The Klezmer Music Ensemble focuses on performance and style of the Klezmer musical traditions. The ensemble learns from active listening and imitation of a vast array of recordings beginning with pre-WWII European and American Golden Age klezmer, continuing into the klezmer revival and subsequent renaissance of the Seventies, and concluding with more contemporary experimental recordings. Repertoire from the Yiddish Theatre and other Jewish Eastern European traditions such as niggunim [wordless songs] will also be explored. In addition to performing, students will be introduced to key concepts in Jewish culture and history, giving context to the music.