Wednesday, May 15
In Person and Livestream from Kennedy Center in Washington DC
5:00 pm ET Doors | 6:00 pm ET Program
Free | In Person* and Livestream
Registration Required

Registration Coming Soon

Join us in the heart of our Nation’s Capital to honor Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) with an electrifying concert featuring the rich tapestry of traditional Jewish music from Eastern Europe, Turkey, Cuba, South America, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula. Enjoy masterful performances from the exciting lineup of folkloric artists, each weaving their unique sounds and stories into the vibrant fabric of the American Jewish community.

Kicking off the concert and serving as the evening’s house band is Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars, an internationally renowned group that has captivated audiences worldwide with their high-energy performances of traditional Eastern European Jewish music. Also joining the celebration is the Miami-based singer of Sephardic folkloric music, Susana Behar, whose performances blend the traditional sounds of her Turkish Sephardic family roots with her upbringing in Cuba and Venezuela. Rounding out the celebration are Yoni Battat and Yosef Goldman, two musical leaders dedicated to sustaining the sounds of their families’ footsteps through Iraq, Syria and Yemen- the places they had long settled before moving to Israel and the United States. Stay for the collaborative finale, where all musicians join forces for an unforgettable JAHM celebration. Join us in person or online for a diverse and rhythmic musical journey.

People of all backgrounds are invited to join this sonic celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month in our Nation’s Capital or from wherever they can connect to the internet via livestream. Click here for more information on Jewish American Heritage Month.

An Official Program of Jewish American Heritage Month. Produced by the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, the Kennedy Center, and the Recording Academy.

More about the Artists

Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars:

Frank London is the founder and leader of Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars, a group of musicians that celebrates Jewish culture and life through a multicultural lens. London is the cofounder of the Klezmatics, and has honed this particular style of music through his own research as a  musician at Hasidic weddings, as well as collaborations with the Marcovic Brothers in Budapest and The Hasaballa Brass Band in Cairo.

London, a Grammy Award winner, has also been featured on HBO’s Sex and the City and the North Sea Jazz Festival. He has also co-founded the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and has collaborated with the likes of Itzhak Perlman, Simon Shaheen, Iggy Pop, Yaakov Lemmer, They Might Be Giants, Michael Winograd and John Zorn. 

Susana Behar:

Susana Behar is a Miami based singer with a distinct Jewish, Cuban and Venezuelan heritage. Her main interest is in the diversity of traditional music and its dynamic character, as well as its relation to history, culture and storytelling. In 2015, Susana received the Individual Artist Fellowship Award in the Folk and Traditional Arts by the Florida Department of State – Division of Cultural Affairs, and in 2020, Susana served as the Artist in Residence at the HistoryMiami Museum. She has recorded three albums and performed in projects with musicians of diverse backgrounds at festivals and concerts across North and South America, Israel, and Japan.

Yosef Goldman and Yoni Battat:

Rabbi Yosef Goldman is a musician, ritual artist, and educator. He is the Co-Director of the Rising Song Institute. Raised in a mixed Orthodox Ashkenazi and Mizrahi home, Yosef has taught and led prayer in communities of every Jewish movement. He has served as a ba’al tefillah (prayer facilitator) for some of the most spiritually vibrant and creative Jewish prayer communities in the United States and Israel. For over a decade, as a consultant, Yosef has advised synagogues and prayer communities seeking to deepen the communal spiritual experience through musical prayer.

Since getting his first oud at age 16, Yoni Battat has been fascinated with Arabic music and the music of his Iraqi Jewish family. At Brandeis, Yoni began studying Arabic classical music more seriously, working with artists such as Layth Sidiq, Jamal Sinno, and Mal Barsamian. He also enrolled in related courses in Arabic language, Ethnomusicology, and peace-building. He further deepened his grasp of this music while attending the Arabic Music Retreat with Simone Shaheen and while studying at the Middle Eastern Music Center in Jerusalem. While living in Israel, he played with the Hibba Orchestra and Jerusalem East West Orchestra, through which he collaborated with Israeli all-stars such as Ehud Banai, Kobi Oz, Shai Tsabari, Avihu Medina, Yair Dalal, and Ben Snof. Since returning to the U.S., Yoni has been deepening his repertoire of Piyutim (Jewish liturgical poems), working with artists such as Galeet Dardashti and Yosef Goldman and has been writing new melodies in these traditions that he’s come to embody.