"A driving force in world music" - Mostly Music
Mostly Kosher is a musical feast that explodes into a cultural global food-fight of Jazz, Latin, Rock, and Folk and they are bringing their acclaimed Klezmer gypsy-rock to Schoenberg Hall just in time to kick off the holiday season. The band reconstructs Judaic and American cultural music through lively klezmer beats, exhilarating arrangements and Yiddish refrains. Led by Leeav Sofer, one of Jewish Journal’s “30 under 30” most accomplished professionals in the Los Angeles Jewish diaspora, Mostly Kosher is comprised of some of the highest regarded Los Angeles musicians: violinist Janice Mautner Markham, drummer Eric Hagstrom, bassist Adam Levy, trombonist Mike King, and on guitar, Will Brahm.
A fixture at renowned California stages such as the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, Skirball Cultural Center, Torrance Center for the Arts, and Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center, Mostly Kosher has also graced the stage of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for live television broadcasts to over half a million viewers. Mostly Kosher welcomed 2024 with a full schedule of concerts from Northern California to MidWest and East Coast Tours before returning home to their Disneyland residency. The ensemble has headlined multiple summer festivals and had the honor of being the first Jewish music ensemble at the Disney parks with 2023/24 marking their seventh season performing during the 2-month long Festival of Holidays. Mostly Kosher was credited for “stealing the Festival of Holidays Show” by the acclaimed Fresh Baked Disney podcast. For the 2017 holiday season, Mostly Kosher added Epcot Center in Florida to their list of holiday performance venues, becoming Disney’s first Jewish cultural music performed on both coasts.
The band’s self-titled debut album has won international acclaim by World Music Network, Songlines Magazine, and BBC radio. Their music videos have been garnering accolades on the film festival circuit, receiving two nominations at the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema and Best Music Video at the Glendale International Film Festival.
This event is made possible by the Lowell Milken Fund for American Jewish Music at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music with additional support from the David Vickter Foundation.