Klezmaniacs Peace Tour

[Cantorkenr <Cantorkenr...>]

Dear friends, 

    Please read this press release about the upcoming world tour of the 
Klezmaniacs, Boston's teenage klezmer band.  We need all of your help in 
order to make this pilgrimage a reality.  Please forward this to all your 
friends and let us know any suggestions you have for how to make our trip a 
success.  
    On behalf of the teenagers, thank you so much!

                Ken Richmond


Press Release: URGENT - Time Critical

        Please print this article and/or call for

interview/pictures/more info

            Shira Shazeer   781-595-8705

                20 Rock Ave

                Swampscott, MA 01907


            Cantor Ken Richmond 781-595-6635

                Temple Israel

                837 Humphrey St.

                Swampscott, MA 01907
                cantorkenr (at) aol(dot)com


Boston's Klezmaniacs Chosen for National PBS Documentary; Funds Still Needed


SWAMPSCOTT, MA      The Klezmaniacs, Boston's premier teen-age klezmer

band, is preparing to embark on a unique and extraordinary journey; a world

tour of klezmer music, culture, and peace.  On June 27, a dozen Klezmaniacs,

accompanied by Cantor Ken Richmond of Temple Israel in Swampscott, several

Klezmaniacs parents, and lead singer Shira Shazeer's eighty-year-old

grandmother, who left Poland at age nineteen, will be returning to the 'old

country' trailed by a documentary film crew.  While in Poland, the

Klezmaniacs will perform tribute concerts at synagogues and concentration

camps, lead interfaith workshops with Polish teens, and participation in

Krakow's world-renowned Festival of Jewish Culture.  

    After twelve days in Poland, the group will continue on to

Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, Boston's sister city in the former Soviet Union.

There the teens will continue their inter-cultural exchange, bringing

humanitarian aid and working with Ukrainian Jews and Gentiles of all ages,

sharing Jewish culture through the international language of music.

    The Peace-Tour will culminate in Israel where the Klezmaniacs will

perform at the Jewish Theological Seminary, kibbutzim, and Yad Vashem.  The

time in Israel will include visits to Jerusalem, the mystical city of Tsfat,

and a meeting in Nazareth with Arab Israeli teenagers to learn about the

inter-cultural relationships being developed as Israel comes closer to peace

with its neighbors.  On July 18 the group will return to the United States

to share what they have learned with their home communities.  

    The entire project will be produced by award winning documentary

filmmaker Janice Harrison as a one-hour feature in a series of films on

teens rediscovering their roots.  Josh Wiletsky, director of the PBS

special, "Itzhak Perlman; In the Fiddler's House," will direct the

Klezmaniacs' documentary as well.  The film will be broadcast

internationally on public television in the fall.

    This exciting journey has been endorsed by (among others) the

Timberland company, the Jewish Federation of the North Shore, Robert Lappin,

Congressman Barney Frank, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, Cardinal Bernard

Law, Rabbi Samuel Chiel, and the Pope.  The band and the documentary

producer however are still in great need of funding to assure that this

important project becomes a reality.  Anyone who can help with the funding

of this tour, please contact the Klezmaniacs through Cantor Ken Richmond,

837 Humphrey St. Swampscott, MA 01907, (781)-595-6635.  Don't forget to ask

about the "thank-you" gifts including autographed copies of the Klezmaniacs'

album "Nokh A Mohl, and the amazingly beautiful limited-edition color

serograph, "Menorah Over Jerusalem" by Cantor Ken Richmond's Zayda.  No gift

is too small to make a difference. No gift is too large either.  

You can make tax-deductible contributions to 
"The Klezmaniacs Peace Tour"
c/o Temple Israel 
837 Humphrey St.
Swampscott, MA 01907

for $18, we will send you our tape, "Nokh A Mohl" (Play it Again!)
for $25, our CD of the same name
for $36, an autographed tape
for $50, an autographed CD
for $100, an official Klezmaniacs Peace Tour t-shirt (M, L, XL)
for $500 a Klezmaniacs performance (plus transportation if it is not local...)
for $1000, a beautiful limited-edition, 47-color serograph of my Zayda's 
painting, "Menorah Over Jerusalem" (while supplies last) and listing in all 
local publicity
for $10,000, listing of you or your company in the national PBS documentary
for $100,000, all of the above, plus you will be featured as the "primary 
sponsor" in the documentary, plus Shira's bubbe will make you her famous 
matza brie

---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+