The program includes music collected in interviews with survivors by Dr. Gila Flam of Hebrew University, an Israeli ethnomusicologist whose father was a Lodz ghetto survivor. Dr. Flam traveled around Israel and the United States to compile the rare songs for her book Singing For Survival (University of Illinois Press, 1992).

While the better-known songs from the Vilna, Warsaw, and Krakow ghettos were written by celebrated poets and composers, most of the songs from the Lodz ghetto were written by unknown street singers such as Yankele Herszkowicz, the main bard of the Lodz ghetto. Herszkowicz would perform in the street on top of a wooden box. Sometimes he would be accompanied by a violinist — until the Nazis confiscated all the musical instruments in the ghetto. The Lodz songs are satirical, humorous, poignant, uplifting, and mournful. In order to create a full theatrical work, Brave Old World arranged the existing songs unearthed by Dr. Flam, and interwove them with original compositions, pre-War klezmer music, and traditional Yiddish songs. Song of the Lodz Ghetto has been performed worldwide, and has been called “the most innovative and emotionally powerful work of New Jewish Music in the world today.”

Nominated the Best Klezmer Band of 2006 by the Jewish Music Awards, Winter & Winter recording artists Brave Old World, whose performers include Alan Bern, Michael Alpert, Kurt Bjorling, and Stuart Brotman, have been creating, performing, and teaching klezmer and New Jewish Music throughout the world since 1989. They have performed and recorded with such notable performers as Itzhak Perlman and at venues as prestigious as Lincoln Center and Radio City Music Hall. Song of the Lodz Ghetto was named by Billboard the Best of 2005 in the World Music category. Newsday called Song of the Lodz Ghetto the Best CD of 2005.

Michael Alpert (voice, accordion, violin, guitar, percussion) has been playing Eastern European klezmer music for 25 years. He is internationally known for his work with Brave Old World, Khevrisa, Kapelye, and David Krakauer. He is an active scholar, producer, and educator in the Jewish ethnomusicology and cultural history fields, and has lectured at Oxford, Columbia, and Yale Universities.

Alan Bern (music director, piano, accordion). In addition to directing Brave Old World, Alan Bern has performed and recorded with the Klezmer Conservatory Band, the Klezmatics, and many others. He is the program director of Yiddish Summer Weimar and maintains a busy teaching and performing schedule around the world. He has an M.A. in Philosophy and a D.M.A. in music composition, and his compositions have received awards in the United States, Europe, and Israel.

Kurt Bjorling (clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, accordion, tsimbl) has been the musical director of the Chicago Klezmer Ensemble since 1984. In addition to his work with Brave Old World, he has toured with the Klezmatics and taught at the annual Yiddish Folk Arts Program, the Multicultural Folk Arts Center’s klezmer music camp, and at numerous European festivals and workshops.

Stuart Brotman (bass, tsimbl, tilinca, percussion, trombone) has toured with the Yiddisher Caravan and performed with The Klezmorim, Kapelye, Andy Statman, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and others. He is a founding member of Los Angeles’ Ellis Island Band and produced The Klezmorim’s Grammy-nominated album Metropolis.