The Old Broadway Synagogue, Center for Traditional Music and Dance, the Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center and Yiddish New York present:
Monday, November 11, 2024
The Seven Wonders of Klezmer, November 23, 2024 at 8:00pm
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Monday, July 29, 2024
Tisha ba-Av at Old Broadway, August 12-13, 2024
Sunday, July 14, 2024
The Schiff Family at the Old Broadway Synagogue
Among the founding families of the Old Broadway Synagogue were the Morris and Rachel Schiff. I have been in touch with their grandsons, Bob Schiff and Joel Schiff. Joel was kind enough to send me some family photos. Unfortunately, Morris and Rachel died before Joel was born, and he does not know much about them. I would love to learn more about the Schiffs so if anyone has any information, please share it with me.
Here are some photos:
Here is a photo of Morris Schiff in some sort of store. My guess is that it is a second hand store since there are a number of disparate objects in the photo, in addition to Morris.
Morris and Rachel Schiff, in later years.
Sidney (son of Morris and Rachel) and Anne Schiff ([arents of Joel Schiff). Probably shortly after their wedding in 1938.
Here are the yahrzeit plaques for Morris and Rachel:
May their memory be for a blessing!
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
KLEZMER´S BOYZ OF SUMMER! June 16, 2024
A concert featuring three of the contemporary Yiddish music scene's leading performers - featuring the Old Broadway debut of São Paulo-based clarinetist Alex Parke, well-regarded for a performance style that captures the nuances of old-time 20th century European and New York klezmer clarinetists such as Titunshneyder, Belf, Brandwein and Tarras. Parke is accompanied by Raffi Boden (cello) and Pete Rushefsky (tsimbl/hammered dulcimer). This program is presented by the Old Broadway Synagogue in partnership with the Center for Traditional Music and Dance and Yiddish New York.
Biographies of performers:Alex Parke is a clarinetist, ethnomusicologist, and composer working in NYC and São Paulo who specializes in Klezmer and Brazilian music. He has performed with leading figures in the contemporary klezmer scene such as Frank London, Michael Winograd, Jake Shulman-Ment, Christina Crowder, Ilya Shneyveys, Pete Rushefsky. Parke is well-regarded for a performance style that captures the nuances of old-time 20th century European and New York klezmer clarinetists such as Titunshneyder, Belf, Brandwein and Tarras. He works as a freelancer in NYC and São Paulo and has been part of various musical projects, gaining renown for his musicality and musical intention.
Raffi Boden has forged his own expansive style on the cello, combining his fluency on the instrument with a reverence for folk traditions and a flair for experimentation and improvisation. Since graduating from the Juilliard School, Raffi has cultivated a multi-dimensional career as a NY-based freelance musician, performing in ensembles from experimental chamber trios to raucous klezmer big bands and in venues ranging from intimate neighborhood haunts to Carnegie Hall. He's active in the klezmer scene in NY, where he plays with the acclaimed band Mamaliga – their debut album of original klezmer music was hailed as "virtuosic and vibrant." He's also part of chamber jazz group Arco Belo, with whom he's toured internationally and performed at the Kennedy Center; of Ensemble Phoenicia, a group dedicated to middle eastern contemporary classical music; and Levyosn, a yiddish song quartet. Raffi holds a Master’s from the Juilliard School and a B.M./B.A. from Oberlin College & Conservatory.
Pete Rushefsky (tsimbl) A leading performer, composer and researcher of the Jewish tsimbl (cimbalom or hammered dulcimer), Rushefsky tours and records internationally with violinist Itzhak Perlman as part of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and collaborates with a number of leading figures in the contemporary klezmer scene including Andy Statman, Adrianne Greenbaum, Steven Greenman, Joel Rubin, Eleonore Biezunski, Michael Alpert, Madeline Solomon, Zhenya Lopatnik, Zoe Aqua, Jake Shulman-Ment, Keryn Kleiman, Eleonore Weill, Alex Parke, Ira Temple, Lauren Brody, Avi Fox-Rosen and Michael Winograd. Since 2006 he has served as Executive Director of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to the preservation and presentation of diverse immigrant music traditions from around the world. He is a founder of the annual Yiddish New York festival, curated the Yiddish program at the 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival and has authored a number of articles on traditional music and culture.
We are grateful for the support of the Atran Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.