about us

Yene Velt Yiddish String Ensemble and Burial Society plays the klezmer music of Jewish Eastern Europe, featuring the traditional instrumentation of violins and tsimbl (hammered dulcimer). The repertoire is drawn from 100-year old recordings, manuscripts collected by traveling folklorists, and original compositions, and ranges from mournful violin laments to lively dances, melodies that tell stories of exile and exaltation, struggle and liberation.

In Yiddish, Yene Velt means “other world”, and can refer to the time of redemption, to the superstitious realm of dybbuks and demons, or just a far, far away place. Our music comes from another world that no longer exists, but continues to haunt us, echoing through our bones, through the streets of Montreal, and through worlds we’ve only begun to imagine.