2025 Phoenix
Yiddish
Culture Festival
December 4-7
at a glance
The second edition of the Phoenix Yiddish Culture Festival celebrates Ashkenazi art, music, dance, and food through a series of workshops, discussions, concerts, and more. The centerpiece concert at Beth El Phoenix features guest artists Jordan Wax and Miryam Coppersmith with the Phoenix-based Little Chef Klezmer Band.
Festival programs engage Phoenix community members of all ages and backgrounds. The festival is committed to accessibility, with most programming offered free of charge with an optional donation.
Festival Partners
FESTIVAL Artists
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Guest Musical Artist
Jordan Wax is a New Mexico-based multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer. His debut album, The Heart Deciphers, blends klezmer/lautari sounds from Moldova with American Southwest rock aesthetics. Wax creates bilingual children's programming that helps families establish positive contexts around linguistic diversity, including his upcoming release Pantakozak and Other New Yiddish Songs for Kids.
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Dance Leader
Miryam Coppersmith, a Philadelphia-based performance artist and dance leader trained under Yiddish Dance Master Steve Weintraub, will direct the festival's dance programming. Miryam creates an inclusive environment for participants of all experience levels.
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Artistic Director
Max Schwimmer is a classically-trained saxophonist, leader of the Little Chef Klezmer Band, and faculty member at Paradise Valley Community College where he founded the PVCC Klezmer Ensemble. He led the first iteration of this festival in 2024 and earlier that year organized a multi-day artist residency showcasing recently-discovered Ukrainian klezmer manuscripts with guest artist Christina Crowder. Max was awarded a 2024 Artist Opportunity Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts grant to study Eastern European and Balkan saxophone styles.
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Resident Ensemble
Little Chef Klezmer Band (LCKB) is Phoenix's premiere professional Yiddish music ensemble. In January of 2024, LCKB performed in a multi-day artist residency with accordionist Christina Crowder, showcasing recently-discovered klezmer manuscripts from Ukraine, culminating in a concert at Beth El Phoenix. The project was supported by the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix, ASU Jewish Studies, and the East Valley JCC, and was featured in the Phoenix Jewish News. Little Chef Klezmer Band has performed throughout the Southwest US, including in El Paso, TX, and at Albuquerque’s Klezmerquerque festival in a guest appearance with Jordan Wax.
Frequently-Asked Questions
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Yiddish is a language that originated almost 1000 years ago in European Jewish communities, where most American Jews trace their ancestry. It’s a Germanic language with a healthy dose of Biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic, and other European languages, reflecting both the isolation and incoming cultural influences on Yiddish-speaking shtetls (villages). These communities developed rich traditions of music, dance, visual art, storytelling, and more. In the 20th century, waves of Jewish immigrants brought their language and culture to the US, where they blended with American culture. At the same time, forces of modernity, assimilation, and the Holocaust threatened Yiddish culture in Europe, America, and around the world. For Phoenix's Jewish community, the festival provides vital opportunities to reconnect with, reclaim, and advance this rich heritage in the 21st century.
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Absolutely not! Yiddish culture has become part of our shared cultural language, food landscape, and popular entertainment. With infectious music, communal dance, and expressive language, Yiddish culture resonates with people of all backgrounds.
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December 7th festival events take place at Beth El Phoenix, a vibrant and inclusive center of Jewish life in Phoenix. Additional lead-up events take place at venues throughout greater Phoenix. The December 4th jam session will take place at The Dark Side in Tempe. The December 6th Klezmer Night will take place at Linger Longer Lounge in Phoenix.
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No, you are welcome to sit and listen to the concert, and seating is available. But you may find you can’t help it!
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All December 7th events at Beth El Phoenix are open to participants of all ages. Programming designed specifically for kids and families includes the lunchtime concert with Jordan Wax and MIM interactive instrument display. The jam session on December 4th and Linger Longer show on December 6th are 21+.
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Tickets and registration are available at https://www.bethelphoenix.com/yiddish-festival
praise from past participants
“The atmosphere was extremely warm and welcoming. All the attendees were encouraged to join in the dancing. It was very fun and everyone looked happy as we danced around the room. It was a lovely evening.”
“[My favorite part of the festival was] the uplifting and engaging music…[it] elevated my appreciation for klezmer music and dance.
“In times of crisis, there's nothing better than to recommit to re-engaging and learning from our culture…it was wonderful to have an evening to enjoy zhoks, skotchnes, and freylekhs (traditional Yiddish dances).”
Become a partner.
Your support helps provide:
Free or subsidized Ashkenazi food from local kosher caterer for festival participants.
Additional music and dance events leading up to the centerpiece concert, reaching audiences who might not attend an event at a synagogue.
Local and touring guest artists delivering world-class programming.
Live-streaming of the centerpiece concert for those who can’t attend in person.
Professional live concert video reaching online audiences after the event.
More festival attendees through marketing and promotion efforts.
The Phoenix Yiddish Culture Festival needs your support.
With your help, we can bring high-quality Yiddish culture programming to more members of our community.
partner benefits
Sponsorship donations are processed through Beth El Phoenix and may be tax-deductible. Visit Beth El’s 2025 festival page to make your donation. Thank you for your generous support!