This summer, July 13–16, the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, will host Yidstock: The Festival of New Yiddish Music. The four-day festival features concerts by both emerging and established artists, along with workshops, lectures, and theatrical readings that celebrate Yiddish culture and music in contemporary forms.
Highlights of the program include a new folk oratorio by a founder of The Klezmatics, plus stage events led by prominent performers and scholars. Attendees can expect performances, hands-on workshops, and illustrated talks covering topics such as Yiddish theater and Hassidic music. Actor, playwright and singer Eleanor Reissa will give a dramatic reading from her anthology of modern Jewish plays, The Last Survivor and Other Modern Jewish Plays.
Performers slated for the festival include Eleanor Reissa and Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars; the Hankus Netsky and Eden MacAdam-Somer Duo; the Nigunim Trio; Ezekiel’s Wheels Klezmer Band; the Alicia Svigals & Lauren Brody Duo; and the Andy Statman Trio. These artists represent a wide range of approaches to Yiddish and related musical traditions, from intimate duet settings to full ensemble arrangements.
In addition to concerts, the festival offers specialized presentations and interactive sessions. Alicia Svigals will lead The Mysteries of Klezmer Violin Unveiled, a focused exploration of violin techniques and stylistic approaches central to klezmer music. There will also be a workshop on Yiddish song led by Asya Vaisman Schulman and Brian Bender, designed for singers and musicians interested in repertoire, pronunciation, and interpretation.
For lovers of theater and the Yiddish stage, A Love Letter to the Yiddish Stage: I. L. Peretz’s A Night in the Old Marketplace will be presented by Debra Caplan, offering historical context and an examination of one of the key works from Yiddish literature. Dance enthusiasts can take part in Build-a-Sher Yiddish Dance, a participatory workshop with Steve Weintraub that teaches traditional steps and communal dance forms.
Yidstock brings together scholarship and performance, providing opportunities for both casual listeners and dedicated students of Yiddish culture to deepen their understanding through concerts, conversation, and practical learning. The festival’s combination of established masters and rising artists creates a platform where tradition and innovation meet, giving audiences a vivid sense of how Yiddish music and theater continue to evolve.
Whether you are drawn to virtuoso klezmer playing, intimate vocal duets, theatrical readings, or hands-on workshops, the festival aims to offer something for a broad audience. With a program that includes lecture-demonstrations, ensemble concerts, and participatory sessions, Yidstock invites visitors to engage with the living traditions of Yiddish music and performance over four days of concerts and events at the Yiddish Book Center.