Lorin Sklamberg is a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning Yiddish-American roots band the Klezmatics; his composition “Happy Joyous Hanukkah” with lyrics by Woody Guthrie has been published in choral arrangements by Hal Leonard.
He has been heard on many recordings and live shows, solo and in collaboration with diverse artists such as Jane Siberry, Odetta, Chava Alberstein, Emmylou Harris, Tracy Grammer, Neil Sedaka, Natalie Merchant and Tony Kushner. He has written and performed for film, dance, stage and circus, and has produced recordings of world and theater music. He also teaches Yiddish song from São Paulo to St. Petersburg.
His and Frank London’s Hasidic “spiritual” programs have resulted in three critically acclaimed recordings. Projects include “Saints and Tzadiks” with Dublin-born chanteuse Susan McKeown, the score for Erik Anjou’s documentary “Deli Man” (USA, 2014); the Semer Ensemble, a celebration of Jewish recordings made in Berlin 1933-38; the award-winning Yiddish-Bavarian Alpen Klezmer with Andrea Pancur and Ilya Shneyveys; Sklamberg and the Shepherds (traditional and original Yiddish, Russian and South Mediterranean music), and composer Jocelyn Pook’s “Drawing Life” (JMI), a multimedia song cycle commissioned by the Jewish Music Institute of London.
By day, Sklamberg serves as the sound archivist of New York’s YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSO by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
