ABOUT
Biography
Founded in 1992 by Ken Richmond, the Yale Klezmer Band is agroup of undergraduate students from all different musical backgrounds. Klezmer,the music we play, is the Jewish folk/dance music whose roots lie in old Eastern Europe. It was popular in the United States in the 1930's-40's, when immigrants merged these roots with the big band style. It then nearly died out due to the assimilationist Americanization of the mid-century. Since the late 70's, it is back, as indicated by the popularity of Itzhak Perlman's recent recording entitled "In the Fiddler's House."
We are here to bring the joyous, rousing sounds of klezmer to the halls of Yale, to its Hillel as well as to anyone who likes energized dance music.Our performances don't stop there, though: we have played down to Florida and would love to play even further. Weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, community events,private parties, and fundraisers in the New York/Connecticut areas are our standard fare.
The Band
- Dominick Lawton, BK '12, is our talented violinist.
- Richard Kahn, SM '13, is our Phish-loving pianist extraordinaire.
- Zachary Rotholz, MC '11, is our wailing clarinetist.
- Charles Zhu, JE '11, is a violin player, a mandolin player, and really, really cool.
- Aaron Bloomfield, GRD CHEM '20, is our multi-talented clarinetist and bassist and can be seen on occasion with a beard.
- Adam Matlock is the newest member of the band and brings a veteran accordion into the klezmosphere
Special Thanks
- Ken Richmond, BR '95, our founder, violin player, and director emeritus. He remains an active Klezmer musician, for info click here.
- The Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale, where we usually practice.
- Konstantin Nikolaev, DC '08, who redesigned our website for a sushi gift certificate.