BEYLE100: Celebrating a Century of the Yiddish Songs, Poetry & Artistic Vision of Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman
This program will be conducted primarily in Yiddish (though 80% of the program is a concert, and a PDF with translations of all songs and poems will be available through a link that will be provided during the program).
Admission: Free | Register for an email reminder.
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Join us for a special online concert celebrating the 100th birthday of Yiddish songwriter, poet, and singer Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman (1920-2013). The program, conceived by Binyumen Schaechter, and organized in conjunction with the Center for Traditional Music and Dance, will feature a number of the Yiddish world’s leading contemporary performers who were influenced by Schaechter-Gottesman, including Michael Alpert, Sharon Bernstein, Dovid Braun, Esther Gottesman, Itzik Gottesman, Janet Leuchter, Sasha Lurje, Sarah Myerson, Ethel Raim, Binyumen Schaechter, Reyna Schaechter, Temma Schaechter, Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Asya Vaisman Schulman, Lorin Sklamberg, Alicia Svigals, Perl Teitelbaum, Theresa Tova, Lucette van den Berg, Arun Arele Viswanath, Josh Waletzky, Shifra Whiteman, Hy Wolfe, Janina Wurbs, and the duo of Sveta Kundish & Patrick Farrell. The Yiddish actor Shane Baker will serve as emcee.
Born in Vienna and raised in Chernovitz (then Romania, now Ukraine), Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman came to New York in 1951, and created an oeuvre of vivid songs and poetry covering a wide range of subjects from subway musicians, to personal reminiscences, to descriptions of street life near her home in the Bronx. Writing in Yiddish, her work uniquely captures universal themes from intimate snapshots, while humanizing the bustle of modern life. She was named a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2005, and her songs continue to be performed and enjoyed across the globe.
Planning Committee:
Shane Baker, Dovid Braun, Itzik Gottesman, Ethel Raim, Pete Rushefsky, Binyumen Schaechter, Josh Waletzky, Alex Weiser
Sponsored by:
The Center for Traditional Music and Dance’s An-sky Institute for Yiddish Culture, Congress for Jewish Culture, CYCO Books, Forverts, Hebrew Actors' Foundation, Jewish People’s Philharmonic Chorus, KlezKanada, League for Yiddish, Museum of Jewish Heritage, Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center, Workers Circle, Yiddish New York, Yiddish Summer Weimar, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, Yugntruf - Youth for Yiddish
We are grateful for the support of the Atran Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.