Our Story
The Nu Haven Kapelye was formed in the late 1990s when a small group of local musicians came together to create a concert of Jewish music for the greater New Haven community on December 25. Over the last 15 years, the group has become a year-round klezmer big band. Our members include professional musicians, students, and a whole bunch of amateur community members who love to make music. Each year, more musicians have joined the group to sing or play. When we perform, we can number anywhere from six to more than 30 musicians. That probably makes us one of the biggest klezmer bands anywhere, and we can certainly lay claim to being the largest klezmer group in Southern New England. In addition to our annual December concert, we’ve played at concerts, summer festivals, weddings, and bar and bat mitzvahs.
International Festival of Arts & Ideas - New Haven - June 18, 2015
Musicians & Alumni
Over the years we've had a lot of musicians play in the Kapelye. Here’s a list of most of them, with the most recently in action in green)
drums
Jay Miles, Logan Sidle, Jesse Chevan, Jacob Zonderman, Stanley Friedman
guitars & mandolins
Michael Allen, Henry Sidle, Jonathan Zabin, Seth Zabin, Louis Pollison, Bennett Kottler, Martin Levson, David Sack, guitar
Craig Harwood, Al Harary z"l, mandolin
trombone
Michael Ross, Isaiah Cooper, Jim Berger
trumpet
Sophia Colodner, Ben Kerman, Noah Chevan, Jason Jacoby, Ari Kagan, Sarah Gans, Mike Moss z"l
saxophone
Will Bartlett, Dalton King, Mark Kaplan, Mandi Jackson, Miles Singer, Joel Abraham, Jessica Bloom, Richard Blum, David Elkin-Ginetti, Fred Lowenbaum z"l
violin
Seth Rosenthal, Steve Jacobs, Ari Kagan, Yoni Battat, Stacy Phillips z"l, Jacob Begemann, Jacob Pollison
flute
Anna Reisman, Cary Jacobs, Elise Miller, Hedda Rubenstein, Elina Stelman, Elana Kagan, Meri Harary Fleischman
clarinet
Jim Serling, Eli Zabin, Nancy Horowitz, Eran Avni-Singer, Olivia Gross
accordion
Dana Astmann, Christina Crowder, Fred Smith
bass
David Chevan, Jonathan Zabin, Sheri Levson
the singers
Hedda Rubenstein, Jackie Sidle, Cynthia Astmann, Cantor Arthur Giglio, Lauri Lowell, Linda Soha, Yoni Battat, Jonathan Zabin, Michael Allen, Bert Belford, Cantor Shoshana Lash, Cantor Dorothy Goldberg, Laurel Shader, Anna Zonderman, Sascha von Crewald, Stacey Wyner, Cantor Martin Levson, Seth Zabin
cello
Jill Polisson
baritone horn
Dorothy Payne
pianists
Dani Battat, Dan Lovins, Bob Cooper, Richard Gans, Eli Zabin
Whitneyville Festival - Hamden - September 12, 2015
