Ottoman Musical Routes & Roots: Moldavian Yiddish Connections

For those of us who picture the Eastern European homeland of Yiddish in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine, the juxtaposition of "Yiddish" with "Ottoman" can feel startling and exotic. However, in the 1990s, scholars such as Martin Schwartz, Walter Zev Feldman and Joel Rubin were already following the trail of well-known Yiddish melodies that had strikingly similar Greek and Turkish variants. What did these parallel versions represent?

In the decades since, at Yiddish Summer Weimar and elsewhere, artists and scholars have been working together to explore the rich matrix that connects Yiddish and Ottoman cultures, in the process revitalizing a centuries-old transcultural exchange.

Dr. Alan Bern, Founder and Artistic Director of Yiddish Summer Weimar, will share some of the highlights of this intellectual and artistic adventure, with ample use of historical and contemporary audio and video recordings. An open Q&A session will conclude the talk.

Sunday , November 2, 2025

10am-12pm PST (Zoom)

Registration is required (by donation, no minimum)

This event is the first in the 2025 Zhargon Speaker Series, four public, online talks that bring leading figures in Yiddish Studies and contemporary Yiddish arts and culture to share their work. The series extends classroom learning for students in the Peretz Centre's program, Zhargon: A Journey through the Histories of Yiddishkayt, and opens discussion with the broader community. Current Zhargon students do not need to register (you are automatically added).

We acknowledge the support of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation with funding provided by the Government of Canada.

About Our Speaker

Dr. Alan Bern is the Founding Artistic Director of Yiddish Summer Weimar. He is a composer/arranger, pianist, accordionist, educator, cultural activist, and philosopher. A pioneer of the klezmer music revival since the early 1980s, he is internationally known as the leader of Brave Old World, The Other Europeans, the Semer Ensemble, and other celebrated New Jewish Music ensembles.

In 2016, he received the Weimar Prize in recognition of major cultural contributions to the city of Weimar. In 2017, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Free State of Thuringia, and in 2022, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the highest award for cultural achievement given in Germany.

Image credit: Map is adapted from graphic created by Sayumi Yoshida for the Yiddish Summer Weimar 2024 program.