Congregation Beth Hatikvah
Everyone had a great time at the event and folks just LOVED the band.
—Carol Sullivan/NBC
Summit, NJ
Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
Isle of Klezbos was fabulous . . . the musicianship, the patter, the swing . . . Loved you all, and so glad to hear the tour was well received . . . no surprise there.
—Linda Lucero
Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
San Francisco, CA
Congregation Ner Shalom
You all pack a musically virtuosic punch of wonder and excitement. Your presence onstage is full of light and joy -- what a group! Really, everyone has been marvelling and kvelling.
—Leiah Bowden
Cotati, CA
Congregation Ner Shalom
It was a real treat to finally experience Klezbos live. Amazing talent, and wonderful, easy-going personalities.
—Reb Irwin Keller
Cotati, CA
Institute for the Musical Arts
Isle of Klezbos, who rocked my world today! … Utterly fantastic. This wasn't just klezmer, it was klezmer on fire women-style!!
—June Millington
Co-Founder, Institute for the Musical Arts
Goshen, MA
The Rosendale Cafe
You have a Great band and you know how to get the best out of them. It's very smart, deep, and joyful music.
—Mark Morganstern
The Rosendale Cafe
Rosendale, NY
Oberlin Folk Fest
What a joy it was to spend time with you (and Debra and Pam and Shoko) last Friday! The panel was a wonderful way to begin the weekend, and after all of the amazing music we heard on the second day, the Isle of Klezbos set was still my favorite mind-blowing music of the whole Folk Fest. And such genuinely friendly people you are. Thank you so much for everything...
—Tom Reid
Associate Director
Oberlin College Student Union
Oberlin, OH
Oberlin Folk Fest
...truly a pleasure to have you all at Folk Fest this year. Everyone has been talking about how amazed they were at Isle of Klezbos…
—Sophie Pierson
Organizing Committee
Oberlin Folk Festival
Oberlin, OH
Jewish Museum / SummerNights
Thank you again for a great show! It was a perfect way to end the SummerNights season and we hope to see you back here soon. All best
—Jenna Weiss
Coordinator of Adult Programs
The Jewish Museum, NYC
Brooklyn Museum of Art: First Saturday Concert
It was our pleasure to have you. We had such a great time dancing and enjoying your wonderful music. The Glass Pavilion was absolutely packed for your entire performance! We're looking forward to seeing you again! Thanks!
—Matthew Branch
Adult Programs, Education Division
Brooklyn Museum
CBS News SUNDAY MORNING
Hi Eve and all,
Congratulations on a wonderful performance, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to you as I was shooting… The acoustics in the hall sure sounded great so I think the footage will be very nice. It was a pleasure to meet you all and an honor to record you.
—Douglas W. Smith
Producer, CBS News SUNDAY MORNING
Museum at Eldridge Street/A Landmark Synagogue Story
I just wanted to thank you again for a gorgeous concert yesterday. The staff was all buzzing about it this morning, and Paul and I were re-living it last night. It was just beautiful, so — thank you, thank you!
—Hanna Griff-Sleven, Ph.D.
Director of Family History Center and Cultural Programs
Museum at Eldridge Street/A Landmark Synagogue Story
Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs NY
Thanks so much, Eve! Everything surpassed our expectations. Chris and I and the others had a fantastic time with “the band.” I have continued to get many appreciative comments since last night’s performance. My 13-year-old niece posted on Facebook that you are the Best. Band. Ever. (BBE, I guess would be the shorthand), followed by a heart symbol. Thank you for bringing such great music and energy to Saratoga Springs!
—Auden Thomas, Ph.D.
Director of Summer Academic Programs & Residencies
Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs NY
Bergen Community College (Paramus, NJ)
It was fun, and thank you too for a great afternoon. We sold 220 seats — WOW! That's a record (I think) for our Sunday Sounds Series. Keep in touch … Best, Conny
— Prof. Constance Lee
Director of Community and Cultural Affairs,
Bergen Community College, Paramus, New Jersey
Unison Arts Center (New Paltz, NY)
Thanks for your inspired performance by Isle of Klezbos last night.
Wonderful to draw a full house on such a busy weekend in our area! (Glad to
say we didn't have to turn anyone away but did completely sell out even the
standing room.) We have had many enthusiastically-received shows at Unison
Arts Center, but this may be the first time our audiences gave a standing
ovation before intermission. The variety of band repertoire, with your
striking arrangements as well as the group&$8217;s talent for improvised solos,
and the deftly entertaining comments and elucidations between songs, made
for a beautifully balanced music program and a genuinely warm rapport with
the audience. It was a pleasure cooperating throughout the booking, grant
writing, and publicity process leading up to this show too.
I look forward to working with you in the future. Please send my best to
all the members of your band. Sincerely,
— Stuart Bigley
Executive Director
Unison Arts and Learning Center, New Paltz, New York
People are still grinning ear to ear after your wonderful concert.
