Photo by Nina Sydoryk '25. The Warbeke Room hosted the Five College Klezmer Ensemble's performance on Sunday evening.
Nina Sydoryk ’25
Staff Writer
Shortly after 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 23, Pratt Music Hall’s Warbeke Room came alive as Mount Holyoke’s Klezmer Ensemble entered while joyously playing the first piece of this year’s performance.
The group, made up of both MHC and Five College students, is led by professional Klezmer musician Adrianne Greenbaum. The kapelye’s performance featured traditional Jewish singing and dancing, which originated in the 18th-century, centering around the theme of matrimony.
Greenbaum captivated the audience from the beginning — and would continue to command the audience’s attention for the duration of the evening with her humorous personal anecdotes and warm manner. The entire performance had an informal quality, allowing it to communicate the nature of its theme brilliantly. The audience could feel that they were following the timeline of a marriage, mostly from the perspective of women. This included an act of two ‘mothers-in-law,’ performed by a couple of enthusiastic ensemble members who lamented the marriage of their children, only to erupt into a joyful dance together. A Yiddish-English rendition of a young wife bemoaning the failure of her marriage and reminiscing on single life, earned more than one chuckle from the back row.
Olive Benito-Myles ’26 shone in her rendition of A Yor Ersht Nokh Mayn Khasene (A Year After My Wedding). Her voice permeated the entire room with a powerful expression and tune. Her passion and dedication to the performance were evident, and the joy of shared performance was clear in the mid-piece interactions between musicians.
Between each piece, Greenbaum spoke directly to the audience and introduced the next part of the story, returning each time to accompany the rest of the ensemble on piano.
Members of the audience often participated in dancing and were able to express themselves comfortably due to the heartening feeling inside the room. The event cultivated a certain intimacy due to the size of its performing group and audience, to the extent that it did not feel like a performance at all, but rather a gathering of community members sharing in one story.
In one memorable piece, audience members encircled two others sitting back to back on chairs, in a faux congratulatory celebration, wishing the pair well as they danced in circles.
Overall, the event highlighted the necessity and value of cultural expression. This is important in communities, such as Mount Holyoke, that aim to cultivate shared experiences and introduce students to diverse perspectives and art forms.
The performance was attended by both MHC students and Pioneer Valley community members. Notably, the unexpected number of students in attendance – leading to the addition of a few extra chairs – reflects perhaps a larger internal issue; despite many opportunities and on-campus events, MHC clubs and organizations are seeing generally low turnout from the student body.
The success of the Klezmer performance itself reveals the tremendous potential of community engagement, and the ensemble will be looking forward to another triumphant performance in the next year.