“Where most other klezmer bands rarely get beyond chutzpah and sentimentality, this U.S. - based quartet offers an underlying urgent compassion.” - Toronto Globe & Mail

“A bit of caution is always called for when a program preview calls something "world class." After about two hours with Brave Old World, though, that description deserves to be strongly underlined.” - Offenbach News

The music of Brave Old World combines the artistry of classical music and the freedom of jazz with the vibrant power of the East European Jewish tradition, resulting in a powerful new musical style full of improvisation and musical communication.

Brave Old World has brought festival and concert audiences to their feet throughout the U.S. and Canada, Europe and Israel, offering an experience where daring innovation grows from the deepest roots of tradition.

This is klezmer music on the cutting edge, performed by four celebrated virtuosi of the klezmer music scene. Music director Alan Bern is acclaimed for his prize-winning compositions. Clarinetist Kurt Bjorling is internationally recognized as one of the most inventive interpreters of klezmer music. Stuart Brotman provides multi-instrumental virtuosity. Michael Alpert is renowned for his soulful renderings in the Yiddish language.

Band members:
Alan Bern (musical director, piano, accordion)
Kurt Bjorling (clarinet, bass clarinet)
Stuart Brotman (bass, trombone, cimbalom, cello)
Michael Alpert (vocals, violin, guitar, percussion)

Song of the Lodz Ghetto:
Developed over the last 15 years, Song of the Lodz Ghetto is a unique musical-theatrical work, a song cycle in which memory and imagination freely interact to create a Proustian journey between present and past.

“This amazing and beautiful piece rekindles the passionate Yiddish songs performed by street musicians during the 1940’s in the Jewish ghetto of Lodz, Poland. Facing the nightmare of Nazi occupation and ultimate extermination, these musicians penned and performed a host of defiant tunes. Brave Old World has accomplished a marvelous bit of musicianship in re-creating these stirring songs. While it evokes the darkest years in the history of the Jewish people, it does so via tunes that are wry, poignant and life affirming. Brave Old World’s musical arrangements are vibrant, imparting a wholly appropriate period feel to lyrics gathered from the memories of survivors. History rarely sounds this marvelous. Song of the Lodz Ghetto is designated as a Critic’s Choice.” - Billboard Magazine

Song of the Lodz Ghetto is Newsday’s # 1 Classical CD of 2005

“This performance piece, drawing on little-known music from the Lodz Ghetto and originals inspired by the Shoah, is nothing less than brilliant, a recreation that is not merely respectful but stunningly inventive.” - Jewish Week of New York City

Night Songs from a Neighboring Village:
A compelling creation of Brave Old World and the Canadian – Ukrainian group Paris - to - Kyiv, this program draws from the rich legacy of Ukrainian folk and liturgical song, the virtuosic art of the bandura (Ukrainian harp), Klezmer music, Yiddish folk song, and the music of the Hasidim.

From New York to Constantinople:
The Braves collaborate with the Smyrna Trio to create an exploration of the links between Yiddish and Greek musical traditions.

Bless the Fire: New Jewish Music:
Original and traditional music blend in this program full of poetry and passion, intensity and improvisation, contemplation and abandon.