Veretski Pass Klezmer Trio: Ukrainian, Polish and Jewish Melodies

(Gorgeous photos above and below courtesy of Bill Johnston, Jr., taken during last year's Calliope presentation of Veretski Pass.)

Veretski Pass is a trio of Jewish Music veterans who have been at the forefront of the klezmer revival for over 25 years. Their output spans the ultra-traditional to the Avant Garde. Taking their name from the mountain pass through which Magyar tribes crossed into the Carpathian basin to settle what later became the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Veretski Pass offers a unique and exciting combination of virtuosic musicianship and raw energy that has excited concertgoers across the world. The trio plays Old Country Music with origins in the Ottoman Empire, once fabled as the borderlands of the East and the West. In a true collage of Carpathian, Jewish, Rumanian and Ottoman styles, typical suites contain dances from Moldavia and Bessarabia; Jewish melodies from Poland and Rumania; Hutzul wedding music from Carpathian-Ruthenia; and haunting Rebetic aires from Smyrna, seamlessly integrated with original compositions. Their CDs have repeatedly been on the 10-best recording lists of journalists since 2002.

• Masking is encouraged as an individual choice; this protects everyone from the spread of viruses. Masks will be readily available to those who want one.
• Up-to-date immunizations (including flu, COVID, pneumonia and RSV) are strongly encouraged.
• Hand sanitizer will be available, and is encouraged.
• Whenever weather permits, we will ventilate our spaces to the maximum degree possible, and employ the use of air purifiers.
• If you have tested positive for COVID, or feel at all unwell, we urge you in the strongest possible way to stay home.

Very best,

Calliope: East Bay Music & Arts Board of Directors

Cookie Segelstein, violin and viola, received her Masters degree in Viola from The Yale School of Music in 1984. Until moving to California in 2010, she was principal violist in Orchestra New England and assistant principal in The New Haven Symphony, as well as on the music faculty at Southern Connecticut State University. She is the founder and director of Veretski Pass, a member of Budowitz, The Youngers of Zion with Henry Sapoznik, has performed with Kapelye, The Klezmatics, Frank London, Klezmer Fats and Swing with Pete Sokolow and the late Howie Leess, Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys, and The Klezmer Conservatory Band. Cookie has presented lecture demonstrations and workshops on klezmer fiddling all over the world, including at Yale University, University of Wisconsin in Madison, Marshall University in Huntington, West VA, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, University of Oregon in Eugene, Pacific University, SUNY-Cortland, and at Klezmerwochen in Weimar, Germany. She is a regular staff member at Living Traditions' KlezKamp, KlezKanada, KlezCalifornia, Klezmer Festival Fürth, Klezfest London, and has been a performing artist at Centrum's Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Wash.  

She was featured on the ABC documentary, “A Sacred Noise,” heard on HBO’s “Sex and the City”, appears in the Miramax film, “Everybody’s Fine” starring Robert De Niro, and is heard on several recordings including Veretski Pass, Trafik and The Klezmer Shul, Budowitz Live, the Koch International label with Orchestra New England in The Orchestral Music of Charles Ives, Hazònes with Frank London, A Living Tradition with the late Moldovan clarinetist, German Goldenshteyn and Fleytmuzik with Adrianne Greenbaum. 

She is also the publisher of "The Music of..." series of klezmer transcriptions. Active as a Holocaust educator and curriculum advisor, she has been a frequent lecturer at the Women’s Correctional Facility in Niantic, CT. She is on the boards of both the North California Viola Society, and the American String Teacher Association, Bay Area chapter. Cookie is also an Apple Certified Support Professional, and owns and operates The Macmama. Cookie lives in Berkeley, with her husband, Josh Horowitz, a dog and her occasionally visiting adult children.

