Just off Tower Lane, the “606 Dance” had burst into bloom. Saxophones shrieked, and flute responded in a trilling, high voice. Bass hummed and rumbled, cuing in the violins. In the front row, Fanya Mayzlina heard strains of her childhood in old Kyiv, before the second World War upended her entire life. 

Mayzlina, whose story of survival spans three countries and almost nine decades, looked to music as a bridge Monday night, as members of the Nu Haven Kapelye arrived at The Towers at Tower Lane for their annual Hanukkah concert. For both residents and musicians, the concert has become tradition, bringing many in the retirement community back to their roots. 

“We lost our Jewish roots,” said Mayzlina, a Holocaust survivor who came to the U.S. with her mother in 1991. “We lost our culture, Jewish culture, in Russia. We were interrupted far away from our culture. And I am deeply grateful … we need to revive our culture. It’s necessary to be close to it.” 

Monday, she pointed to the Kapelye as a powerful life force, reuniting many European Jews with a vital piece of their history. As the sky darkened outside, musicians opened on “Turetskaya,” horns wailing to life as Artistic Director David Chevan held it down on bass. All the way to the right, Eli Jackson, Steve Jacobs and Seth Rosenthal joined in on violin. Back in the woodwind section, the clarinet and saxophones were having a party. Jay Miles came in with a rolling drumbeat that took it back to 1912.

“It’s time to celebrate Hanukkah, yes!?” Chevan said, his eyes darting around the room in search of a menorah. He spotted a tinsel-wrapped Christmas tree in the back of the room and kept looking. Off mic, Cynthia Astmann flipped off the flashlight on her phone and began to wave it. “We’re gonna have to have a menorah in our minds. Our imaginary menorahs.”

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By Brian Slattery

Nu Haven Kapelye, sometimes billed as New England’s largest klezmer band, saw out the final days of 2021 with two concerts — one on Dec. 25 at Congregation Mishkan Israel and one on Dec. 31 as part of Yiddish New York​’s globe-spanning, 24-hour Klezathon — that saw the ensemble carrying on longstanding traditions, expanding its reach, and exemplifying the tenacity of musicians and music to get through another pandemic year with spirits intact. 

“We managed to make it work, and not do one, but two shows within a week, which was really cool,” said Nu Haven Kapelye bassist, bandleader, and arranger David Chevan. 

In the modern era, bands playing klezmer (or, to sum it up all too quickly, traditional Jewish music from Eastern Europe) tend to be smaller, with one musician per instrument and an emphasis on virtuosic solo playing. Not so the Kapelye, which draws its strength from its numbers, entire sections of strings and horns, with Chevan in the middle, leading the charge from his bass. In its approach, the Kapelye resembles both a big band and, reaching into the past, the large klezmer ensembles, like Belf’s Rumanian Orchestra or Abe Schwartz’s Yiddisher Orchestra, of the first half of the 20th century. 

In Europe before the Holocaust, Chevan pointed out, while rural Jewish communities might have had small music groups, ​“ensembles tended to be bigger in urban areas.” In cities like Warsaw and Prague, ​“centers of Jewish culture, you had these theater bands,” akin to the big bands in the early years of jazz. ​“There were these opportunities for larger professional ensembles,” Chevan said. The urban enclaves were the result of, on one hand, greater freedoms for Jews in Europe in the 19th century that allowed them to live in cities commingling more easily with non-Jews, and on the other hand, baked-in antisemitism that meant Jews tended to live with other Jews. They ​“might have been equal, but they were separate,” Chevan said. It set the stage for escalating violence that culminated in the Holocaust. Hitler ​“couldn’t have come to power” with his antisemitic message ​“if there wasn’t a culture for it that already existed.” 

Chevan had that history in mind as the Nu Haven Kapelye took shape in 1998 for its first Dec. 25 concert at CMI and Chevan began making charts for the variety of musicians he knew he would be working with. ​“I use a mental model in my head of what it would mean to have a klezmer orchestra or big band,” he said. For many of the musicians in the Kapelye, the group is their first chance to play klezmer. The Kapelye ​“creates an opportunity for people to get to know the music,” Chevan said. 

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By Lucy Gellman

It was just moments into “Ocho kandelikas” that Izzy Juda stood up, extended a hand to Sylvia Rifkin, and turned the dining room into a dance floor. Onstage, the Ladino tune conjured a Bosnia that no longer existed. Four rows back, Juda and Rivkin slipped into a seamless tango. Between them, there were 200 years of Hanukkah history, spanning Vienna and Kiev to Brooklyn and New Haven. 

Celebration filled the dining room at The Towers at Tower Lane Thursday night, as members of the Nu Haven Kapelye welcomed the fifth night of Hanukkah for over 60 residents of the assisted living home. In an audience were listeners who have survived the Holocaust, fought in World War II, passed the century mark, weathered a global pandemic—and still believe in this season of miracles. 

