The Jewish music band “Klezmer Klangen” started playing together in the summer of 2014 but individually its members had been interested in Klezmer music and performing way before that.
Dainius who plays the clarinet is the leader of our ensemble. Rasa taught herself to play double bass and began singing in Yiddish out of sheer fascination with Jewish music even though she is a professional pianist and piano teacher. Jovita is the accordion player of our ensemble and an expert on Jewish traditions. Saulė is learning to play the violin at the M. K. Čiurlionis School of Arts and has discovered the joy of Klezmer way before her peers. She is a laureate of numerous violinist competitions. Dovydas is a basketball player who loves singing and playing drums! However, no one can deny that the brightest star of our ensemble is Ramunė who brings everyone happiness and joy. No one ever taught her to sing, dance or play but the girl grew up surrounded by music, which has influenced and continues to influence her life in the best of ways.
Here’s a short introduction into the activities of our band Klezmer Klangen: we are very interested in Jewish klezmer music and songs in Yiddish, which played an important role in the history of our country (Lithuania) and especially our city Vilnius – Vilne – The North Jerusalem. We participate in festivals, concerts and concert-lessons, where we introduce people to such music and songs. They are important pieces of heritage. Besides the many concerts in Lithuania our band participates in WJC seminars, Vilne Yiddish Institute summer seminars for Yiddish language, Lithuania-Ukraine: Cultural partnership 2016 “YIVO exhibition opening in Kiev (Ukraine)“. In our activities, we aim to educate the people about the wonderful music created by a nation that used to live in our country. In order to do that better, we are improving our klezmer technique in London JMI summer courses Klezfest and Goldene Pave, Yiddish Summer Weimar, led by famous teachers from all over the world. In the year 2017, we have carried out a project with the support of the Good Will Foundation, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, Lithuanian Council for Culture, and the Municipality of Vilnius.
You can also find out about the band’s life on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Klezmer-Klangen-783299395052145/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel