Singing by Adah Hetko
Hello Dorshei Tzedek community!
I’m glad to share these videos with you. In the first two, I perform with my klezmer band, Burikes. Burikes means “beets” in Yiddish, and I like to think that we are a sweet bunch ;). The first song, “Di Tsukunft” (“The Future”), is a new arrangement of an old activist song by Morris Winchevsy. The lyrics, which I find very inspiring, urge the listener to “banay un bafray undzer alte velt” (“renew and liberate our old world”). The second song, "Valdiks" (“Sylvan”) is my musical setting of a Yiddish poem describing the beauty and drama of the natural world. You can read a little bit more about our video here.
The remaining videos were filmed in 2017 by the Wexler Oral History Project at the Yiddish Book Center. “Di Arbuzn” (“The Watermelons”), sung with Nadja Shannon-Dabek, and “In Droysn Iz Fintster” (“It’s Dark Outside”) are Yiddish folk songs, both about romantic love, that are very dear to me. “A Nay Kleyd” (“A New Dress”) is my setting of a piece by the great Yiddish poet Rokhl Korn, and “You Can Ask Me” is a song that I wrote in English about going to klezmer festivals. Writing, arranging, and sharing music gives me so much joy. I hope you enjoy listening!
-Adah