KLEZMERITIS is a world music festival & concert band, inspired by Eastern European Jewish traditional celebration and dance music.

The band also creates infectious and soulful fusions of klezmer with gypsy, jazz and eastern music.

Klezmeritis has played around Australia including Port Fairy, Woodford, National Folk & Fairbridge festivals.

They have appeared on national television program “Spicks and Specks” as well as interview/performances on national radio including “The Deep End”.

    2008 FESTIVALS

                             Cygnet Folk Festival       Tasmania                 January

                  Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, Federation Square   Sun.  Feb.24

                  Northcote Uniting Church "Music for the Soul" 5pm        Sun. April 6th

                             Fairbridge Folk Festival    West Australia                April 

  Recent Performances :    2007

     September 14th  Saint John's Church, Point Nepean Rd, Sorrento

     October Sunday 14th   2pm Caulfield Park

     October Sunday 21st   5pm Northcote Uniting Church

     October Friday  26th    after 11pm BMW Edge, Musicircus, Melbourne Festival

      December 11th          Chanukah celebrations in Federation Square

    Performance History

Selected performances include :
Arts Festivals: Melbourne Festival, Brunswick Festival , Moomba, Jewish Cultural Festival, Knox Festival
Folk Festivals: Port Fairy Folk Festival, Woodford (QLD), National Folk Festival (ACT), Fairbridge (WA) , Cygnet (TAS)
Concerts: National Gallery, Melbourne Museum, Melbourne University, Monash Arts Council, Ringwood Folk Club, St Michaels Church, The Boite
Dance events: Victorian Arts Centre, CERES
Touring: Multicultural Arts Victoria

Played 4 successive years at CERES VicHealth Music and Dance under the Stars, also the Victorian Arts Centre Worldly Weddings series

Ernie Gruner VIOLIN

Australia’s leading klezmer violinist studied klezmer for 3 months overseas in 1998 including lessons in New York with maestro Alicia Svigals - the world’s leading traditional player and teacher (as well as founding member of the internationally touring Klezmatics). Ernie attended workshops and festivals in Cracow (his father’s home town) and San Francisco as well as concerts and sessions in Budapest and Berlin. He has given workshops and lectures on klezmer around Australia.
He also plays with Melbourne’s oldest klezmer band The Klezmer Trio and has guested with Klezmania. Recently he played violin for acclaimed accordionist Leo Rosner’s live recording concert. He has been active in the world music scene for many years and has performed and recorded with Dya Singh, Howlin’ Wind, Kalinka, Zulya, Great Southern Band, Jugularity and Yalla!

Phil Carroll ACCORDION, NEY

Visited Turkey and Egypt in 1998 playing middle-eastern music - which has many elements in common with klezmer. He also performs on the ney (arabic flute), for klezmer pieces of Turkish or Arabic derivation. Phil leads the middle-eastern band Yalla!! which includes Ernie. He also plays in Latin combo Zingaro.

Ron Hansen DOUBLE-BASS

Has played Hungarian music as well as being a leading jazz & classical player. He performs with Ernie & Phil in bands Jugularity, Flirting Mazurkas, Gypsy Nights with jazz, gypsy & latin influences.

Repertoire

Klezmer music draws on Jewish musical roots as well as Gypsy, Hungarian, Moldavian, Ukrainian, Greek, Turkish and Arabic modes and rhythms. The band also adds influences from their experiences in the improvised, jazz and middle-eastern areas. Ernie Gruner adds anectodes, stories and cultural or historical explanations.
Klezmer music ranges widely from fast, joyous, dance tunes with pseudo-Balkan rhythms to slow, melancholic pieces designed to make brides weep. Klezmeritis also often includes Israeli dances (including horas), Chassidic ‘niguns’ (wordless singing believed to draw the singer & listeners closer to heaven) & Sephardic (Spanish/Middle-Eastern) pieces as well as music from related cultures including Polish mazurka, Hungarian czardas, Greek hasipiko, Russian Gypsy and original pieces.
As well as concerts and festivals Klezmeritis plays at Jewish celebrations including weddings, barmitzvahs, anniversaries.

• CONCERTS – entertaining music ranging from wild to soulful, with stories about the music
• WORKSHOPS – Ernie Gruner has given workshops on klezmer at most Australian folk festivals and many schools and associations for over 8 years, since before formation of Klezmeritis and his research trip to East Europe and USA. Separate CV and bio and history available.
• Workshops can be practical (teaching tunes aurally) or include more theory and history.
• These workshops have stimulated other musicians and bands to play klezmer around Australia.
• ROVING – ideal for outdoors or acoustic events, street events (based on E.European Jewish tradition of walking the wedding party to the ceremony from home with the klezmer musicians leading the parade)

Other Options

• KLEZMER DANCE is not taught yet in Australia (Ernie learnt the steps in Poland and aims to relearn them, &/or bring out one of the few teachers from USA) but the band often plays for dance events .
• ISRAELI DANCE The band can work in association with an Israeli dance teacher, as it has a wide repertoire of Israeli as well as klezmer dances.

  See Pic of Klezmeritis in Government Culture and Recreation article on folk music