The Boston Festival of New Jewish Music is a free monthly concert series presenting original music drawing from the Jewish cultural experience. Hosted by BackRoom at The Boston Synagogue, co-presented by JArts, and live-streaming everywhere, the Boston Festival of New Jewish Music highlights the best in Jewish-influenced music by composers and performers who live right here in our own backyard.
2024-2025 (5785) Season
Welcome the new year with more fabulous music!
Please consider making a tax deductible donation to keep the music going at the Boston Festival of New Jewish Music. It's your support that makes every concert happen. Thank you!
Upcoming shows
Kantika Album Release Concert
Sunday, Febuary 9, 2025 at 3:00 pm
The Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second Street, Cambridge, MA
Join us for the hotly anticipated release of
Kantika, the new Ladino album from Tutti Druyan, Shaqed Druyan, and Edmar Colón.
Kantika is supported by a grant from the Combined Jewish Philanthropies Arts and Culture Community Impact Grant Fund and Live Arts Boston.
From Baghdad to Brooklyn
Sunday, March 16th at 5pm
The Somerville Armory, 191 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA
We are excited to cosponsor, with The Center for Arts at the Armory, From Baghdad to Brooklyn.
From Baghdad to Brooklyn is Michelle Azar’s story of her ancestors’ immigrant journey; charted in a map of music traditions and cultural celebrations. Arts at the Armory’s Spotlight Series is thrilled to present Azar’s original one-woman show on March 16, 2025.
With an angelic voice, deep sentiment and humor, Michelle tells a timely story of a family's love and dysfunction set against an historical and redemptive background.
Azar describes the evolution of From Baghdad to Brooklyn since its inception in 2017: "The show has morphed and continues to do so. Sometimes the story is more about fear. Sometimes it is more about redemption. Sometimes the story tracks more my Ashkenazi background, and sometimes, more my Sephardic. Whatever the course this show takes, it is an ongoing discovery of what it still means to live in vague prejudice, in moments of hidden fears and intolerance as fueled by the historical backdrop that I never lived."
Soloveychicks
Wednesday, March 26th at 7pm
The Boston Synagogue, 55 Martha Road, Boston, MA
What sings like a nightingale and stings like a classic Yinglish pun? It must be Soloveychicks! That's Yiddish for “little nightingales”, oy vey.
Join them for an evening of music and dance featuring their new songs and arrangements from klezmer violinist Rebecca Mac, vocalist Adah Hetko, and folk cellist Giulia Haible.
Philly Invasion!
Sunday, April 6th at 7pm
The Boston Synagogue, 55 Martha Road, Boston, MA
Join the Boston Festival of New Jewish Music for a celebration of the Philadelphia klezmer sound featuring trumpeter and vocalist Susan Watts.
"Susan Watts, the phenomenal trumpeter, has clearly internalized the cantorial voice and found unique ways to replicate them on her instrument. Watts’ playing was the revelation of the evening…" — Seth Rogovoy
The Golden Thread Septet
Sunday, April 27th at 7pm
The Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second Street, Cambridge, MA
The Golden Thread Septet presents "Yiddish Songs of Social Change," a program that explores the nature and dynamics of social change in the 20th century, featuring new arrangements by Craig Judelman.
Covering a wide array of topics including shifting opportunities for women, the struggle for workers’ rights, tensions between religious and secular movements, assimilation and relationship with the outside world, this program gives context and voice to the myriad changes and social struggles faced by Ashkenazi communities of the last century. The ensemble itself reflects this evolving identity as it straddles the line between old time fiddle kapelye and contemporary art ensemble.
Featuring an all-star ensemble made up of beloved Yiddish vocalists Lorin Sklamberg and Sasha Lurje, plus five leading string players from the klezmer scene, Craig Judelman Abigale Reisman, Lysander Jaffe, Raffi Boden, and Kirsten Lamb, this project blends techniques and soundscapes from klezmer music, Yiddish theatre, folk song, cantorial repertoire, and classical music in a program that is equal parts story-telling, chamber music and klezmer concert.
Newton Highlands Klezmer Dance
Friday, May 23rd at 6:00pm
The Hyde Community Center Bandstand, 90 Lincoln Street, Newton, MA
Celebrate Jewish Heritage Month with the 3rd annual Newton Highlands Klezmer Dance!
We'll dance the evening away on the field in front of the Hyde Community Center Bandstand to the sounds of the Boston Festival of New Jewish Music All Stars.
Last year's klezmer dance saw about 200 people at the Hyde. This year, let's see if we can get even more friends, family, and neighbors to join in the fun.
Past Shows
The Somerville Chanukah Party
Thursday, December 19, 2024 at 7:00 pm
The Somerville Armory, 191 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA
Welcome to the second annual Somerville Chanukah Party!
This year, we are delighted to present, for the first time in history, as far as we can tell, a complete live concert performance of the best Chanukah album ever recorded: "The Moishe Oysher Chanukah Party." Featuring a klezmer orchestra drawn from the top klezmer bands in the world and an all star cast of vocalists standing in for the great cantor. If you've never heard "The Moishe Oysher Chanukah Party" before, now is literally your only chance.
