International Mandolin Supergroup!
An eclectic and exciting array of Yiddish, Klezmer, Classical, East European folk and World music
The Ger Mandolin Orchestra is the brainchild of Israeli-American Avner Yonai, whose search for his family roots in Poland led him to a tattered photograph of his grandfather and two other relatives playing in a pre-WWII Jewish mandolin orchestra in the Polish town of Gora Kalwaria (Ger in Yiddish). The photograph inspired Yonai to create a contemporary version of this musical group, as a memorial project for his own family and the orchestra members, most of whom perished in the Holocaust. The new Ger Mandolin Orchestra resurrects a quintessential Jewish musical form that was at one time ubiquitous in the shtetlakh (villages) of Jewish Eastern Europe and in North American immigrant communities. With authentic instrumentation and repertoire that includes Klezmer, Yiddish, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Italian, Czech and classical music, the GMO’s all-star lineup of international musicians achieves a rare synergy between history and virtuosic musical performance.
Part of KulturfestNYC 2015
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
THURSDAY JUNE 18th @ 8 PM
