Each academic year, we welcome a new cohort of music students to become the Michael Kahan Kapelye, picking up the baton from the previous cohort – who we hope will continue playing together and form their own ensemble and perform at the various klezmer at Manchester events we organise each year (such as the annual Gathering for the Klezmorim for Chanukah concert at the Manchester Jewish Museum in December).
Writing now, the new cohort of klezmorim wait in the wings, ready to start their klezmer journeys with us in late September. What motivates them to join the ensemble? What are their expectations? How much do they already know about the worlds of klezmer? Have they played before?
Through this post, we invite them to share their thoughts (via a comment/response to this post) at the start of their MKK experience …..
Although klezmer will be completely new to me, as an Irish traditional fiddle player I am excited to transfer my skills from one aspect of folk to another. The klezmer I have listened to is beautiful and I can’t wait to learn to play it myself.
I’ve been playing klezmer music for a year or so now, with KlezNorth, the Klezmer Collective and others, and I’m really looking forward to taking what I’ve learned and putting it in the context of a regularly meeting band, and also to take up the mantle of the fantastic standard of playing of the previous incarnations of MKK.
I love the spontaneous aspects of klezmer music and I am excited to engage with the ‘play-it-by-ear’ way of learning that klezmer offers. I’ve had no previous experience with playing klezmer music so MKK is going to be something new, interesting and fun!