Friends, it isn't even on Spotify.
But wait, there's so much more!
An opening performance by Rachel Linsky dancers
Classic Chanukah songs with Tutti Druyan
Yiddish dancing with Ezekiel's Wheels Klezmer Band and friends
The ultimate DJ set with Chaia and Kleztronica!
This is not one to be missed.
Join the Boston Festival of New Jewish Music and all of your friends to dance the night away and celebrate Chanukah (Hanukkah, Janucá, Khanike...) the best way we know how: with music, dancing, and joy.
New Klezmer Dances: Dance Party at the BFNJM
Wednesday, November 20, 2024 at 7:00 pm
The Boston Synagogue, 55 Martha Road, Boston, MA
Join us for our fall klezmer dance party, featuring new music by Artistic Director Nat Seelen and a crackerjack band.
Berkalit
Wednesday, October 30, 2024 at 7:30 pm
The Boston Synagogue, 55 Martha Road, Boston, MA
Come join national award winning Jewish a cappella group BerKalit for an evening full of lush harmonies, wonderful company, and a creative new take on what Jewish music looks like.
This donation link supports PayPal and all major credit cards. Thank you for supporting the #BFNJM and all of our amazing artists!
Get Involved
Volunteer
Behind every incredible event is a crew of wonderful volunteers helping everything run smoothly. Volunteers support the #BFNJM through checking audience members in at the front, setting and striking the room, monitoring the live stream, and more. If you're interested in joining the team, fill out the form below and we will be in touch soon.
Perform
Our success depends on our community of amazing musicians. If you would like to be considered to perform for an upcoming season, fill out the form below and we will respond as soon as we are able.
Donate
Our concerts are free to attend but not to produce. In fact, they're rather expensive, because we're committed to compensating our artists and technical staff appropriately for their work. If you believe that bringing great music to the people of Boston is a worthwhile endeavor, consider making a tax-deductible donation to the #BFNJM today.
Join our mailing list
Because you might not want more emails, but you want ours!
About the #BFNJM
The Boston Festival of New Jewish Music was created by local musicians who believe that:
People find meaning and joy in art and community, and communities come together around shared experiences, especially regular meetings over time.
We all benefit from hearing great concerts and musicians benefit from the opportunity to develop and present new works to people excited to hear them.
A strong cultural ecosystem is part of what makes the Boston area so vital and strong.
Great Jewish music is great music. You don’t need to be from the South Bronx to love hip hop or from Panama to love reggaeton; why should you need to know the difference between the Torah and the Talmud to fall in love with Abigale Reisman’s violin or Zach Mayer’s saxophone? Our music is from a certain cultural place, but it’s for everyone.
Art should be accessible to everyone in our broader community. Especially after the past 18 months has made hearing live music so difficult, we are doubling down on accessibility. Concerts are free and live-streamed for folks who can’t attend in person. For those who can, the venue is totally handicapped accessible and an easy walk from the Red Line, Orange Line, Green Line, and BlueBike stations.
If you believe any of these things, or just want to hear some amazing concerts, join us for this season of the Boston Festival of New Jewish Music.
Partners
Special thanks go out to our partner organizations for believing in and supporting live music at such a difficult time for musicians.
The Boston Synagogue
A wonderful spirit is alive at The Boston Synagogue. We are a warm, small, neighborhood shul, and the only synagogue located in the heart of downtown with Shabbat and Holiday Services 52 weeks per year.
Our Mission is to serve the needs of the diverse community of Jews in downtown Boston, whether through joyful participatory worship, Friday Night Dinners, Saturday morning Kiddush, or Holiday celebrations, as well as with a slew of Cultural Events and other fun and engaging opportunities to connect with our open, vibrant community. The Shul also offers dynamic learning experiences for everyone, from our growing Hebrew School to Adult Education programs.
JArts Boston
JArts™ brings people together to explore and celebrate the diverse world of Jewish art, culture, and creative expression.
We believe in the unique power of arts and culture to build connections. Art, food, literature, music, and more allow us to better understand the life experiences of others as well as our own, and help to build a vibrant and more tolerant future for both our Jewish and Greater Boston communities.
JArts™ creates programs that bring people together — in the Greater Boston area and around the world — to celebrate and elevate the diverse world of Jewish art, culture, and creative expression. Let culture connect us.
CJP - Combined Jewish Philanthropies
At CJP, we are working every day to make our world a better place. We’re raising and investing money, building relationships and growing partnerships to address our community’s greatest challenges, and offering diverse opportunities to build a meaningful Jewish life.
Thank you to our sponsors and supporters!
NEFA
Funded in part by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.
Boston Cultural Council
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Boston Cultural Council, administered by the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture.
Newton Cultural Council
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Newton Cultural Council, a local council that is supported by the Mass Cultural Council and the City of Newton
Mass Cultural Council
CJP
JArts
You?
Donate to the Boston Festival of New Jewish Music at https://paypal.me/bfnjm.
Join the party, just this once or every month!