State of the Arts Blog

Art Hounds: Yukionna, Web of Sunsets, and a brief history of klezmer

This week the hounds are more than charmed by some lunchtime Japanese opera, some centuries old klezmer music, and some psychedelic folk that may put you in a dream state.

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Dorothy Marden believes that to really understand klezmer music, you need to go back to a time when klezmer was the thread that ran through European Jewish society and culture. Dorothy is co-director of the Minneapolis Yiddish Vinkl, a yiddish cultural organization. She enthusiastically awaits "Re-discovered Yiddish Music," a performance by the Minneapolis klezmer band Eisner's Klezmorim. It'll be at Hamline University's Sundin Hall on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m., with a pre-concert lecture at 7:00.

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Vocalist and Cantus member Shahzore Shah went to see "Yukionna: A Song Cycle," a few weeks ago, and came away feeling stimulated and enriched. It's based on the story of the Japanese snow witch, and features an amalgamation of western opera and Japanese folk traditions. It's also sung in Japanese. It will be sampled as part of the Baroque Room's free lunchtime concert series from noon - 1:00 p.m., Friday, Feb. 21, and performed in its entirety on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7:00 p.m., at the Baroque Room in Lowertown, St. Paul.

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One thing that immediately intrigued Dylan Ritchie about the Minneapolis psych-folk band Web of Sunsets, was the way it combined a sense of austerity with an expansive, kind of trippy sound. Dylan is a guitarist with Prissy Clerks and works at Twin Town Guitars in Minneapolis. Web of Sunsets is releasing its debut full length album "Room of Monsters," with a show at St. Paul's Turf Club on Saturday, Feb. 22.

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