Joshua Horowitz, 19th Century button accordion, Tsimbl (hammered dulcimer) received his Masters degree in Composition and Music Theory from the Academy of Music in Graz, Austria, where he taught Music Theory and served as Research Fellow and Director of the Yiddish Music Research Project for eight years. He was chosen as the co-curator and orchestrator by the San Francisco Symphony for its Jewish Installment of their “Currents” series 

He is the founder and director of the ensemble Budowitz, a founding member of Veretski Pass and has performed and recorded with Itzhak Perlman, The Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Theodore Bikel, Ben Goldberg, Rubin and Horowitz, Brave Old World, Adrienne Cooper and Ruth Yaakov. His music was recently featured in the British film, “Some of my best friends are... Jewish / Muslim”, awarded the Sandford St. Martin Trust Religious Broadcasting Award and is also featured in the new film by Jes Benstock, "The Holocaust Tourist". 

His recordings with Veretski Pass, Budowitz, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Rubin & Horowitz and Alicia Svigals, have achieved international recognition and he is the recipient of more than 40 awards for his work as both composer and performer.

He was one of the co-founders of the Austrian experimental composer collective, “Die Andere Saite” and received the Prize of Honor by the Austrian government for his orchestral composition, “Tenebrae.” Following his children’s Opera, “Der Wilde Man”, Joshua received The “Award for Outstanding Talent in Composition” from the City of Graz and was twice finalist in the National American ASCAP competition. While teaching at the Graz Academy of Music he was awarded both The David Herzog and Fritz Spielman Awards, and received ongoing support from Louise M. Davies for his dedication to music creativity and education.

In 2001, Joshua’s group, Budowitz was chosen by the Austrian government to represent the country in the International Celebration of World Culture’s held at the “House of the Cultures of The World” in Berlin.

Joshua taught Advanced Jazz Theory at Stanford University with the late saxophonist Stan Getz and is a regular teacher at KlezKamp, Klezkanada, KlezCalifornia and the Klezmer Festival Fürth. His musicological work is featured in four books, including The Sephardic Songbook with Aron Saltiel and The Ultimate Klezmer, and he has written numerous articles on the counterpoint of J.S. Bach. Josh lives in Berkeley with his wife Cookie.

Stuart Brotman, 3-String Bass, baraban, has been an accomplished performer, arranger and recording artist in the ethnic music field for over 50 years. A founding member of Los Angeles' Ellis Island Band, he has been a moving force in the klezmer revival since its beginning, and has defined klezmer bass (“It’s a large instrument that plays really low and has an accent.”) 

He holds a B.A. in music with a concentration in Ethnomusicology from the University of California at Los Angeles, and has taught at KlezKamp, Buffalo on the Roof, the Balkan Music and Dance Workshops, Klezkanada,  KlezCalifornia, and numerous European festivals and institutes, including Oxford University, Klezfest London, Yiddish Summer Weimar, Klezmer Festival Fürth, and the Krakow Jewish Festival.

Stu has been recording, touring, and teaching New Jewish Music with world class ensemble, Brave Old World since 1989, and is featured in the PBS Great Performances film and CD, “Itzhak Perlman, in the Fiddler’s House,” and in the 2010 documentary, “Song of the Lodz Ghetto, with the music of Brave Old World.”  

Long admired as a versatile soloist and sensitive accompanist in traditional and pop music circles, he has toured and recorded with Canned Heat, Kaleidoscope, and Geoff and Maria Muldaur, and played cimbalom on Ry Cooder’s celebrated recording, “Jazz,” which premiered at Carnegie Hall. 

Stu appeared in the Los Angeles production of Joshua Sobol’s “Ghetto,” the San Francisco production of “Shlemiel the First,” by Isaac Bashevis Singer, played cimbalom in “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” and contrabass balalaika in “Love Affair.”

He produced The Klezmorim's Grammy nominated album, "Metropolis," and has recorded with The Klezmorim, Kapelye, Andy Statman, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, Davka, The San Francisco Klezmer Experience, and Khevrisa. Stuart lives in Berkeley, California.

• Masking is encouraged as an individual choice; this protects everyone from the spread of viruses. Masks will be readily available to those who want one.
• Up-to-date immunizations (including flu, COVID, pneumonia and RSV) are strongly encouraged.
• Hand sanitizer will be available, and is encouraged.
• Whenever weather permits, we will ventilate our spaces to the maximum degree possible, and employ the use of air purifiers.
• If you have tested positive for COVID, or feel at all unwell, we urge you in the strongest possible way to stay home.

Host or Publisher Calliope: East Bay Music & Arts