Teresa Tova - Voice
Matt Herskowitz - Piano, Lyric's Artist and Composer in Residence
David Rozenblatt - Drums
Mat Fieldes - Bass
Lew Soloff - Trumpet
BEYLE SCHAECHTER-GOTTESMAN
Vinter Ovnt... Winter Evening
Uhu Fayft der Vint... Uhu Whistles the Wind
Shoyn Farendikt zikh dos Lidl Funem Tog... The Song of the Day has Ended
Ir Freygt Mikh Farvos... You Ask Me Why
Harbstlid... Autumn Song
A Zemerl Aza... A Little Tune Like This
Zumerteg... Summer Days
Geven Amol Iz a Shtetll... There Once Was a Town
Mayn Khaverte Mintsye... My Friend Mintsye
Der Saksafon Shpiler...The Saxophone Player
Under Your White Starry Heaven, Beltz, Oygn and perhaps Brother Can You Spare A Dime ( Brider Gib Mir Khotsh Eyn Daym)
BEYLE SCHAECHTER-GOTTESMAN (b. 1920)
 Beyle Schaechter was born in Vienna into an Eastern-European, Yiddish-speaking family; her family left for Czernowitz, Ukraine (then Romania) and settled there when she was a young child. She was brought up in a multi-lingual environment that included Yiddish, German, Romanian, and Ukrainian; she also studied French and Latin at school. They were a singing family and her mother, Lifshe Schaechter, was known for her wide folk repertoire. Schaechter-Gottesman was sent to Vienna for art lessons, but was forced to return to Czernowitz when the Germans invaded Austria in 1938. In 1941 she married a medical doctor, Jonas (Yoyne) Gottesman, and together they lived out the war in the Czernowitz ghetto, along with her mother and several other family members.
After the war, Schaechter-Gottesman lived several years in Vienna, where her husband had a chief position ("Chefarzt") in the DP camps in the area. Their daughter Taube was born there in 1950; the family moved to New York in 1951, where the Gottesmans had two other children, Hyam and Itzik.
In New York the Gottesmans took part in an experimental Yiddish community in the Bronx, centered around Bainbridge Avenue. There a half-dozen Yiddish-speaking families bought adjacent houses and reinvigorated the existing Sholem Aleichem Yiddish School. Schaechter-Gottesman became an important member of this community, writing classroom materials, plays and songs for the school as well as editing a magazine for children (Kinderzhurnal) and a magazine of children’s writings (Enge-benge).
Schaechter-Gottesman’s first book of poetry, Mir Forn (We’re Travelling) appeared in 1963. Her books, eight in total, have appeared regularly since then. They include poetry for adults, children’s books and song books. She has recorded three CDs of her songs and one recording of folk songs. Her work does not revolve around a single theme but ranges widely from Eastern European subjects to contemporary New York, and from lighthearted children’s fare to such sombre reflections as Di Balade Funem Elftn September (The Ballad of September 11th). Her best-known single work is Harbstlid (Autumn Song). Schaechter-Gottesman’s songs have been performed by Theodore Bikel, Adrienne Cooper, Theresa Tova, Lucette van den Berg, Michael Alpert, Lorin Sklamberg, Sharon Jan Bernstein, Fabian Schnedler, Massel-Tov and others. A song written for her nephew, Binyumele’s Bar Mitsve, was adapted by Adrienne Cooper for her daughter as Sorele’s Bas Mitsve and was recorded on the CD Mikveh.
Schaechter-Gottesman continues to serve as a resource for researchers of both Yiddish folk and art music. She has been recorded and interviewed numerous times and participated in such cultural events as KlezKamp, KlezKanada, Buffalo on the Roof, Ashkenaz Festival, and Weimar KlezmerWochen. Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman: Song of Autumn, a 72 minute film by Josh Waletsky, was released summer 2007 as part of the League for Yiddish's Series Worlds Within a World: Conversations with Yiddish Writers. A new collection of her poetry, Der tsvit fun teg (The Blossoms of Days) is slated to be released in the autumn of 2007.
In 1998 Schaechter-Gottesman was inducted into the People's Hall of Fame at City Lore in New York; and in 2005 she received a National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship, one of the highest cultural honors given by a United States government agency. She was the first Yiddish poet or musical figure to receive this honor.
