On Sunday, October 28th in Philadelphia, a concert took place called Soul Songs: Inspiring Women of Klezmer. It was conceived and led by the one and only Susan Watts, (check out her episode from a while back) and featured a total of 11 women and non-binary klezmer musicians. The concert had only new compositions by these amazing musicians. It was a remarkable event. Great music, great show, great sets, huge sold-out crowd. I wanted to use this episode to get Susan, one of my main klezmer partners in crime in Philadelphia, back on the podcast and give her a chance to reflect on the success of this massive project.
The musicians of Soul Songs are: Susan Watts, Lauren Brody, Zoe Christiansen, Adrienne Greenbaum, Rachel Lemisch, Marilyn Lerner, Cookie Segelstein, Ilene Stahl, Joanna Sternberg, Deborah Strauss, and Alicia Svigals.
Visuals and other work by Jenny Romaine, Tine Kindermann, and many more
Essays by Emily Socolov
Huge thank you to Selina Morales and Toni Shapiro-Phim from the Philly Folklore Project, who made this happen.
No recordings from the concert are available yet, so I’m letting the story speak for itself.
Stay in touch about klezmer in Philly with Susan’s Community Klezmer Initiative.

Photo Credit Alan Lankin