Described by one as the “Lebron James of Klezmer” Winograd is one of the leading klezmer musicians of his generation.

About this event

Klezmer is the traditional celebratory music of the Eastern European Jewish diaspora. With roots that pre-date the Middle Ages, klezmer incorporates cantorial melody, ancient folk tunes, Yiddish poetry, Hebraic ritual, and Greek and Ottoman influences. By the 1880s, klezmer was firmly established as the secular, vernacular music of the community, and arrived in the United States with the wave of Jewish immigration around the turn of the century. In the 1970s, a klezmer revival began that has produced a new generation of master musicians. The all-star lineup of Michael Winograd & the Honorable Mentshn is leading this revival into the 21st century. ​

The band—whose name plays on the plural form of the Yiddish approbation “mentsh,” meaning a person of integrity—is the brainchild of Brooklyn clarinet virtuoso Michael Winograd. A graduate of the New England Conservatory, Winograd has become a leader in the modern renaissance of klezmer, a musical style he has played since childhood. One of today’s premier klezmer clarinetists, Winograd works at the forefront of cultural preservation, having co-founded Yiddish New York in 2015, and serving as the artistic director of KlezKanada, one of the world’s largest hubs for Klezmer and Yiddish education and cultural transmission.  ​

This event is made possible by the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation develops partnerships and programs that reinforce artists’ capacity to create and present work, advance access to and participation in the arts, and promote a more sustainable arts ecology. To learn more about Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, its programs and services, visit our website at www.midatlanticarts.org.