When I first arrived to the event I was excited as this was my first time being with a small musical group since my days in band in high school. When the group started rehearsing, I was very happy listening, as I had never heard that type of genre before and didn’t know what to expect, but soon really got into the music as it was very energetic!

In the rehearsal I learned that Cornell’s Klezmer ensemble was formed by one of the guest professors practicing, Professor Joel Rubin! I was surprised to learn to learn that he had created the performing group, that included a variety of people from Cornell’s community (students all the way to Professors!), that was successfully able to develop and grow, even after he left the university, to the point of being able to perform concerts. This shows that at Cornell, you are able to create and accomplish near anything you want as long as you are determined and find the right people to help you.

The Klezmer event was really memorable. Cookie, the leader, was really kind and supportive; I’m a violist, which isn’t exactly a traditional Klezmer instrument — but she showed me some of the most extreme basics of the style, and the entire group welcomed me into their rehearsal!

At first I listened in from the outside, but I had a giant clunky viola case with me which was sort of hard for them to miss. So I was invited to sit in and play, which was really, really nice, considering I have never played the genre before and my exposure with it is relatively minimal. There are fun tips and tricks they let me know; if you hear the beat getting rhythmic, grinding your bow against your string (causing a dark, gritty noise) adds to the beat and keeps time!

So even if I wasn’t playing something particularly interesting or loud, they made sure I always had something I enjoyed playing. That’s key, I think — that night, I went onstage with them at Anabel Taylor hall, and had so much fun performing with such an excellent group of players. Their experience was immediately visible, and I think from the videos I’ve seen, my inexperience with the genre was similarly visible, but I because of their instruction, I looked like I definitely belonged! That’s all I could ask for, and I’m eternally grateful to the ensemble for the opportunity.