneyveys is equally at home within and outside the boundaries of tradition, constantly searching for creative ways to harmoniously blend together different genres and cultures, which he successfully implements in various projects and collaborations.

Jānis Zemgus Jātnieks has been involved with Latvian folklore since birth, originally as part of the Latvian community in the USA. He has participated in the folk group Banga and others, gaining experience in celebrating traditional festivals, performing, singing, and other skills in Latvia and abroad. He currently plays in the Latvian Balkan folkrock band Alum Alu and plays regularly for folk dancing events in Latvia and around the Baltic region. His understanding of traditional culture has been deepened through his work at the Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia and his long-standing involvement in its cultural life.

Sasha Lurje is a Riga-born, Berlin-based singer and educator renowned worldwide for her wide expressive range in both traditional and contemporary music styles. While being best known for her knowledge of traditional Yiddish song, her work includes projects ranging from the Yiddish progressive rock band Forshpil to early 20th-century music with the Semer Ensemble, the Helsinki Yiddish Cabaret, the traditional klezmer trio Lebedik, and Yale University’s Songs from Testimonies. Lurje co-founded the Berlin Yiddish culture festival Shtetl Berlin and Seattle Yiddish Fest and has performed and taught Yiddish singing throughout Europe and North and South America.