ENGLISH CORNER, CON LINDA JIMÉNEZ – This week’s trivia question:  About how many people participate in the workshops and how many attend the concerts during the Yiddish Summer Weimar festivals?

Yiddish Summer Weimar began as a weekend workshop in 1999. Today it spans a whole month and has become one of the world’s leading summer programs for the study, creation and presentation of traditional and contemporary Yiddish culture. 

The week-long workshops that make up the backbone of YSW are taught by leading international artists and scholars in an atmosphere that encourages learning, discussion, creativity, individuality and community. During the special Festival Week, nightly concerts feature the best of today’s artists performing Yiddish and other Eastern European music, while the daytime program offers hands-on mini-workshops in Yiddish language, music, dance, cooking and more for all ages and levels of experience, as well as a film series and other public events. 

Throughout the years, YSW has garnered many international prizes, grants and other accolades.

Other Music Academy is a non-profit organization based in Weimar, Germany.  Its mission is to be a “creation tank,” an education center and a sociocultural community resource, where artists, scientists and socially progressive people from around the world join to exchange ideas, create projects, teach, and interact with students and other communities to promote an intercultural philosophy.

Ben Niran does translations and international press relations for Other Music Academy, and he spoke with us about Yiddish Summer Weimar, which is one of their major projects.

This year YSW will be held from July 12-August 17. If you would like to see a list of the events and workshops, and maybe register for one, go here.