What is cultural transmission?  Are you guilty of leading a "phoenix-like" existence?  Hear established artists like Theodore Bikel and Frank London, as well as up-and-coming Jewish musicians such as Sara Gordon and Daniel Kahn, reflect on how Jewish music is being preserved and updated.

This past August, the Wexler Oral History Project interviewed 12 Klezmer musicians from around the world on the topic of cultural transmission. This compilation includes stories from:

Theodore Bikel is a world-renowned singer, actor, and political activist.  He has been a major player in the American folk music revival as a co-founder of the Newport Folk Festival.  As a TV and stage actor, he has famously played Sholem Aleichem's character Tevye countless times.  He sings in over 20 languages, including Yiddish.  To learn more, visit his website.

Christian Dawid plays clarinet with Brave Old World.  Born in Bremen, Germany, he was originally trained in classical music and now teaches and performs in Klezmer music festivals around the world.  His latest project is with Yiddish composer and singer Arkady Gendler.  To learn more, visit Christian's website.

Sruli Dresdner is a scholar of Klezmer and Hasidic music.  He and his wife, Lisa Mayer, have been teaching young people about Jewish music for the last 15 years through classroom visits, summer camps, and Klezmer music festivals.  They are based in the New York area.  To learn more, visit the Clubhouse.

Sara Gordon is the lead singer of rock Yiddish band Yiddish Princess.  Daughter of renowned Yiddish singer Adrienne Cooper, she grew up steeped in the Yiddish world of New York City.  Sarah has performed and recorded with many of today's leading Klezmer bands, and also writes original Yiddish poetry.  To learn more, visit Yiddish Princess on myspace.

Daniel Kahn, a Detroit area native, studied acting and writing before beginning to perform and record original Yiddish, German, Russian, and English-language songs with his group Daniel Kahn and the Painted Bird.  He is currently based in Berlin, though he teaches and performs worldwide.  To learn more, visit his website.

Frank London is trumpeter for the Klezmatics and leader of Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars.  His work spans many genres from folk opera to film scores.  Frank made his klezmer debut as a founding member of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and has now been featured on over 100 records.  To learn more, visit him here.

Assaf Talmudi, accordionist, record-producer, and composer based in Israel, plays with klezmer band Oy Division.  He is currently a PhD student at University Bar Ilan, and has presented his research in music, artificial intelligence, and complex systems all over the world.  To learn more, visit Oy Division on myspace.

• These interviews are a part of a growing collection of interviews with performing artists using Yiddish in their work. Stay tuned for much more to come!

-- Christa Whitney 

• For more information on the Wexler Oral History Project, click here.
• To see more clips, click here.
• To see full interviews, go to http://www.archive.org/details/ybcvideos.