Yale Strom

Gradually, his focus increased to examining all aspects of their culture, from post-World War II to the present. He was among the first of the klezmer revivalists to identify the connection between klezmer and lautare (Roma/Gypsy musicians) and explore that connection in his scholarly and artistic works. In the more than three decades since his initial ethnographic trip, Strom has become one of the world's most productive and influential scholar-artists of klezmer culture and history.

• Name — Yale Strom • Birth Name — Yale Strom • Born — 1957 • Birthplace — Detroit, Michigan • Instrument — Violin • Genre — Klezmer • Occupation — Violinist, composer, film director, writer, photographer, playwright • Years Active — 1981 –present • Spouse — Elizabeth Schwartz • Website — yalestrom.com

Strom was born in Detroit in 1957, and moved to San Diego with his family at the age of 12. His parents were David Strom, a teacher and later a college professor, and Phyllis Newman Strom, a caterer. He is the eldest of eight siblings in a traditional Jewish family with socialist leanings, graduating from Crawford High School in 1976. Strom attended San Diego State University, where he was an All-American long-distance runner. He received dual bachelor's degrees in American studies and art, with a focus on furniture design and wood sculpture. He pursued further education at New York University from 1982 to 1984, earning a master’s degree in Yiddish studies while also working at YIVO, a Yiddish research institute.

Yale Strom's klezmer field research helped form the base for the repertoires of his klezmer band Hot Pstromi based in NYC and San Diego. Since Strom's first band, Zmiros, began in 1981, he has been composing his own New Jewish music, which combines klezmer with Hasidic nigunim, Romani, jazz, classical, Balkan and Sephardic motifs. These compositions range from string quartets to a symphony, which premiered with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and his solo violin composition called "Bessarabia Suite" that was commissioned by Rachel Barton Pine. He composed original music for the Denver Center production of Tony Kushner's "The Dybbuk". He composed all the New Jewish music for the National Public Radio series "Fiddlers, Philosophers & Fools: Jewish Short Stories From the Old World to the New", hosted by Leonard Nimoy, as well as numerous film scores. List of CD recordings: "Cholent With Huckleberry" (Rounder, 1985), "Eclectic Klezz" (Rounder/Global Village, 1987), "With A Little Horseradish on the Side" (Global Village, 1993 - featuring original Hot Pstromi lineup of Strom, Andy Statman, Mark Dresser, Ismail Butera and Seido Salifoski), "The Last Klezmer" (Global Village, 1994), "Carpati: 50 Miles, 50 Years" (Global Village, 1996), "Wandering Jew" (Global Village, 1997),"Tales Our Father Sang" (Global Village, 1998), "Garden of Yidn" (Naxos World, 2000) "Cafe Jew Zoo" (Naxos World, 2002), "Dveykes/Adhesion" (Global Village, 2005) "Absolutely Complete Klezmer" (Transcontinental Music, 2006), "Borsht with Bread, Brothers" (ARC Music UK, 2007), "Absolutely Klezmer, Vol. II" (Transcontinental, 2007), "The Devil's Brides: Music from The Witches of Lublin" (ARC Music UK, 2011, featuring narration by actress Miriam Margolyes). "City of the Future" (ARC Music), UK 2016 featuring Yiddish vocalists: Daniel Kahn, Jack "Yankl" Falk, Michael Alpert, Anthony Russell, Vira Lozinsky, Judy Bressler and Elizabeth Schwartz, "Yale Strom's Broken Consort: Shimmering Lights" (ARC Music), UK 2018 featuring: Sara Caswell, Amos Hoffman, David Wallace and Alex Greenbaum as guests with Hot Pstromi (Fred Benedetti, Jeff Pekarek, Elizabeth Schwartz and Yale Strom) and "The Wolf and The Lamb: Live at the Shakh" (ARC UK, 2022) featuring Yale Strom, Elizabeth Schwartz, Peter Stan, Aliakxandr Yasinski, Petr Dvorsky and Norbert Stachel. Strom's “Aliyot" is a three-movement, 46-minute folk symphonic concerto, commissioned to honor the 50th anniversary of Israel’s founding and premiered by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 1998. The piece reflects both the spiritual and physical meanings of the Hebrew word "aliyot" -- Jewish immigration to Israel and being called to the Torah -- through poems in Yiddish, Ladino, Yemeni-Arabic, and Hebrew. Strom has performed with many well-known musicians including Andy Statman, Mark Dresser, Marty Ehrlich, Mark O’Connor, Alicia Svigals, Salman Ahmad, Samir Chatterjee, Muzsikas, Kálmán Balogh, Damian Draghici, Marta Sebestyen, Tanya Kalmanovitch, Sara Caswell, Peter Sprague, Gilbert Castellanos, Peter Stan, Norber Stachel, Alison Brown, Gilbert Castellanos, Adam Del Monte, Theo Bikel and myriad others. Strom has been hailed as "a commanding bandleader and composer" (Pulse! Magazine), "one of the best klezmer musicians in the country" (Houston Public News) and "an all-around musical visionary" (Seth Rogovoy). Dirty Linen sums it up most concisely: "Yale Strom is a Jewish roots trip unto himself". The New York Jewish Week writes: "He's a gifted photographer and author, a talented documentary filmmaker and has his own klezmer band... Strom's multifaceted career is a wonder, and his work schedule is downright fiendish."