“I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to see so many friends and so many familiar faces out there,” said bassist David Chevan, who leads the group.

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Our film Mazel, conceived, directed, and edited by band member Jay Miles, is an official selection of numerous film festivals and was recently awarded Best Music Video by the LA Sun Film Fest. 

The singer sways at the mic, gliding into one last song for the night. Behind her, the band looks on, ready to pack up. An accordionist approaches, still playing. The singer caresses the mic, spots the musician. Her hands, gloved, flutter like tiny birds. Her arms reach out to their full wingspan. As the accordionist sits, she touches them lightly on the shoulder.

The singer is Cynthia Astmann, a member of the Nu Haven Kapelye who has helped make a pandemic-era music video into a reality. Thursday night, the group dropped a cover of the 1938 song “Mazel” just in time for the final night of Hanukkah. It is the brainchild of band member and teacher Jay Miles, with cameos, production help and sound mixing from fellow bandmates and musician Steve Rodgers. As a final Hanukkah gift to New Haven, jazz soloist Frank London appears on trumpet. 

"It all kind of came together, and I'm just really delighted,” Miles said in a recent phone call. “For me, it was incredibly needed. This is what I do. I do things with people. With Covid, you’re usually in a different room, and the cables are the only thing you're interacting with. It was really invigorating, and really special, to see these people. I feel really lucky.”

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To our Friends and Fans, 

We have sad news. Our friend Stacy Phillips, a man who was many, many things, including a Grammy award winner, a bluegrass legend, and a founding member of the Nu Haven Kapelye, died Tuesday, June 5, 2019 around 9:30pm. He was 74 years old. He experienced a massive heart attack on Sunday and from then on it was just a matter of time. He was surrounded by his family, his sister and his niece and nephew. 

Stacy was his own person and that was reflected in the life he led as a musician. He was a part of the Nu Haven Kapelye from the very first December 25 concert ever held. Stacy wrote arrangements of old Klezmer songs for us. He mentored everyone, whether we wanted it or not!!  And he was an incredible teacher for our newbie members.  Whenever someone wanted to learn more about Klezmer and Eastern European Jewish music Stacy would send them YouTube videos or little charts.  He brought something to this group that we are never going to forget and that we will sorely miss.  It is hard to believe he is dead. There is a wonderful obituary about Stacy in the New Haven Independent. 

On Sunday, June 10, we participated in a musical memorial for Stacy at Café 9 in New Haven. We were joined by so many other musicians, bands, students, and fans who all paid tribute to him.  There’s a great article about that event in the New Haven Independent. 

Zichronoh l’vrachah. 
May his memory be a blessing.

Nu Haven Kapelye gains 501(c)3 status 

Multigenerational klezmer ensemble, now in its 20th year, evolves from grassroots group to nonprofit organization 

NEW HAVEN, CT  | The Nu Haven Kapelye, a multigenerational community klezmer ensemble, is proud to announce that it is now a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. The change will allow the musical organization to accept donations and apply for state and federal grants. The ensemble is led by bassist and arranger David Chevan, who has been appointed to serve as Artistic Director.  

The Kapelye (Yiddish for band) began in the late 1990s as an ad hoc ensemble that performed an annual concert on December 25 at Congregation Mishkan Israel in Hamden. Now the group, whose members range in age from 10 to 80+, performs regularly in venues from bars to senior living centers to festivals. Performances can feature anywhere between six and thirty musicians. Members rehearse on a semi-regular schedule, and Chevan has begun teaching classes for beginning players 13 and under. The annual December 25 concert has continued to grow and draw loyal audiences.  

“For the past 20 years, the Nu Haven Kapelye has been a grassroots ensemble,” said Chevan. “I certainly couldn’t have imagined this when we started. But even grassroots organizations have a way of slowly evolving. We’ve gone beyond being a group, and are now officially an organization.”  

Musically, the band’s new status changes nothing: the Kapelye will continue to play a mix of Yiddish music, klezmer, and (occasionally) other Jewish pieces.  

“What will change will be our ability to get funding to support educational initiatives and specific artistic works,” said Chevan. “We can be an institution that keeps klezmer and other Jewish music traditions alive in our area.” Chevan hopes to embark on another recording project in the future, as a follow-up to the album What’s Nu?, released in 2016. 

The Board of Directors of the Nu Haven Kapelye is led by Anna Reisman and Michael Ross, co-presidents; Dalton King, treasurer; and Cary Jacobs, secretary. Additional board members are Dana Astmann, David Chevan, Isaiah Cooper, Steve Jacobs, Hedda Rubenstein, and Jim Serling. 

Upcoming performances include an appearance at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas main stage on the New Haven Green on Friday, June 21 at 2:30 PM, and a klezmer Shabbat service at Congregation Mishkan Israel on Friday evening, June 28.  

For more information, please contact info@nuhavenkapelye.com.