Michael Alpert

Who is Michael Alpert?

Michael Alpert is a klezmer singer and multi-instrumentalist and has been called a key figure in the klezmer revival of the 1970s and 1980s. He has played in a number of groups since that time, including Brave Old World, the New York Bandura Ensemble, Khevrisa, Kapelye, and also with clarinetist David Krakauer and bandurist Julian Kytasty. He is also a noted teacher of Yiddish folkdance and has worked to see dance retake its traditional place in klezmer music.

Alpert has travelled in Eastern Europe and the Americas to find older musicians, and wrote an article in American Klezmer : its roots and offshoots about an elderly klezmer drummer called Ben Bazyler. He can also partially be credited for reviving the use of rhythm "sekund" fiddling in klezmer music, an important aspect of traditional klezmer string bands which had fallen out of use in the revival.

He was also musical director of the PBS special Itzhak Perlman: In the Fiddler's House.