Grammy Winners Celebrate Music at Museum of Jewish Heritage

On Wednesday, March 3 at 7 p.m., Irish chanteuse Susan McKeown and Klezmatics vocalist and accordionist Lorin Sklamberg will perform in Saints & Tzadiks, a unique concert that weaves musical tales from the Yiddish and Gaelic traditions. They will be joined by guitarists Erik Della Penna and Eamon O'Leary.

Tickets are $20, $15 for students and seniors, $10 for members, and are available online at www.mjhnyc.org or by calling the Museum box office at 646.437.4202. This program is presented in association with The Irish Arts Center.

Culled from rare archival material and old recordings, McKeown and Sklamberg have selected songs of various themes from the Jewish and Irish traditions including love, death, betrothal, betrayal, and the demon drink. The bulk of the Jewish material is drawn from the Ruth Rubin Archive at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, where Sklamberg serves as Sound Archivist. The Irish songs come from both the popular and ancient Gaelic traditions. The performance is based on their popular recent album, also called Saints & Tzadiks (World Village, 2009). The CD features several songs, many of which have never been recorded before, that blend Yiddish and Gaelic together. The result can be haunting, exuberant, or comical depending on the mood of the song.

Susan McKeown is widely acknowledged to be one of the most powerful and innovative voices in Irish music. Since her debut Bones (1995) she has produced 10 albums of original and world music and built an impressive career through her many releases, extensive touring, and performances on programs such as A Prairie Home Companion, All Things Considered, World Café, and Mountain Stage and for PBS, Absolutely Irish, Sessions at West 54th, and American Masters. Susan has performed with Pete Seeger, Natalie Merchant, Billy Bragg, and many others.

The Klezmatics are globally renowned world music superstars - and the only klezmer band to win a Grammy award. They have performed with folk singers Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, and Odetta, classical virtuoso Itzhak Perlman, singer-songwriters Ben Folds and Natalie Merchant, Beat poet legend Allen Ginsberg, and many others. Lorin Sklamberg can be heard on more than 50 CDs, and regularly collaborates with his Klezmatics bandmates for various projects. He composes and performs for film, dance, stage, and circus, produces recordings, and teaches and lectures.

Guitarist Erik Della Penna spent the latter 1990s as a session musician for the likes of Joan Osborne, Natalie Merchant, and Yazbek. In 1999, he and Dean Sharenow formed Kill Henry Sugar, the well-received New York band.

Originally from Dublin, guitarist Eamon O'Leary has toured extensively with various groups throughout Ireland and Europe. He has recorded in the US, Ireland, and Europe and has played with the Eileen Ivers Band, Paddy Keenan, James Keane, and Emer Mayock, among others

About the Irish Arts Center
Founded in 1972, the Irish Arts Center is the leading non-profit institution in New York bringing the very best of Irish arts and culture to audiences of all ages and ethnic backgrounds. Located in the heart of Manhattan's historic "Hell's Kitchen", the Irish Arts Center is one of the largest and most inclusive Irish cultural organizations in the United States. More than 35,000 people of all ages and ethnicities participated directly in Irish Arts Center programs in 2006 alone, plus many more through print and broadcast media coverage of theatrical and musical engagements, education programs, festivals, and special events.

About the Museum of Jewish Heritage
The Museum's three-floor Core Exhibition educates people of all ages and backgrounds about the rich tapestry of Jewish life over the past century-before, during, and after the Holocaust. Special exhibitions include The Morgenthaus: A Legacy of Service, on view through December 2010 and Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow: Jewish Refugee Scholars at Black Colleges, on view through February 21. The Museum offers visitors a vibrant public program schedule in its Edmond J. Safra Hall. It is also home to Keeping History Center, an interactive visitor experience, and Andy Goldsworthy's memorial Garden of Stones. The Museum receives general operating support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.