Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II at Koerner Hall

7:30 p.m. The 2018 Ashkenaz Festival opening concert brings together jazz singer Sophie Milman and Russia’s greatest living Roma violinist, Sergei Erdenko, heading an 11-member ensemble performing Yiddish songs that describe the Holocaust in Ukraine. Joining them are Erdenko’s renowned trio Loyko; renowned clarinetist Julian Milkis; Juno-winning trumpeter David Buchbinder; Roma accordion virtuoso Sergiu Popa; award-winning cellist Beth Silver; and vocalist Isaac Rosenberg.

Ranging from poignant to defiant, the songs were long thought lost but recently discovered in a former Soviet archive in Kiev. They have also been recorded on a CD of the same title, which has been garnering rave reviews around the world. Among the comments:
A life-changing event” – Marilyn Lightstone, The New Classical FM
“Haunting... Remarkable” – Carol Off, CBC Radio’s As It Happens