YIVO Celebrates the Release of Alex Weiser's Newest Album, in a dark blue night

(New York, NY) – The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is delighted to host the launch concert and party celebrating the release of in a dark blue night, the follow-up to Alex Weiser’s Pulitzer Prize nominated debut album and all the days were purple. The launch party will take place on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at 7:00pm ET at YIVO (located in the Center for Jewish History building, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY).

A love letter to New York City, in a dark blue night features acclaimed singer Annie Rosen with a seven-piece chamber ensemble and comprises two song cycles that explore Jewish immigrant New York City. The first cycle, in a dark blue night, features five settings of Yiddish poetry written by newly arrived immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Coney Island Days follows and sets to music words from an oral history interview with Weiser’s grandmother about childhood in the bilingual immigrant world of Coney Island in the 1930s and ‘40s.

“I was very close to my late grandmother — my father’s mother, Irene Weiser…She grew up with Coney Island as her playground, worked in the family knish store, visited the Russian bath…Telling her stories was a very meaningful project for me after she died,” said Weiser. “It was also a way to take a look at that moment of transition where Eastern European immigrant Jews raised American children, and Yiddish gave way to English for the community.”

For those who cannot attend the in-person event, the Tenement Museum will be hosting a virtual concert on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, at 6:30pm ET.

For more information contact:
Shelly Freeman
Chief of Staff

Co-sponsored by the American Society for Jewish Music and the Tenement Museum.

The Sidney Krum Young Artists Concert Series is made possible by a generous gift from the Estate of Sidney Krum.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

YIVO

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is dedicated to the preservation and study of the history and culture of East European Jewry worldwide. For nearly a century, YIVO has pioneered new forms of Jewish scholarship, research, education, and cultural expression. Our public programs and exhibitions, as well as online and on-site courses, extend our outreach to a global community. The YIVO Archives contains 24 million unique items and YIVO’s Library has over 400,000 volumes—the single largest resource for the study of East European Jewish life in the world. yivo.org / yivo.org/the-whole-story