Elizabeth Schwartz is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

vocalist, concentrating on

klezmer Klezmer ( or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these wou ...

music and the Romanian

Yiddish dialect Yiddish dialects are varieties of the Yiddish language and are divided according to the region in Europe where each developed its distinctiveness. Linguistically, Yiddish is divided in distinct Eastern and Western dialects. While the Western dial ...

. She primarily records with her husband

Yale Strom Yale Strom is an American violinist, composer, filmmaker, writer, photographer and playwright. Strom is a pioneer among klezmer (musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe) revivalists in conducting extensive field research in Cen ...

and

Hot Pstromi Yale Strom and Hot Pstromi is a U.S.-based klezmer ensemble that was started in 1982. The original line up was Strom (violin), Andy Statman (clarinet and mandolin), Mark Dresser (bass), Ismail Butera (accordion) and Seido Salifoski (percussion). ...

but has collaborated in performance and recordings with notable musicians from the jazz and folk music worlds, notably Muzsikas, Damian Draghici,

Alicia Svigals Alicia Svigals (born 1963) is an American violinist and composer. A co-founder of the Grammy-winning band The Klezmatics, she is considered by many to be the world's foremost living klezmer fiddler. Early life Alicia Svigals, violinist, composer ...

Salman Ahmad Salman Ahmad (, born 12 December 1963) is a Pakistani born-American musician, rock guitarist, physician, activist, occasional actor and professor at the City University of New York. He earned nationwide popularity in 1998 for his unique sty ...

, Marta Sebestyen and others. The subject of Romanian filmmaker Radu Gabrea's documentary film, ''Searching for Schwartz'' (2007), she was also featured in his previous documentaries "Goldfadn's Legacy" and "Romania, Romania". She also recorded music for the soundtrack of '' L'Chayim, Comrade Stalin!'', a documentary film directed by her husband and frequent collaborator Strom. On March 18, 2012, Schwartz was invited to become the first woman in history to sing at the 125-year-old

Eldridge Street Synagogue The Eldridge Street Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue at 12–16 Eldridge Street in the Chinatown and Lower East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. Built in 1887 for Congregation Kahal Adath Jeshurun, the synagogue ...

in Manhattan, effectively breaking the ban of

kol isha ''Tzniut'' ( , , ; "modesty" or "privacy"; ) describes the character trait of modesty and discretion, as well as a group of Jewish laws pertaining to conduct. The concept is most important within Orthodox Judaism. Description ''Tzniut'' i ...

in this landmark cultural venue.

Career

Before becoming a vocalist, she was a Hollywood film executive - companies where she worked include Simpson-Bruckheimer Films and Morra-Brezner-Steinberg-Tenenbaum. As a writer, Schwartz collaborated with Strom on "A Wandering Feast, A Journey Through the Jewish Culture of Eastern Europe" (Jossey-Bass) and contributed a chapter on klezmer vocal technique for "Shpil! The Art of Playing Klezmer" (Scarecrow Press). Also with Strom and author

Ellen Kushner Ellen Kushner (born October 6, 1955) is an American writer of fantasy novels. From 1996 until 2010, she was the host of the radio program '' Sound & Spirit'', produced by WGBH in Boston and distributed by Public Radio International. Backgroun ...

, she created the award-winning audio drama "The Witches of Lublin". Her subsequent audio drama, "Debs in Canton" (2021) won multiple awards including gold for excellence in writing.

Music

Elizabeth Schwartz began performing with

and

in 1996. Her first recording "Garden of Yidn", was released by Naxos World Music and appeared on Canada's Mundial Top World Music list. It was called "A landmark in modern Yiddish song" by Sing Out! Magazine and received numerous four-star reviews. She next appeared on the Naxos World CD "Cafe Jew Zoo". To date, her other recordings are "Dvekes/Adhesion", a collaboration with Yale Strom, Mark Dresser, Marty Ehrlich, Diane Moser and Benny Koonyevsky on the Global Village Music label; "Borsht with Bread Brothers" (Arc Music UK), "The Absolutely Complete Klezmer II" (Transcontinental Music), "The Devil's Brides" (Arc Music UK), "City of the Future" (Arc Music UK) and "Yale Strom's Broken Consort: Shimmering Lights" (Arc Music UK). She performs regularly with both Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi and the multifaith ensemble Common Chords, which also features Yale Strom,

, Samir Chatterjee,

Sunny Jain Sunny Jain (born 1975) is an Indian American dhol player, drummer, and Indo jazz composer. He is recognized as a leading voice in the burgeoning movement of South Asian-American jazz musicians. His albums have received international acclaim fo ...

, Mark Dresser and others.

Writing and blogging

Schwartz co-wrote the audio drama "The Witches of Lublin", starring Tovah Feldshuh and the book "A Wandering Feast" with her husband and frequent collaborator, Yale Strom. She contributed a chapter on the technique of klezmer vocals for "Shpil: The Art of Playing Klezmer" (Scarecrow Press). She also wrote the award-winning audio drama "Debs in Canton" starring Philip Proctor. Her recipes and commentary have been featured in "A Wandering Feast", the online food magazine "The Weiser Kitchen.com" and in the Monday Morning Cooking Club's international cookbook "It's Always About the Food".

Discography

*"Garden of Yidn" (Hot Pstromi & Klazzj, 2000), Naxos World *"Cafe Jew Zoo" (Hot Pstromi, 2002), Naxos World *"Dveykes/Adhesion" (Strom, Diane Moser, Marty Ehrlich, Mark Dresser, Benny Koonyevsky, Elizabeth Schwartz, 2006), Global Village *"Borsht with Bread Brothers" (Hot Pstromi, 2007) Arc Music UK *"Absolutely Klezmer, Volume II" (Hot Pstromi, 2007), Transcontinental/URJ *"The Devil's Brides" (Hot Pstromi, 2011), Arc Music UK *"City of the Future" (Hot Pstromi 2015), Arc Music UK

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwartz, Elizabeth 1964 births Living people American folk singers Place of birth missing (living people) Jewish American musicians Klezmer musicians American bloggers