An Evening with Brivele & A Glezele Tey

Join us for an unforgettable evening of klezmer, Yiddish folk song, folk-punk, and tkhines—where tradition meets resistance, and music carries the spirit of care, courage, and collective liberation.

Brivele (Yiddish for “little letter”) is a Seattle-based ensemble who braid together Yiddish song, anti-fascist and labor balladry, folk-punk, and contemporary rabble-rousing in stirring vocal harmony. Like letters that travel through time and across borders, their songs pick up traces of history—dirt, aromas, fingerprints. They have been sent to lovers, have fomented revolution, have been censored, burned, and salvaged. Brivele delves into the archives of Yiddish anti-fascist musical tradition, bringing to life anti-authoritarian satire, mournful remembrance, and hidden political commentary in folk ditties and theater classics. Their music is a correspondence across generations—our ancestors’ voices speaking clearly and defiantly to the present moment.

A Glezele Tey (Yiddish for “a little glass of tea”) is an ensemble featuring acclaimed klezmer musicians and composers Ariel Shapiro, Rachel Leader, and Richie Barshay. They offer an intimate concert of klezmer, Yiddish folk songs, and tkhines—traditional Ashkenazi prayers centering women, trans, and gender-nonconforming voices—set to newly composed melodies. Drawing from archival recordings and contemporary diasporic life, A Glezele Tey’s music is grounded in community, ritual, and care, lifting collective voices to move through grief, inspire action, and imagine a frayer velt (a freer world).

Come be part of an evening of song and spirit that honors the past, celebrates resilience, and envisions liberation through the power of Yiddish music.