Intercultural musicking: learning through klezmer

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on a particular arena of creative practice: music students’ largely sonic experience of Otherness through world music ensemble performance of klezmer (music with its roots in the weddings and other social occasions of mostly Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews in eastern and central Europe). Having briefly introduced klezmer, we situate our university ensemble into the traditions for teaching/learning it. We then present our pedagogic framework which combines ethnomusicological and intercultural thinking. We conclude with observations on how the module enables both increased transmusicality (through experience of a musical Other) and increased intercultural awareness (through the cultural encounters generated through klezmer performance).

本文聚焦一个特定的创意实践领域：音乐专业的学生在Klezmer (源于东、中欧，讲意第绪语的阿什肯纳兹犹太人的婚礼及其他社交场合）的世界音乐合奏表演中，对于他者性的音感经历。我们首先简短介绍Klezmer的传统以提供我们大学对于其合奏的教与学的背景。然后我们呈现关于我们融合了人种音乐学和文化间思维的教学理念的细节。最后我们总结该课程如何让学生通过对音乐他者的经历而提高其交叉乐感，并通过Klezmer表演的文化相遇而提高其文化间意识。

KEYWORDS:

• Heterophony
• intercultural musicking
• klezmer
• transmusicality
• world music ensemble performance

Acknowledgements

The university klezmer ensemble – The Michael Kahan Kapelye - discussed in this article is named, with the agreement and support of the family, after Michael Kahan. Michael was a Manchester-based musician and keen advocate of klezmer before his untimely death in a random act of street violence. Ros Hawley, who performed regularly with Michael, was the co-founder (with Richard Fay) of the ensemble and was the Performance Lead for the first six years. Her role was generously supported by the Jewish Music Institute in London. Some of the ideas articulated here were previously explored in conference papers involving Ros as well as Ellie Sherwood who was a member of the 2nd cohort of klezmer students and based her Mus.B dissertation on klezmer in Manchester. The continued presence and dynamism of the ensemble owes much to the enthusiastic advocacy and support of the Head of the Music Department (Caroline Bithell), the CEO of the Manchester Jewish Museum (Max Dunbar) and the other staff members and volunteers at the museum, and above all to the generations of ensemblists and budding klezmorim who have energised the Klezmorim of Manchester umbrella organisation for continuing klezmer activities in the city. Finally, our understandings of the klezmer ensemble as creative practice which can be explored beyond language is being greatly enriched through the arts-based research which Zhuo Min Huang is currently developing with us.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Sonic experience

Vessels of Song. A documentary about the December 2019 klezmer concerts involving current and former students of the university ensemble. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKN9mU-iMBE&list=PLuanMPsrGRl–RGr5K8Dz_iwdNVYSbwQd&index=2

Wu Nemt Men a Bisel Baash. A COVID-19 Isolation klezmer pub jam session with the tune Wu Nemt Men a Bisel Baash (Where to get a little cash?), played by the Klezmorim of Manchester, to raise money for the Old Abbey Taphouse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lso4YUtdtu8

Papirosen. An EP by L’chaim Kapelye, a group of musicians from the 2012-13 of the Michael Kahan Kapelye who continued as a professional-leaning band for several years after completing the university klezmer module. https://lchaimkapelye.bandcamp.com/album/papirosen

Notes

1 Klezmer was less established in the immigrant Jewish communities in the UK and there are fewer resources documenting this presence. Of direct relevance for our work, there are tantalising mentions in the oral history collection at Manchester Jewish Museum of the Yiddishe numbers in the repertoire of the Manchester Jewish Brass Band (which played for weddings just before WW1).

2 We prefer the term aural tradition as linking to the model of ‘learning by ear’ but others (e.g. Netsky, 2004) use the term oral tradition instead.

3 https://www.ethnomusicology.org/page/Groups_SectionsAE.

4 https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/social-responsibility/.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Richard Fay

Richard Fay is a Senior Lecturer in Education (TESOL and Intercultural Communication) at Manchester Institute of Education at The University of Manchester. He is also a composer, band-leader, and performer. He co-founded, co-directs, and is Academic Lead for, the university klezmer ensemble, The Michael Kahan Kapelye, which provides the context for this article.

Daniel J. Mawson

Daniel J. Mawson is a visiting performance practitioner at The University of Manchester for the university klezmer ensemble, The Michael Kahan Kapelye, of which he is an alumnus and for which he is now a Co-director and the Performance Lead. He is a sound designer, and performing arts producer, in addition to being a freelance reed player and band-leader.

Caroline Bithell

Caroline Bithell is Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of Manchester. Her research specialisms include traditional music in Corsica and Georgia (Caucasus), the politics and aesthetics of world music, and intercultural encounters through singing. She is also a voice practitioner and community choir leader. For many years, she coordinated the Ensemble Performance module in which the klezmer ensemble discussed in this article forms a part.