Strauss/Warschauer Duo at Tonic, NYC November 21, 1999

[Warschauer <Warschauer...>]

Deborah Strauss and Jeff Warschauer Duo to Perform at Tonic

The Deborah Strauss and Jeff Warschauer Duo will perform a concert of Klezmer 
music and Yiddish song on Sunday, November 21, 1999 at Tonic, 107 Norfolk 
Street (between Delancey and Rivington Streets).  Sets will be at 1:30 and 
3:30.  Admission is $10.00 for one set, $15.00 for both.  For more 
information call (212) 358-7503.  

The duo's appearance at Tonic is part of a series of Sunday afternoon klezmer 
and Yiddish music concerts curated by clarinetist and composer David 
Krakauer.  

The Deborah Strauss and Jeff Warschauer Duo brings together two musicians 
whose individual backgrounds in klezmer music and Yiddish song create a 
performance style that is traditionally informed yet uniquely their own.  
Singing and performing on violin, guitar, mandolin and accordion they weave 
songs, translations and instrumental music into a sound which encompasses an 
exceptional range of colors and textures-from delicate and refined to 
exuberant and foot-stomping.  

As a duo, they have performed to overwhelming critical and public acclaim in 
such diverse venues as the Amsterdam International Yiddish Festival, the 
Jewish Culture Festival in Cracow, the Ashkenaz Festival in Toronto and the 
Folksbiene Yiddish Theater in New York City.  They can be heard together on 
Jeff's solo CD, The Singing Waltz: Klezmer Guitar and Mandolin and on the 
Ellipsis Arts compilation, Klezmer Music: A Marriage of Heaven and Earth.  
They are currently working on their first duo CD.  

The New York Times called their music "terrific."  

"Phenomenal."  Gazeta Wyborcza (Poland).  

Deborah Strauss (violin, vocals, accordion) is considered one of the finest 
practitioners of traditional Jewish violin today.  She is a member of the 
Chicago Klezmer Ensemble, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and performs in a 
duo with Jeff Warschauer.  In addition, she is currently collaborating with 
composer Josh Waletzky on Crossing the Shadows, a program of his original 
Yiddish songs and melodies.  Deborah is featured in the Emmy award-winning 
film, Itzhak Perlman: In the Fiddler's House and performs with Mr. Perlman in 
concert.  She tours internationally and teaches privately and at many Yiddish 
culture workshops including KlezKamp, KlezKamp West, Buffalo on the Roof and 
KlezKanada.  Deborah received her graduate training in ethnomusicology at the 
University of Chicago. 

Jeff Warschauer (guitar, mandolin, vocals) is known internationally as one of 
the foremost exponents of the klezmer mandolin, as an innovator in the 
development of an authentic klezmer guitar style, and as an expressive 
Yiddish singer.  He has played and taught throughout North America, in 
Eastern and Western Europe, and in Australia and New Zealand.  He is a member 
of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, plays in a duo with violinist Deborah 
Strauss, has performed with the Bolshoi Ballet, and has been composer, music 
director and/or featured instrumentalist for numerous theatrical productions, 
recordings, and film soundtracks.  He also performs with Josh Waletzky, Shura 
Lipovsky, Michael Alpert and Zalmen Mlotek.  Jeff has appeared with Itzhak 
Perlman on film, in concert and on two CDs.  Jeff's solo CD, The Singing 
Waltz: Klezmer Guitar and Mandolin, on the Omega label, has received 
widespread critical acclaim.  In 1986 he won the Amalgamated Bank Prize for 
Yiddish Studies at the Oxford University Summer Programme, and in 1995 
returned to Oxford to lecture on klezmer music.  In 1990, Jeff was awarded a 
Massachusetts Artists Fellowship.  A graduate of the New England Conservatory 
of Music, Jeff has taught for many years at KlezKanada and the KlezKamp 
Yiddish Folk Arts Program.  

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