The entire Schaechter-Gottesman family has been productive in the field of Yiddish culture. Her mother, Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, wrote a memoir, Durkhgelebt a Velt (A Full Life) in 1973, as well as serving as an informant for folk song researchers with her recording Az Di Furst Avek (When You Go Away). Her brother, Mordkhe Schaechter, was the world’s leading Yiddish linguist. Her son, Itzik Gottesman, is an editor of The Forward and the Tsukunft, and a scholar of Yiddish folklore. Her niece, Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath is also a Yiddish poet; nephew Binyumen Schaechter is a composer and musical director in Yiddish and English; and niece Rukhl Schaechter is a journalist with The Forward. Her granddaughter, Esther Gottesman, teaches children Yiddish and sings on Shaechter-Gottesman's most recent release, Fli mayn flishlang (Fly, Fly My Kite).
MATT HERSKOWITZ
Artist and Composer-in-Residence
 Hailed as “extraordinary high-octane keyboard virtuosity”, pianist Matt Herskowitz is a unique voice from within the nexus of classical and jazz traditions. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, Mr. Herskowitz’s performances have led to both Grammy and Oscar Award nominations. His performance with Absolute Ensemble, a New York-based crossover contemporary chamber band, helped earn a Grammy nomination for their first album, Absolution, which features Matt as both composer and soloist (2001, Enja Records). His jazz arrangement of a Bach prelude for the soundtrack of The Triplets of Belleville helped earn the animated film two Oscar nominations and a French César award for best soundtrack in 2003. His first solo recording, Gabriel's Message (2000, CCnC Records), features his original arrangements and compositions based on Christmas themes, and has received world-wide critical acclaim resulting in international invitations. In 2004, Mr. Herskowitz recorded a solo recital for BRAVO Arts Channel which features classical, jazz, and original work.
Mr. Herskowitz tours extensively throughout Europe, Canada, and the U.S. He is a founding member of MaD Fusion - a progressive fusion ensemble. Their first CD, Forget Me Not (2005, Disques Tout Crin), received critical acclaim from European, U.S. and Canadian Jazz critics. After hearing the album, jazz-legend Dave Brubeck wrote: “Hearing such technique almost ruined my day. I said to myself, ‘I’d better quit now’.” MaD Fusion has performed at the Hamburg and Bremen International Music Festivals in Germany, at the Rhino Jazz Festival in France, at the Lyric Chamber Music Society in New York City, at the Luzerne Music Center Jazz Series in New York, and with the Philadelphia Piano Quartet on the Classic Chamber Concerts Series in Naples, Florida.
In addition to The Triplets of Belleville, Mr. Herskowitz's other film contributions also include a solo piano improvisation on the soundtrack of Robert Lepage’s La Face Cachée de la Lune. In 2001, Mr. Herskowitz scored a short avant-garde French film, one of six new scores written for 1930’s era silent French films. The music was performed live with the films at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater by Parabola, an ensemble specializing in new film and theater music. Other contributing composers included Carter Burwell and Stephen Endelman.
Mr. Herskowitz later worked with Mr. Burwell on a live theater project of plays by the Coen brothers and Charlie Kaufman, which received performances in New York, London, and Los Angeles. As a songwriter, Mr. Herskowitz has collaborated with many artists and producers, including pop diva Lara Fabian, and French pop-rock singer Sylvie Cobo. His songs have appeared on best-selling albums in France and Canada.
Other notable accomplishments include the 1998 Canadian premiere of Mr. Herskowitz’s Chorale and Variations on a Theme of Dave Brubeck - an original piece for piano and chamber orchestra performed by the Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal. Mr. Herskowitz is also the Grand Prize Winner of the 1997 Orford Festival International Piano Competition. As a result of the award, he was invited to record Glazunov's Piano Concerto no. 2 with I Musici de Montreal (1998, Chandos Records). The recording was hailed as “by far the best performance on CD” by Strad magazine.
THERESA TOVA
Voice
 In one phrase the essence of a career that spans over 25 years is aptly described but remains incomplete. An award winning actor, singer and writer, she is a "classy, jazzy and deliciously sensuous performer". Some have written about her "sultry voice" and "spontaneous wit", others about the natural way in which she has gone from the Broadway musical stage to Concert and Jazz venues around the world.
