Kidz Klez to Bring Klezmer Music to Arts, Beats & Eats

More than 250 musical acts will perform during this year’s Ford Arts, Beats & Eats, which runs today through Monday, including Kidz Klez Band of Michigan.

The children’s orchestra will perform traditional Klezmer music at 1:30 p.m. Monday on the Mirepoix Cooking School International Stage in downtown Royal Oak, said Darren Hessenthaler, president of the group. It is the second consecutive year the band will showcase Klezmer music, a tradition that parallels Hasidic and Ashkenazic Judaism, at the Labor Day weekend event.

Klezmer has "a style all of its own," said Kidz Klez music director Alan Posner, who also is the band director for and .

“It's a mish-mash of jazz, Dixieland and traditional Jewish music from Eastern Europe,” he said. “Klezmer music was developed in the U.S. from Yiddish-speaking Jews ... around the time as Dixieland and jazz were developing. It takes Yiddish melodies and harmonies and puts them into rhythms.”

Posner said the group is composed of musicians who play clarinet, violin, drums, bass, accordion and trumpet — traditional Klezmer instruments.

“But, of course, we are open to any instrument,” he added.

The group has allowed young Metro Detroit musicians to shine at events such as Arts, Beats & Eats.

“It's really a great community group,” said Karen Dubrinsky of Huntington Woods, whose daughter Ari is new to the band this year.

Ari has played the viola for three years in Norup's orchestra, Dubrinsky said.

"Playing for an audience can be scary at first but you get used to it really fast," Ari said.

To prepare, she's been running through the set list, practicing the music and attending the rehearsals, her mom said.

Ari said she enjoys playing the songs that she's heard at her synagogue and likes to share the music with people who aren't familiar with Klezmer. She said she is looking forward to joining the group on Monday.

"I've been to AB&E, but now I get to be a part of it!" Ari said.

Looking for more Kidz

The event is not only a way to show off the group's craft, it also could help recruit a few new members, Hessenthaler said.

“We are always looking for new talent” to join Kidz Klez, he said.

Musicians from grades six through 12 in Metro Detroit are invited to try out, Hessenthaler said. The group practices every other Sunday at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield and Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park.

The group has performed at community events, such as the 's 50th anniversary celebration and Noel Night at Midtown Detroit's Cultural Center.

“We currently have approximately 18 band members,” Hessenthaler said. “I would like to see the band grow so that we can sustain ourselves into the future by having a wide range of ages and abilities in each instrumental section.”

Contact Hessenthaler at dhessenthaler@comcast.net or visit www.kidzklez.com for more information.

Origins of the group

Posner said he was a founding member of Kidz Klez as a player and has been there from the beginning.

The late Stephen Dubov, who was a cantor at Congregation Beth El in Bloomfield Township, started the band 12 years ago, Posner said. A cantor is the person who leads a Jewish congregation in prayer, along with the rabbi.

Dubov started the band as a way to get youths interested in the rich cultural history of Klezmer music. Posner quickly became active with the group.

Eventually, Posner went away to college but was asked to direct the group while doing his student teaching at the University of Michigan. In 2008 he was offered a position at Suttons Bay near Traverse City, so he left the group until recently, when he was called to direct the band and prepare it for its Arts, Beats & Eats performance.

“I'm excited,” he said, adding that it's been tough practicing and getting the performance together before the school year starts but that “it should be a really fun Arts, Beats & Eats.”