The Stranniki (The Wanderers) is a collaboration between Polina Shepherd and Psoy Korolenko, renowned multilingual artists in the Yiddish music scene for over two decades. Together, they have toured the U.S. and internationally, performing programs such as “Schlepping the Steppes and the Shtetl.” Their work centers on the themes of the wanderer and the road as a path, blending Yiddish and Russian poetry, folklore, and music from the 19th and 20th centuries with their own compositions. The project reveals a unique continuity of texts, melodies, roads, and destinies—still inspiring and meaningful today, perhaps more than ever.
All Ages $25 Adv/$30 Door
Polina Shepherd, a Siberia-born, UK-based composer and singer, specializes in Yiddish and Russian music, blending East European Jewish, Slavic, and Turkic influences. She has collaborated with artists such as Merlin Shepherd, Lorin Sklamberg, and Psoy Korolenko. During the pandemic, she launched the online project Yiddish Song: Step Forverts, featuring Yiddishists from around the world, and co-produced the CD Undzer Yiddishkayt, showcasing new songs by Eurasian artists. Her work spans choral and orchestra direction, improvisation and theatre, promoting Yiddish music globally.
Psoy Korolenko (Pavel Lion) is a multilingual singer-songwriter, translator, journalist, and scholar, and a Visiting Lecturer at Dartmouth College. A former artist-in-residence at several U.S. universities, he has released numerous albums and books. His eclectic style combines Soviet urban folk, Yiddish theater songs, French chanson, and more. A Recording Academy voting member, he co-organizes the JetLAG Festival in New York and co-created the Grammy-nominated Yiddish Glory, reviving WWII-era Yiddish songs from Ukraine in collaboration with historian Anna Shternshis.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFvWT71znY0daT5luXp5EA3VIXimfWPHK
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