Tova's unique approach blends the jazz idiom with Yiddish song, and often alternates between English and Yiddish. Her second CD, Live at the Top O' the Senator, recorded before a live audience at the jazz club, includes a witty Yiddish rendition of Cole Porter's Night and Day (Tog un Nakht), as well as an English version of Vos Geven Iz Geven (What Was Is What Was). It concludes with an electrifying performance of Der Saksafon Shpiler by New York poet Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman.
Tova is completely at ease playing to multicultural crowds at intimate and prestigious Jazz clubs in Toronto, Montreal, Paris and Luxembourg. But then she is also at home delighting thousands at Town Hall or Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, in San Francisco as guest vocalist of conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, or headlining majour festivals such as Toronto's Ashkenaz or the Amsterdam's Jewish festival.
Tova at her most intimate best is a high octane, emotionally charged performer. From Brel to Sondheim, Berlin to Ellington, Yiddish folk and theatre songs to Yiddish Jazz and new Yiddish gems, Tova has found the perfect fusion.
DAVID ROZENBLATT
Drums, Percussion
 David Rozenblatt’s talents have drawn him to all corners of the globe and all styles of music, performing in the world’s most revered concert halls as well as intimate nightclubs. He has performed and collaborated with some of the finest talents in Pop, Jazz and Classical including Barry Manilow, with whom he recorded his latest CDs, The Greatest Songs of the 70’s, The Greatest Songs of the 80’s and four chart topping DVDs, Music and Passion (Platnum), First and Farewell, PBS’s Songs From The 70’s(Double Platnum) and A&E’s Happy Holidays . Barry’s latest Christmas recording, In The Swing Of Christmas which went Gold in the US alone and Grammy nominated for "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album" features David’s trio MaD Fusion, his inspired collaboration with virtuoso pianist Matt Herskowitz and bassist Mat Fieldes, with whom he tours nationally and internationally. MaD Fusion’s debut CD, entitled Forget Me Not - Herskowitz Rozenblatt Project featuring Lew Soloff (Disques Tout Crin) was released to rave reviews and nominated for the Felix Award for “best jazz CD of the year”.
David performed and/or collaborated with The Killers, Paul Simon, Usher, Baby Face, Reba McEntire, Cindy Lauper, Donna Summer, Judy Collins, Micky Dolenz, David Foster, Randy Kerber, Lara Fabian, Jon Secada, Katherine McPhee, Jennifer Hudson, Audra McDonald, Esperanza Spalding, The Ronettes, Paul Shaffer, Will Lee, Little Anthony, Bobby Womack, Ronnie Wood, Dave Koz, Joe Zawinul, Paquito D’Rivera, Ornette Coleman, Adam Holzman, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Mike Keneally, Mark Egan, Pierre Boulez, Dimitri Hvorostovsky, Vladimir Spivakov and Elliot Carter.
David has performed at Madison Square Garden, Nassau Coliseum, the Meadowlands, Gund Arena, Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera House, Avery Fisher Hall, England’s Blenheim Palace, Japan’s Santori Hall, and London’s Barbican.
On Television, David can be seen performing on The 22nd & 24th Annual Rock n’ Roll Hall Of Fames, The Emmy Awards, The American Music Awards, Late Show With David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live, A&E’s Live By Request, PBS’s “Soundstage”, ABC’s Good Morning America, The Ellen Show, The Today Show, The Early Show, Martha Stewart, and BBC Television.
As drummer, producer and composer for the critically acclaimed, Grammy nominated + German Record Critics’ Award winning Absolute Ensemble, David can be heard on the group’s seven released CDs and serves as producer on FIX (Enja Records). He is also featured on many albums of various genres featuring renowned artists, and on the soundtrack recordings for the feature films The Chamber, Wide Awake, You've Got Mail, Swat, Perfume and The Marconi Bros.
On Broadway, David performed in Swan Lake, Smokey Joe’s Café, Sunset Boulevard, The King and I, Miss Saigon, Elton John’s Aida, Jim Steinman’s Dance Of The Vampires featuring Michael Crawford, and Legally Blonde. He has performed with the Met Orchestra, NYC Opera and Ballet, St. Luke's Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Jupiter Symphony, Concordia Orchestra, EOS, Moscow Chamber Symphony, the Moscow Virtuosi, and premiered Mark Anthony Turnage’s Blood On The Floor (originally written for Peter Erskine) as soloist with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in Australia in 2005.
