Free | No ticket required

Yid Vicious has been engaging and delighting audiences throughout the Midwest since 1995. The group has released five CDs, toured on three continents, and has received numerous Madison Area Music Awards for its unique blend of traditional and contemporary klezmer. Indoors and out, in ramshackle bars and luxurious ballrooms, on high festival stages and on bare sod, Yid Vicious brings the party to life with Yiddish dance music spanning generations from the old world to our world.

Yid Vicious
Daithi Wolfe, fiddle
Greg Smith, clarinet
Kia Karlen, horn and accordion
Anna Purnell, vocals and trumpet
Matt Appleby, guitar
David Spies, tuba
Geoff Brady, percussion

……

Yiddish for “together,” Tsuzamen is a Madison-area group that describes itself as “a world music band with a Jewish vibe.” They draw on traditions from around the globe, whether playing originals or some of the oldest music known. Electrified by Eleanor Mayerfeld’s lead vocals, powered by Bruce Silverman’s drumming, connected to the Earth by Samantha Bosco’s bass, sent aloft with Meg Lamm’s violin and Dan Grabois’s French horn, and melded together with Michael Bell’s guitar and mandolin, their music uplifts, reaches out, and exhilarates.

……

Klez Fest Schedule of Events

Friday, September 20
3 pm-4:30 pm: Klezmer masterclass with violinist Alicia Svigals
Collins Recital Hall, Hamel Music Center, 740 University Avenue

7:30 pm: The Green Cousin-A Folk Ballet. Featuring Kanopy Dance Company, with live music by Elm Duo.
Music Hall, 925 Bascom Mall

Saturday, September 21
2 pm: Yid Vicious and Tsuzamen concert. Concert with Madison favorites Yid Vicious (playing their unique blend of traditional and contemporary klezmer) and Tsuzamen (playing world music with a Jewish vibe).
Music Hall, 925 Bascom Mall

7:30 pm: Alicia Svigals’ Klezmer Fiddle Express concert. Alicia Svigals, the world’s foremost klezmer fiddler and a founder of the Grammy-winning Klezmatics, will make joyous, kinetic music with a full-on old-school klezmer dance band playing a mix of original compositions and traditional arrangements.
Collins Recital Hall, Hamel Music Center, 740 University Avenue

Sunday, September 22
2 pm: The Ancient Law Cine-Concert. Ewald André Dupont’s 1923 silent film The Ancient Law with live original music composed and performed by violinist Alicia Svigals and silent film pianist Donald Sosin.
Collins Recital Hall, Hamel Music Center, 740 University Avenue