KlezCalendar

John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO & Theodore Bikel, Actor/Recording Star
To Be Honored

October 7, 2003, New York ­ The Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring (WC/AR) will hold the second annual celebration of YIDDISH IN AMERICA on November 6th, 2003, at Town Hall, 123 West 43th Street, New York City, at 7:30pm The evening will celebrate the organization’s ongoing commitment to Jewish community, Yiddish language and culture, and a dedication to progressive values and social action.
The program will feature performances by Broadway and film stars including:

· Award winning Broadway and film star Lainie Kazan, who will emcee the evening,
· Judy Kaye, star of Mama Mia and many hits,
· Two time Tony award nominee Bruce Adler,
· Broadway and Yiddish theatre star Eleanor Reissa,
· Multi-talented performer Joanne Borts,
· Internationally acclaimed Cantor Simon Spiro,
· Internationally acclaimed Yiddish song interpreter Adrienne Cooper,
· An all-star, all-female Klezmer band led by violin virtuoso Alicia Svigals. The band will feature virtuoso clarinetist Eileen Stahl of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, Susan Watts of Mikveh, Canadian jazz-piano star Marilyn Lerner and more.
· The New Yiddish Chorale, the New York City Labor Chorus and the Jewish People’s Philharmonic Chorus will join in a rousing finale to celebrate Yiddish.

YIDDISH IN AMERICA 2003 will also honor several outstanding individuals and one institution, all of which have embraced the passions and ideals of the Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring:
John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO, and America’s preeminent labor leader, reflects the WC/AR’s historic partnership and identification with the American Labor Movement. Early in its history, The WC/AR drew its tens of thousands of immigrant members into the shelter of the unions and continues today in its support of the American labor movement.
Theodore Bikel, internationally acclaimed film, theatre, and recording artist, human rights activist, and an icon of Yiddish and international folk-music,
Motl Zelmanowicz, a Democratic Socialist leader and the current head of the Jewish Labor Bund, and a generous supporter of causes that perpetuate Yiddish language and culture and humanist, democratic values.
Also being honored for their crucial role in promoting and maintaining Jewish identity in America are:
Seena Stein, a prominent New York realtor, and active alumna of the WC/AR’s venerable Kinder Ring summer camp.
The West Side Yiddish Cultural School, NYC, which for eighteen years has served as a creative community force in progressive, secular Jewish education.
The Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring is a national organization. They were instrumental in championing the integration of working class Jewish immigrants into American society, and leading the quest for economic and social justice. Since its inception at the turn of the last century, when ten Jewish immigrants gathered in a tenement flat on the New York’s Lower East Side, WC/AR has been at the forefront of efforts to sustain a vital Jewish future. Along with its social justice mission, the organization maintains a network of Yiddish schools, produces many free Yiddish musical events, supports Yiddish theater, and publishes countless volumes and journals, all with the intention of preserving the cultural legacy of East European Jewry for future generations.
Tickets for YIDDISH IN AMERICA are $250, $100, $50 and $36. They are currently available at the Town Hall Box Office, Ticketmaster, or at The Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter-Ring New York office 212-889-6800 x 301.