In the 1980s, Strom made several research trips to Eastern Europe, which became the foundation for much of his later work in photography, writing, and music. One of his earliest photo exhibitions was in 1986, with "A Tree Still Stands: The Last Jews of Eastern Europe," co-curated with Brian Blue and exhibited at the Spertus Museum in Chicago. His solo photo exhibit, "The Rom of Ridgewood", about Gypsy communities in Queens, New York, was mounted at the Queens Museum of Art in 2002; he has had numerous solo exhibits (depicting Jewish and Rom life) throughout the U.S. and Europe (complete exhibition list upon request). His solo exhibit of portraits of klezmer musicians (Jewish and Roma) in Bessarabia, "Klezmorim", was exhibited in Romania and Hungary. This same exhibition just recently was at the Jewish Community Center in Houston. His photos are part of many collections including Beth Hatefusoth, The Skirball Museum, The Jewish Museum of NYC, The Frankfurt Jewish Museum and the Museum of Photographic Arts. The Anne Frank Center in NYC created an exhibit of his photos called "Fragments: Jewish Life in Eastern Europe 1981-2016." The exhibit has been seen in Kalamazoo, Prague Jewish Museum and Brno Jewish Museum.

Strom's original stage play, "…from man… to beast… to crawling thing…", was given a fully staged workshop in June 2001 by the Streisand Festival (La Jolla, California). His play, "The Education of Hershl Greenshpan" (formerly, "Verdigris") was workshopped by the San Diego Rep, North Coast Rep as well as in New York City, Connecticut and Los Angeles. Strom was featured in the May 31, 2004 issue of Time for this play, and the scholarship behind it. In collaboration with wife and partner Elizabeth Schwartz and author Ellen Kushner, Strom co-wrote the audio drama, "The Witches of Lublin" (2011), starring Tovah Feldshuh, and featuring Simon Jones, Barbara Rosenblat and Neil Gaiman, among others. He also composed the original music for the recording. His second radio/audio drama is "Debs in Canton" (2021) directed by Sue Zizza and written by Elizabeth Schwartz and Yale Strom, with music by Strom. The drama stars: Phil Proctor, P. J. Ochlan, L. J. Ganser, Robert Fass, Anne Bobby, Doug Shapiro, Micah Gellert, Melinda Peterson and won Six Communicator Awards including best written drama.

Strom is married to Elizabeth Schwartz and has one daughter. He lives in San Diego.

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