PHOTO CREDIT: Angela Jimenez

Isle of Klezbos

PHOTO CREDIT: Gordon Nash

Isle of Klezbos

PHOTO CREDIT: Albie Mitchell

Isle of Klezbos

NYC based ISLE of KLEZBOS sextet approaches Yiddish musical traditions with loving irreverence and profound respect. The soulful, fun-loving powerhouse all women's klezmer sextet has toured from Vienna to Vancouver since 1998. Performing neo-folkloric tunes, re-grooved standards, and genre-transcending originals, the ensemble's gorgeous arrangements range from rambunctious to swinging to ethereal.

ISLE OF KLEZBOS has been seen and heard on HBO, NPR, CBS SUNDAY MORNING, PBS and THE L WORD, as well as enjoying collaborations with artists such as Jill Sobule, Gregg Bordowitz and the Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling Scissor Sisters. Lauded by NEW YORK MAGAZINE for "cutting edge klezmer," and the L.A. BLADE as "rapturous and rollicking," the bandmates' group chemistry is catalyzed by stratospheric solos.

ISLE OF KLEZBOS SHOWS 2025

Tue Jun 24, 2025 7:00 PM

Joe's Pub @ Astor Place

This year’s KlezBiGay Pride show with our full sextet playing Joe’s Pub cabaret stage at The Public — an annual festivity since 1999!

425 Lafayette Street

New York, NY

buy tickets

Sun Jul 13, 2025 4:00 PM

Full Blossom Concert

Isle of Klezbos sextet performs at El Sol Brillante Garden in NYC’s East Village: original music & classic klezmer, al fresco concert! Free to the public w/ special guest & MC: poet Irena Klepfisz, bringing our KlezBiGay Pride tradition back to beloved, eclectic, exuberant neighborhood roots. (Rain location: Sixth Street Synagogue)

522 East 12th Street (betw. A & B)

East Village, NYC

Join Us

Fri Jul 18, 2025 8:00 PM

The Rosendale Theatre Collective

ISLE of KLEZBOS quartet special returns to the wonderful Rosendale Theatre, in New York’s Hudson Valley

408 Main Street

Rosendale, NY 12472

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"Thank you for your gorgeous music!"

Alison Bechdel, Cartoonist

NEWSWORTHY

LMCC Grantee

2025 Manhattan Arts Grant

Full Blossom Concert

We're excited to announce that Eve Sicular & Isle of Klezbos are Lower Manhattan Cultural Council 2025 Manhattan Arts Grant recipients.

Isle of Klezbos Performs Original Music & Classic Klezmer for an Al Fresco Concert!

Yiddish diasporic culture revisits our favorite community garden, El Sol Brillante, located at 522 East 12th St, between Avenues A and B. Free and open to the public w/ very special guest MC Irena Klepfisz, bringing our LGBTQ Pride tradition back to beloved, eclectic, exuberant neighborhood roots. If it rains we'll move indoors to the Sixth Street Synagogue, 325 E 6th St between First and Second Avenues.

This project is made possible in part with funds from Creative Engagement, a regrant program supported by the funding agencies — The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) in partnership with the City Council; The New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and the Howard Gilman Foundation, and administered by LMCC.

Latest Album, Yiddish Silver Screen

Available Now

YIDDISH SILVER SCREEN זילבערנער קינאָ (Zilberne Kino) has dropped! Our latest album celebrates our 25th Anniversary with a reawakened repertoire inspired by forgotten vintage film soundtracks.

"Totally enjoying. Love the style. Hopping from cut to cut, I’m completely digging LIBES SHMERTSN."

Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director, National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene

BUY OUR ALBUM on Bandcamp!

FIND Streaming options at HEAR NOW

Album

Live From Brooklyn

WEARY SUN TANGO live at Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts

Yiddish Culture

Yiddish Film Music Programs

Detroit, Brattleboro & Cambridge

Our Klezbos sextet ciné-concert three-city tour kicked off at the Detroit Jewish Film Festival, moving on to our multi-media quartet show in Brattleboro at Epsilon Spires, finishing up with bandleader Eve Sicular's 2024 Harvard University lecture on Music of the Yiddish Silver Screen Event at the Center for Jewish Studies.

Isle of Klezbos Yiddish film music programs bring fascinating yet often-overlooked soundtrack highlights to new audiences, complete with our unique scholarly insights and spellbinding artistic interpretations.

Sold Out Shows

Long Island, NY

Isle of Klezbos, joined by special guest trombonist Reut Regev, celebrated Women’s History Month to a full house in the Hamptons.

LTV Studios

New York City

ISLE OF KLEZBOS plays 1st sold out show of 2025 on 12 January at City Winery in NYC.

Isle of Klezbos plays NYC City Winery January 2025 photo by Hank Gans

The Loft, City Winery NYC Pier 57 debut

NYC, Delray Beach & BOS

ISLE OF KLEZBOS played sold out east coast tour — YIDDISH SILVER SCREEN release party at Joe's Pub at The Public Theatre in NYC; Florida tour opener at Arts Garage in Delray and the band's debut at City Winery Boston.

Isle of Klezbos and Friends perform at Joes Pub December 2023 photo by Hank Gans

ISLE OF KLEZBOS & FRIENDS celebrated the band's Silver (25th) Anniversary with a full house at Joe's Pub. Guest accordion virtuoso Ilya Shneyveys graced this special show.

Music Video

By the Incredible Alona Bach

Watch this spooky take on ABI GEZUNT: MOLLY'S CAUTIONARY TALE as reinterpreted on track 5 of YIDDISH SILVER SCREEN, featuring guest vocal duo Rachel Weston and Annie Cohen.

Podcasts

Cafe International

Host Daniel Rosenberg

Klezmer Podcast

Keith Wolzinger interviews Eve Sicular

Can We Talk?

Queer Yiddishkeit ISLE OF KLEZBOS Interview with Eve Sicular

Yiddish Culture

Research Article

Photo of Imogene Coca and Danny Kaye in Straw Hat Revue

Eve Sicular’s article Once upon a time, a Yiddish-ish 'Mikado' starred Danny Kaye, Jerome Robbins and Judy Garland explores how a Yinglish showbiz legend began at Tamiment Resort in the Poconos the fraught summer of 1939, with campy coda in wartime Hollywood.

Published in The Forward on April 17, 2024