2nd Annual Memorial Lecture Honoring Henry B. Kamioner Commences at Riverdale Jewish Center, 9/10

Songs tell stories. Yiddish songs are like a folk chronicle of the Jewish people. A leading expert in Yiddish music and theater, Mr. Mlotek will give examples of all kinds of Yiddish folk songs and theater songs and tell anecdotes about the Yiddish theater. He will introduce audience members to the riches of our National Treasure using musical and visual aids. He will also share his excitement about the inner doings and preparation for the National Yiddish Theater - Folksbiene's 100th anniversary in 2015, which will include an International Festival of Jewish Performing Arts.

Zalmen Mlotek is the devoted Artistic Director of The National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene, America’s oldest and only continuously running beloved Yiddish Theater. He served as co-creator, and music director/ conductor of "Those Were the Days,” which was the first bilingual musical honored with a Drama Desk Award and nominated for two Tony Awards. The well known co- production of “The Golden Land,” toured the U.S. and was brought to Italy under the sponsorship of Maestro Leonard Bernstein.“On Second Avenue” an original Folksbiene production was nominated for two Drama Desk awards and toured Los Angeles.

A celebrity in the Jewish theatre and concert worlds, he has performed and lectured through-out the United States and Canada, London, Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Cracow, Amsterdam, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Eilat.
Television credits include “In The Presence of Mine Enemies,” a Rod Serling/Joan Micklin Silver film for Showtime, the “Devil's Arithmetic,” which also aired on Showtime. Mr. Mlotek was also involved with the documentaries “Vilna, Jerusalem of Vilna,” Mandy Patinkin narrating, and “The Free Voice of Labor.”

Mlotek conceived and was musical director for the first All Star Klezmer Extravaganza at Lincoln Center in 1995. PBS filmed it for The Great Performances Series and later released the program on CD and video, and with the participation of Itzhak Perlman, “ In the Fiddler's House” became a best-seller.

Mr. Mlotek was an important member in the award-winning Naxos label Milken recordings of American Yiddish Theater Music. He collaborated with Television and Broadway star Mandy Patinkin for his "Mameloshen” project, and was also invited by Michael Tilson-Thomas to consultant on the PBS documentary honoring the Maestro's famous Jewish theatrical grandparents “The Thomashefsky’s.”

The lecture takes place on Monday, September 10th, at 7:00PM at the Riverdale Jewish Center. For more information please visit zalmenmlotek.com, nationalyiddishtheatre.org, and http://www.goldenland.com/zalmen_mlotek.htm.