Casco Bay Tummlers continue Lakeside Concert Series with evening of klezmer music

The Casco Bay Tummlers will present an evening of klezmer music on Thursday as part of the Bates College Midsummer Lakeside Concert Series. The concert begins at 6 p.m. and will be held on the open-air terrace overlooking Lake Andrews. The public is invited to attend free of charge. In case of rain, the concert will be held in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall.

Klezmer music began in medieval Europe, where bands of itinerant Jewish musicians went from town to town playing for Jewish festivals and special events. By the 19th century, klezmer music had become a well-developed musical style, taking its inspiration not only from the synagogue, but from the non Jewish culture that surrounded it. In America, immigrant Jewish musicians adapted this music to the new rhythms and instruments they found, creating new klezmer forms. Until the 1940s, klezmer orchestras flourished, but with the new styles of music, and the immigrant Jews’ desire to appear “American,” the klezmer tradition faded. Today, however, a klezmer revival is in full swing.