As a collector of materials and stories from our human, natural and cultural landscape, artist  Benny Ferdman reinterprets images and tales to reclaim wonder in everyday life. His  journey has led him through broad explorations of diverse cultures, to a more intimate engagement with East European Jewish traditions, history and the Yiddish language he grew up with. His paintings, sculptures and installations are animated by a mix of folkloric and natural forms, ancient text, the past, the present, renewal and contradiction.  (see more)

Susan Hoffman Watts represents the youngest generation of an important klezmer dynasty that reaches back to 19th century Jewish Ukraine, beginning with her great-grandfather, Joseph Hoffman. Susan is the sole living purveyor of the family’s traditional klezmer trumpet sounds which electrified audiences for decades and have been featured in several documentaries. (see more)

Sarah Jagoda Larsson is a performing musician and folklorist devoted to building resources to preserve and celebrate folk tradition. Sarah tours internationally as a vocalist and percussionist in The Nightingale Trio, an ensemble singing contemporary arrangements of Jewish and Slavic women’s music from Eastern Europe. (see more)

Widely recognized for her expertise in both Yiddish and Balkan vocal traditions, Ethel Raim is a master singer of unaccompanied Yiddish ballads and lyrical love songs. Raim first gained recognition with American audiences during the folk revival of the 1960s as the co-founder and director of the influential all-women’s a cappella group, The Pennywhistlers.  (see more)

Originally from Riga, Latvia, now based in Brooklyn, NY, Ilya Shneyveys is a multi-instrumentalist, educator, composer, arranger, and producer of Yiddish music. With expertise spanning from traditional klezmer accordion to experimental and fusion projects, Ilya performs and teaches at festivals around the world in venues ranging from local bars to Carnegie Hall. (see more)

Author of Born to Kvetch, columnist, bon vivant and raconteur, Michael Wex has been called “a Yiddish national treasure;” Born to Kvetch, the best selling book ever written about Yiddish, was hailed by The New York Times as “wise, witty and altogether wonderful.” (see more)