David’s music for Three Point Turn, choreographed by the esteemed Dwight Rhoden for prima Ballerina Diana Vishneva, Desmond Richardson and members of the Kirov Ballet, premiered at New York City Center, The Orange County Performing Arts Center and the Stanislavsky Musical Theater in Moscow. Three Point Turn is part of the highly acclaimed Dance spectacle “Beauty In Motion” for which Vishneva won the 2009 Gloden Mask Award for "Best Female Performer in Ballet or Modern Dance". David's latest commission of Dwight Rhoden’s Othello for the North Carolina Dance Theater premiered in Charlotte, NC to rave reviews.
David received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School where he became a founding member of the critically acclaimed New York Percussion Quartet. Born in the Ukraine, David moved to the United States at the age of four and one year later began playing drums professionally. He began his formal training at the Kaufman Cultural Center in New York City and, following graduation, was appointed to the faculty - a position he held for over ten years. David’s also devotes his time to recording and producing music from his recording studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
David officially endorses © Latin Percussion (LP) and Vic Firth and is on the faculty of Hofstra University as adjunct professor of percussion.
MAT FIELDES
Bass
 Mat Fieldes is one of the most sought-after bass players on the New York freelance scene today. Equally comfortable in Jazz, Rock, Hip-hop, R&B, and Classical genres, Mr. Fieldes has collaborated with such luminaries as Joe Jackson, John Cale, Ornette Coleman, Steve Vai, Peter Erskine, Paquito D'Rivera, Kristjan Jarvi, Joe Williams, Arturo Sandaval, and Toni Tennille among others. His recent appearances include Dream Engine – the latest vehicle for legendary song-writer Jim Steinman. Mr Fieldes was honored to perform with the acclaimed crossover hip-hop virtual band the Gorillaz, live at the Apollo theater, and hip-hop legend Jay-Z at Radio City Music Hall in the spring of 2006. In 2001, he performed on Joe Jackson’s album, Symphony, which won a Grammy Award for “Best Pop Instrumental”.
Mr. Fieldes tours extensively as solo bassist for Absolute Ensemble, an electro-acoustic crossover chamber orchestra, which performs at major venues worldwide. Recent appearances include the Sydney Opera House, Koln Philharmonie, London Barbican, the Estonia Concert Hall, and residencies at Bremen and Adelaide Festivals. In 2000, the ensemble won the coveted German Record Critic's Award for its album Mix. The ensemble received a Grammy nomination in the 'Best Small Ensemble' category for its album Absolution (2002, Enja Records). Current collaborations include recordings and touring with Joe Zawinul, and a Frank Zappa tribute featuring Mike Keneally and Napolean Murphy Brock.
As a soloist, Mr. Fieldes has performed Mark Anthony Turnage's concerto Blood on the Floor, at Miller Theater, New York City, in 2001. In 2004, he performed the same concerto with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Also that year, he premiered Gene Pritsker’s concerto for electric and acoustic bass, Lost Illusions, with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, in front of 30,000 people.
Mr. Fieldes is currently a member of the acclaimed Herskowitz-Rozenblatt Project (HRP). Other performances and collaborations include the New York based Quasilulu, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestras, Continuum, Bronx Arts Ensemble, Second Generation Productions, and the Jose Limon Dance Company.
Mr. Fieldes was born in Hastings, New Zealand. He earned his Master’s degree from The Juilliard School where he studied with Eugene Levinson, Principal Bass of the New York Philharmonic.
LEW SOLOFF
Trumpet
 A fixture on the New York music scene for some 30 years, Lew Soloff's first jobs were with latin artists Machito, Tito Puente, and The Radio City Music Hall Orchestra. At this early point in his career he played with Maynard Ferguson, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Band, Clark Terry, the Joe Henderson-Kenny Dorham Big Band and sat in often with drummer Elvin Jones. In the spring of 1966 Lew started working with Gil Evans, a relationship that continued until Gil's death in 1988, and continues with his son, Miles.
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