Photo: Shendl Copitman
Di Naye Yidishe Melodyes
The project "Di Naye Yidishe Melodyes“ (New jewish Melodies, Yiddish) is a concert program by Mark Kovnatskiy, consisting of his original music written in the style of traditional Klezmer, Hasidic, Moldovan, and Ukrainian music, presented for the first time in 2020.
Mark started composing his own music back in 2004, just a year after he started playing Yiddish music. But his most productive period of composing began in 2018. In 2020, Mark had the idea to create a concert program consisting exclusively of his own music.
As a result, many of his melodies began to be performed by both klezmer and classical performers around the world, from the USA to Japan, for example, the musicians of the San Francisco Symphony (USA) and Neue Philharmonie Westfalen (DE), Steven Greenman (USA), "Klezmer Loshn" (FR), "Dreydel Orchestra" (JP).
Mark Kovnatskiy performs his program both alone, accompanied by accompaniment recorded by him using a variety of musical instruments, creating the effect of the sound of an ensemble of 2 to 10 participants, and accompanied by a live band with a non-fixed cast.
Mark Kovnatskiy Ensemble
The first performances of the ensemble created by Mark Kovnatskiy at the end of 2023 called Mark Kovnatskiy Ensemble are planned for 2024; the world premiere of this ensemble will take place as part of the 25th Festival der Klesmer- und Weltmusik on May 25th open air at Klesmerplatz in Salzgitter- Bad, Germany.
In his ensemble, Mark has collected the crème de la crème of today's German klezmer scene, including:
Pianist, accordionist, composer, one of the pioneers of the klezmer revival of the 1980s; leader of such ensembles as Brave Old World, Semer Ensemble, and The Other Europeans; Director of the international festival Yiddish Summer Weimar, Dr. Alan Bern.
Contrabassist, poet, cabarettist, participant in many jazz and world music projects, such as Jürgen Kok Trio, André Krikula Trio, and Les Hommes du Swing, Axel Burckhardt.
Violinist, singer, frontman of one of the most successful klezmer-Balkan groups Dobranotch, member of the group Forshpil, Mitya Khramtsov.
One of the world's leading klezmer drummers, a percussionist, also a member of Dobranotch, member of the group Forshpil, Evgenii Lizin.