The Yiddish Book Center's

Wexler Oral History Project

A growing collection of in-depth interviews with people of all ages and backgrounds, whose stories about the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture offer a rich and complex chronicle of Jewish identity.

My Best Teachers were Recordings: Discovering Klezmer and Finding My Sound

Watch now:

Merlin Shepherd, klezmer musician and instructor, recalls his introduction to klezmer music off of a Naftule Brandwein recording.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Merlin Shepherd.

This excerpt is in English.

Merlin Shepherd was born in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom in 1963.

This interview is part of the Yiddish and the Arts: musicians, actors, and artists series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

"All Gigs Are the Same": Channeling Healing Energy Through My Music

2 min 7 sec

Jewish Boyhood in Rural Wales: My Grandfather's Story

1 min 36 sec

Becoming a Clarinetist

3 min 10 sec

"My Grandparents Would Speak in Fluent Yiddish When They Didn't Want Us to Understand"

2 min 11 sec

"There Was Always a Flavor, Without Being Dogmatic": Growing Up in a Secular Jewish Home

2 min 2 sec

Playing Klezmer not "Kletzmer" in Germany

3 min 57 sec

The British Klezmer Scene

3 min 5 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

Themes: