This week Lori Lippitz, the founder and manager of the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, which has toured the US and Europe and recorded six CDs, spoke to the club.
After studying Slavic Languages and Literature at the Universities of Michigan and Chicago, Lori devoted herself to restoring the “joy of klez” to the Chicago Jewish community. Under the auspices of the Klezmer Music Foundation, Lori started the Junior Klezmer Orchestra, mentoring young people in klezmer music and Yiddish songs. Among her other current Klezmer Music Foundation projects, she manages three congregational klezmer bands as well as the Salaam-Shalom Music Project, an interfaith orchestra combining members of Maxwell Street and members of the Chicago Muslim musical community. Lori also serves as a Cantorial Soloist at several congregations including the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation (Evanston and Ahavat Olam (Glenview).
History of Maxwell Street Klezmer Band
Founded in 1983 by Lori Lippitz, Maxwell Street has played at Carnegie Hall, toured Europe, and provided the celebratory soundtrack for Chicagoland’s simchas (Jewish parties) for almost 4 decades. The band marked its 30th “Bandiversary” at The Old Town School of Folk Music in 2013, and will return there for its 40th Anniversary Concert in 2023. The band was featured with The Lyric Opera of Chicago in the world’s first klezmer opera, and performed with Chicago Sinfonietta in a classical klezmer composition created for violinist Alex Koffman (“Klezmer Rhapsody” by Ilya Levinson) at Chicago’s Symphony Center.
Maxwell Street has five commercial CDs (Shanachie Entertainment). As part of their grassroots mission through their not for profit (Klezmer Music Foundation), Maxwell Street directs three community klezmer bands and the Junior Klezmer Orchestra. They are also the founder of the interfaith ensemble, The Salaam-Shalom Music Project.
The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band preserves and innovates the traditional performance style of Eastern European immigrant musicians. The band's violinist and musical director, Alex Koffman, and co-founder, clarinetist/saxophonist Shelley Yoelin, meld their classical and jazz sensibilities into a unique sound that pleases audiences of all ages.
Links below are a few video clips of the different groups from the Klezmer Music Foundation:
An original Klezmer Recording:
Maxwell Street Klezmer Band:
Junior Klezmer Orchestra:
Salaam-Shalom Music Project: