National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene to Kick Off NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND Concert Series, 10/1

The City University of New York will host Notes From the Underground, a concert series, presented by The National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene. The series will play at Hunter College, Brooklyn College, Queens College and Lehman College.

For seven seasons, the Folksbiene@CUNY series has brought exciting new theatrical workshops, concerts and staged readings of classic Yiddish plays to tens of thousands of CUNY students and New York City residents at campuses throughout the boroughs, all for free, with the sponsorship of CUNY Chancellor Emeritus, Matthew Goldstein.

The eighth season opens with NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND, a riveting concert series featuring the "Farbotene Lider" (Forbidden Songs), which were clandestinely shared from Jewish family to Jewish family behind Soviet Russia's Iron Curtain. Other selections include songs from the repertoire of The Barry Sisters who became very popular in the Soviet Union following a good will tour with Ed Sullivan in 1959 as well as songs performed by Paul Robeson who toured Russia on several occasions and became close friends with the Soviet Yiddish poet Itzik Feffer. Songs are performed in Yiddish and Russian with English and Russian translation supertitles.

NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND was conceived of and performed under the musical direction of Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director of The National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene. The lineup will include Broadway veteran Elmore James , renowned Yiddish chanteuse Phyllis Berk, Annette Ezekiel Kogan, Aaron Diskin, Inna Barmash and Yakov Yavno accompanied by Zalmen Mlotek and members of the sensational contemporary Klezmer -band Golem (www.golemrocks.com).

These FREE concerts will be held:

Tuesday, October 1 at 2PM at Lehman College's Lovenger Theater
For tickets call (718) 960-8024

Wednesday, October 23 at 7PM at Queens College's Lefrak Recital Hall
No tickets required

Thursday, October 24 at 7PM at Hunter College's Kaye Playhouse
For tickets call (212) 772-4448

Wednesday, October 30 at 2PM at Brooklyn College's Whitman Theater
No tickets required.

For more information, visit the Folksbiene website at www.nationalyiddishtheatre.org.

The National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene presents cultural programs that connect people to their Jewish roots, while serving as a vital resource for the performing arts in America. Through our work, we: ENGAGE our community with relevant stories by presenting the works of classic and modern Jewish playwrights. Some 50,000 individuals of all ages attend our programs each season. EDUCATE our youth and adults in their Jewish heritage through performance, lectures and interactive workshops. Our outreach program takes events to over 10,000 individuals annually. PARTNER with other organizations to expand its constituent base and to reach out to new communities. BRIDGE diverse communities through multicultural programming.