Ukrainian Klezfest, 2001

[Center of Jewish education <center...>]

Celebration!

"Sing in Yiddish!"

A song with this title was sung in Simferopol at the final concert of 
"Klezfest-2001" and
became its "anthem". Made by one of the oldest participants in the festival, 
Arkady Gendler
from Zaporozhie, it was performed by the author to the unceasing applause of 
the audience.
The whole concert was a real success as well. This is no exaggeration. Those 
who were
present will agree with me. And we are grateful for the bright celebration to 
the general
sponsor of the festival Ц Jewish Community Development Fund in Russia and 
Ukraine (USA)
and to the "Open Society" Institute of the International "Renaissance" 
Foundation that has
expressed active support to the Fund this year.

The "Klezfest" itself is not just a musical forum to name laureates and give 
out prizes.
Klezfest is a seminar, an invitation to which is considered an honor by the 
best klezmer-
players and vocalists from many countries all over the world. By the way, in my 
opinion, it is
even good that in Klezfest there are neither winners nor Grand Prix. Without 
them, the
atmosphere of this "event" was very friendly and joyful. Nobody was envious of 
anybody
else; nobody schemed against others or "worked" on the jury on account of its 
full absence.
That's right, there was no jury at the festival. Instead, some wonderful 
teachers came to
Yevpatoria, where the festival of the Jewish music took place. The 
master-classes of these
teachers became an excellent school for Klezfest participants. Artistic 
director of the Jewish
Theater "Folksbine" in Broadway Zalmen Mlotek, his countrywoman, famous 
performer of
Yiddish songs Adrienne Cooper, virtuoso clarinetist Merlin Shepherd from London 
were
true masters and skilful teachers. They built their relations with the 
participants in such a
way that their merry and cheerful classes could by no means by described as 
dull "studies".

The most fascinating things, however, began late at night (and usually ended at 
dawn).
"Sessions" is a wonderful world of improvisations and the favorite "dish" of 
jazz and
klezmer musical gourmets. Here is when musicians and vocalists who came to 
hospitable
Crimea could fully distinguish themselves. It will take too long to name all of 
them. Let me
name only those whom I liked most of all: Sophie Solomon
London, the Jewish Vocal Quartet from Kazan led by Paullina Achkinazi, bards 
Maria
Yakubovich (Tashkent) and Timur Fishel from Tallinn. Timur however is one of 
us, for it
turned out that he was born in Kiev; his brother Pavel taught painting classes 
at the festival.
By the way, the dancing class led by very attractive Zhenya Monarkh and the 
Yiddish
classes led by guest from Moscow Andrey Bredstein and above-mentioned Arkady 
Gendler
were also very interesting and very informal.

Talented performers also represented Ukraine, and it was nice to see them. For 
instance,
when you listen to the "Kharkov Klezmer Band" led by Stas Raiko, it is very 
hard to keep
your place: you are driven to a dance! This is what I call real 
klezmer-players! A guest from
Kharkov Yevgeny Mednik looked very considerable and professional on the stage. 
The
youngest participant in the Klezfest, sixteen-year-old Tanya Liberman, also 
promises to
grow into a professional. She comes from Ivano-Frankovsk and won the audience 
with her
charm and artistry. She will for sure have a bright future. And despite the 
venerable age of
its participants, the "Khaverim" trio from Simferopol seems to keep their souls 
young.

I'd like to draw special attention to Marina (please don't confuse with Maria) 
Yakubovich
from Ostrog, Rovno region. She possesses something called a "La Skala" voice. 
Her
performance was the culminating point of the Gala-concert. The audience did not 
want to let
Marina leave the stage for a long time, encoring her. And the apotheosis of the 
festival was
the performance of Adrienne Cooper, who showed the world's level of performance.

We can't leave unnoticed the fact that the final concert of the festival took 
place in a
prestigious hall due to the assistance of the State Committee for Nationalities 
and Once
Deported Peoples of the Crimean Autonomy, the Ministry of Culture of the 
Autonomous
Republic of Crimea, the Simferopol Jewish "Yad Ezra" Society, and the local 
"Khesed-
Shimon".

However, even the most cheerful celebration ends, while its problems remain. 
So, what are
the problems of Klezfest and its organizers Ц devotees of the Jewish musical 
culture Yana
and Boris Yanover, who for two years in a row have been accomplishing their 
dream of a
festival? In discussing the future of Klezfest with Yana and Boris, we came to 
the conclusion
that it would be great to continue to celebrate Yiddishkait by the means of 
tours of the best
klezmer-players and vocalists in various cities of Ukraine and CIS with Jewish 
communities.
All of this could be solved in creative and organizational ways. The impediment 
is in the very
basic, the very elementary "minor" things Ц finances. This time, as a matter of 
assistance to
the main sponsors, some local organizations covered the expenses of a number of
participants. But this is too little. It is too little, because Klezfest today 
is not just a musical
festival. It is a visible island of revival of the Jewish culture. Our nation 
truly has a
complicated and tragic history. That is why it is no surprise that a lot of 
money, allocated by
different organizations, first of all international ones, is channeled to the 
studying of the
horrible pages of the historical path of the Jews. This is understandable, and 
this is right.
Nevertheless, let us not forget that our nation survived due to its 
inexhaustible optimism. If
we want to find a place for ourselves in the life of the future, we need to 
remember not only
the bad things, but the good things as well. And we need to multiply the good 
things. Those
who are going to help Klezfest organizers in this endeavor will act in a noble 
way. And if
these words are heard, we will see many more festivals of the Jewish culture 
under the
simple and clear motto, "Sing in Yiddish!"

Mikhail FRENKEL



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