From the Bronx to the Bosphorus: Klezmer and Other Displaced Musics of New York with Walter Zev Feldman and András P. Hámori

Join author and pioneering klezmer performer Walter Zev Feldman for this conversation about his book From the Bronx to the Bosphorus: Klezmer and Other Displaced Musics of New York with Princeton Professor of Near Eastern Studies András P. Hámori.

This event will take place in person at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library on the 7th Floor.

From the Bronx to the Bosphorus explores the vibrant, yet largely concealed, musical culture of New York, tracing its origins to a period when the city served as a crucible for immigrants and their diverse musical expressions. Walter Zev Feldman chronicles his journey through the musical landscapes of post-WWII New York—from the declining world of East European immigrant klezmorim to the dynamic environments of Greek, Armenian and Caucasian musicians.

The unique social conditions in Feldman’s ancestral homeland in Moldova had given rise to a centuries-old musical symbiosis, linking Ashkenazi Jews, local Roma/Gypsies, Greeks, Turks and Tatars. Memories of this powerful musical fusion still survived in New York, even in the 1960s, among older Greek musicians. It formed the vanguard of the klezmer revitalization that Feldman helped to create during the following decade. The episodes from his earlier life related here portray the mysterious legacy of these forgotten ancestors in mid-twentieth century New York.

To join the event in person | Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form 30 minutes before the program.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Walter Zev Feldman is a leading researcher in both Ottoman Turkish and Jewish music. During the 1970s he spearheaded the revival of klezmer music. Today he is a performer on the klezmer dulcimer, the cimbal, and on the Ottoman lute, the tanbur. He had taught at Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, Bar Ilan University and at NYU Abu Dhabi. His book, Music of the Ottoman Court: Makam, Composition, and the Early Ottoman Instrumental Repertoire (Berlin, 1996; Brill 2024) is taught as a basic text worldwide. His Klezmer: Music, History and Memory, was published by Oxford University Press (2016) and is regarded as the most authoritative treatment of klezmer music in Europe. Between 2011 and 2015 he researched the Jewish, Roma and Greek musical traditions of Moldova/Bessarabia, sponsored by NYU Abu Dhabi. Feldman is also an authority on Ashkenazic dance, forming part of his current research on the role of gesture in the performing arts, which he taught in the NYU Abu Dhabi core course “Gesture” (2013-15) and in NYU on the Square (2018). In 2017 he gave a series of workshops on this topic in Tokyo, Moscow, and Montreal. In 2004 he co-directed the successful application of the Mevlevi Dervishes of Turkey as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity for UNESCO. His book, From Rumi to the Whirling Dervishes: Music, Poetry and Mysticism in the Ottoman Empire, supported by the Aga Khan Music Programme, was published by Edinburgh University Press (2022). Feldman is currently is the academic director of the Klezmer Institute, a board member of the Corpus Musicae Ottomanicae Project of the University of Münster, and of the Istanbul Research Institute.

András P. Hámori was Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton. He was born and raised in Budapest and began the study of Arabic and Persian at the University of Vienna in 1958. After moving to the United States, he received his A.B. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton and Harvard. He taught at Princeton for over forty years, and especially enjoyed his courses on classical Arabic poetry and the Hebrew poetry of medieval Spain. His pioneering studies on classical Arabic literature are distinguished by thorough scholarship joined to perceptive criticism. They showed that classical Arabic poetry, which scholars had valued only for the linguistic or historical data they could mine from it, is a complex literary tradition worthy of the critic’s attention and, when properly understood, a source of pleasure to its reader. He reports that since retirement his principal occupations have been improving his Greek and struggling toward mediocrity at the cello.

GET THE BOOK

• Borrow: NYPL Catalog


• E-Book app: SimplyE, available on iOS and Android


• This event will also include signing and sales of the book by our Library Shop.

Don't have a New York Public Library card? Get one here!

ACCESSIBILITY NOTES

In-Person

• Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue.


• You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.


• This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs.

CONNECT WITH US

Sign up for our e-newsletters to stay up to date on upcoming events and Library offerings.

Please submit all press inquiries to Connor Goodwin at least 48 hours before the event: email connorgoodwin@nypl.org.

SUPPORT THE LIBRARY

The New York Public Library's free services and resources are made possible thanks to the support of the Friends of the Library. Join this group of Library lovers and take advantage of special membership benefits, like invitations to members-only virtual events, discounts at the Library Shop, and more. Join now.

All programs are subject to change or cancellation. 

The 7 Stories Up Series at SNFL is made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).