Grammy Winners Celebrate Music at Museum of Jewish Heritage

On Wednesday, March 3 at 7 p.m., Irish chanteuse Susan McKeown and Klezmatics vocalist and accordionist Lorin Sklamberg will perform in Saints & Tzadiks, a unique concert that weaves musical tales from the Yiddish and Gaelic traditions. They will be joined by guitarists Erik Della Penna and Eamon O'Leary.

Tickets are $20, $15 for students and seniors, $10 for members, and are available online at www.mjhnyc.org or by calling the Museum box office at 646.437.4202. This program is presented in association with The Irish Arts Center.

Culled from rare archival material and old recordings, McKeown and Sklamberg have selected songs of various themes from the Jewish and Irish traditions including love, death, betrothal, betrayal, and the demon drink. The bulk of the Jewish material is drawn from the Ruth Rubin Archive at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, where Sklamberg serves as Sound Archivist. The Irish songs come from both the popular and ancient Gaelic traditions. The performance is based on their popular recent album, also called Saints & Tzadiks (World Village, 2009). The CD features several songs, many of which have never been recorded before, that blend Yiddish and Gaelic together. The result can be haunting, exuberant, or comical depending on the mood of the song.

Susan McKeown is widely acknowledged to be one of the most powerful and innovative voices in Irish music. Since her debut Bones (1995) she has produced 10 albums of original and world music and built an impressive career through her many releases, extensive touring, and performances on programs such as A Prairie Home Companion, All Things Considered, World Café, and Mountain Stage and for PBS, Absolutely Irish, Sessions at West 54th, and American Masters. Susan has performed with Pete Seeger, Natalie Merchant, Billy Bragg, and many others.

The Klezmatics are globally renowned world music superstars - and the only klezmer band to win a Grammy award. They have performed with folk singers Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, and Odetta, classical virtuoso Itzhak Perlman, singer-songwriters Ben Folds and Natalie Merchant, Beat poet legend Allen Ginsberg, and many others. Lorin Sklamberg can be heard on more than 50 CDs, and regularly collaborates with his Klezmatics bandmates for various projects. He composes and performs for film, dance, stage, and circus, produces recordings, and teaches and lectures.