27 min
An interview with Alan Bern, director of the Yiddish Summer Weimar - "Getting to know 'The Other'". Fiona's Travels Episode Two. Fiona's Travels
-
- Society & Culture
I went travelling for six months in 2018, and recorded lots of fascinating conversations and traditional music and here's the second of my podcasts from that time.
I spent three weeks at the Yiddish Summer Weimar, hosted by the ‘Other Music Academy‘ at Weimar in central Germany, in August 2018. I heard the director, Alan Bern, talking a little about the events in his life and how important he felt it was to get to know those people who were sometimes seen as the ‘other’, and so I asked if he’d tell me a couple of stories on tape. The result was this fascinating half hour interview, which he squeezed in for me between playing for our dance class and a lunchtime meeting with another of the Festival team. Well worth listening to, for Alan’s ideas about giving people 'creative control of their lives' and providing an alternative to consumerism and fundamentalism. The interview includes a ‘you can’t win’ story about contemporary antisemitism, a feel-good story about the Ku Klux Klan (!), the importance of getting away from the commodification, or ‘festivalisation’, of culture, and the background to the setting up of the OMA – the ‘Other Music Academy’. (OMA is ‘Grandmother’ in German, and the ‘Oma house’ is designed to feel like you’re going into your grandmother’s house, a place where you’ll feel safe and nurtured – and where culture can be transmitted and learned in a natural way. )
All being well there’ll be more podcasts from the music and interviews I recorded at #YSW2018 in due course. In the meantime I suggest that you book for #YSW2019 while there's still time! It's a month long event, but the 'festival week', from July 27–August 3, promises to be very special. The two Saturdays will feature numerous special events throughout the day, while from Sunday to Friday there will be a range of introductory workshops (instrumental music, song, dance, Yiddish language) as well as lectures, roundtable discussions and the Late Night Cabaret. Admission to all these events is free. You will also have the chance to make your very own ethnographic recording on wax cylinders, hear three workshop final presentations and, every evening between July 27 and August 3, attend a WORLD PREMIER with music, theater, cabaret, storytelling and more. As their website says, you're sure to find a "creative, illuminating, engaging and inspiring time at Yiddish Summer Weimar".
I went travelling for six months in 2018, and recorded lots of fascinating conversations and traditional music and here's the second of my podcasts from that time.
I spent three weeks at the Yiddish Summer Weimar, hosted by the ‘Other Music Academy‘ at Weimar in central Germany, in August 2018. I heard the director, Alan Bern, talking a little about the events in his life and how important he felt it was to get to know those people who were sometimes seen as the ‘other’, and so I asked if he’d tell me a couple of stories on tape. The result was this fascinating half hour interview, which he squeezed in for me between playing for our dance class and a lunchtime meeting with another of the Festival team. Well worth listening to, for Alan’s ideas about giving people 'creative control of their lives' and providing an alternative to consumerism and fundamentalism. The interview includes a ‘you can’t win’ story about contemporary antisemitism, a feel-good story about the Ku Klux Klan (!), the importance of getting away from the commodification, or ‘festivalisation’, of culture, and the background to the setting up of the OMA – the ‘Other Music Academy’. (OMA is ‘Grandmother’ in German, and the ‘Oma house’ is designed to feel like you’re going into your grandmother’s house, a place where you’ll feel safe and nurtured – and where culture can be transmitted and learned in a natural way. )
All being well there’ll be more podcasts from the music and interviews I recorded at #YSW2018 in due course. In the meantime I suggest that you book for #YSW2019 while there's still time! It's a month long event, but the 'festival week', from July 27–August 3, promises to be very special. The two Saturdays will feature numerous special events throughout the day, while from Sunday to Friday there will be a range of introductory workshops (instrumental music, song, dance, Yiddish language) as well as lectures, roundtable discussions and the Late Night Cabaret. Admission to all these events is free. You will also have the chance to make your very own ethnographic recording on wax cylinders, hear three workshop final presentations and, every evening between July 27 and August 3, attend a WORLD PREMIER with music, theater, cabaret, storytelling and more. As their website says, you're sure to find a "creative, illuminating, engaging and inspiring time at Yiddish Summer Weimar".
27 min