— Kitty Brown,
Unison Community Arts Center, New Paltz New York
The Sanctuary Concerts (NJ)
Here’s why Isle of Klezbos are regulars at The Sanctuary Concerts. They
work their tushies off to promote the show and make it a success. Their
energy and charm make klezmer music accessible and exciting to our 'general
public' audience. And, these ladies really have the chops.
— Scott Sheldon, concert chair
The Sanctuary Concerts
Brooklyn Museum of Art First Saturdays series
Outstanding performance… contributed to the spirit of the festive occasion. The First Saturday crowd is a large, enthusiastic and diverse bunch; [IOK] proved to be a big audience pleaser. Isle of Klezbos’ astounding sound and eclectic mix of Jewish Klezmer and American Pop was a perfect choice for the world music segment of First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum; people were clapping and stomping to the sound! … Great energy… professionalism and expertise.
— Mona Smith, Adult Programs Manager
Brooklyn Museum of Art
Kingsborough Community College
It is my great pleasure to recommend Metropolitan Klezmer and Isle of Klezbos, and most especially leader of both bands, Eve Sicular.
During the past decade, I have presented Eve and her two ensembles at different venues and events in New York City, including the Brooklyn Museum's internationally acclaimed outreach program (First Saturdays) and this college's Free Sundays series of world music and dance.
Metropolitan Klezmer and Isle of Klezbos play with passion, panache, and pride. Both groups will charm the first-time listener while earning the respect of any critics, die-hard klezmer fans, and ethnomusicologists in the audience. I have watched diverse crowds of twenty-something Brooklyn hipsters get up and dance in the aisles with Orthodox Jewish couples three times their age. I have seen families with delighted kids shouting out for encores. I have watched people excitedly buying their first klezmer CD (perhaps their first world-music recording) in the lobby of my theater.
Eve Sicular is simply tops when it comes to making every performance a rewarding collaboration between presenter, artist, and audience. Talk with her about your goals for program content and audience development and you will find her a thoughtful, creative, innovative partner. Listen to her chat with the audience from the stage or in the lobby and you will find her a warm, engaging, and inspiring speaker (and a brilliant scholar). And to cap it off, Eve is also one of the most professional bandleaders you will ever encounter — she handles every business matter from booking to performance in a timely and efficient manner. Now that is a presenter's dream!
I will gladly provide any additional information, but my best advice is: Book them soon!
Best regards,
Mona Z. Smith
Executive Director, Performing Arts and Special Events
Kingsborough Community College
Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs New York
A superb six-woman band from NYC… They have wonderfully creative, sophisticated arrangements of familiar klezmer tunes, plus lots of klezmer you’ve probably never heard before. The singing is plaintive and operatic and the playing is soulful, just as this music should be… Highly recommended.
— Sarah Craig
Club Manager/Booker
Caffe Lena
National Yiddish Book Center, Amherst Massachussetts
Fabulous show… this time was no exception. The audience was packed with enthusiastic, foot tapping, hand-clapping, and otherwise rhythmically engaged satisfied patrons. Our only regret was that the packed house didn’t allow enough room for dancing in the aisles, as many people were inclined to leave their seats and be moved by the music. The crowd that reluctantly straggled out at the end of the show was among the happiest, most energetic we’ve seen at the Book Center.
— Laura Sheppard-Brick
Programs coordinator
National Yiddish Book Center
Merkin Hall, KLEZMER ON ICE with the Stonewal Chorale, NYC
Thanks to you and your band for sounding so fantastic. The audience ate it up. And so did we. There were over 300 there for sure… You guys rocked the house!
— Bruce Weinstein
Concert Producer, Stonewall Chorale
Great Dames Productions, Kingston New York
Just want to touch base and tell you how much I, and everyone I have heard from, loved the show… You were wonderful.
— Linda Boyd Kavars
Producer
Great Dames Productions, Kingston NY
Edison Theatre, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
Double bill with Cowboy Envy
We really liked the final number of the show, Jambalaya with the Isle of Klezbos and Cowboy Envy together! … Come on by, we’ll have a kosher cowboy dinner! … Seriously, thanks for an enjoyable evening!
— Nancy Benson
St. Louis, Missouri
About Isle of Klezbos
My band, Cowboy Envy, played with them at Washington University [St Louis, MO]. They are wonderful, gifted musicians and a whole lot of fun!
— Berne Poliakoff
Decatur GA
Hanuka at Congregation Kolot Chayeinu, Park Slope, Brooklyn
It was such a wonderful concert… We have all been saying all week what fun it was, what gorgeous music you all made, how great it was to dance, and on and on. So, many, many thanks, and we look forward to hearing Isle of Klezbos again in the not too distant future.
— Rabbi Ellen Lippmann
Congregation Kolot Chayeinu
Park Slope, Brooklyn
CNN Worldbeat, December 2000
If you have any music recorded on CD I’d love to hear more.
— Neil Curry
Senior Producer
CNN Worldbeat
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PHOTO CREDIT Michael Bloom