Press

"Holy Ground: The Jewish and Spiritual Songs of Woody Guthrie featuring Arlo Guthrie and The Klezmatics" will be presented live on stage at the New York State Museum's Clark Auditorium on Saturday, November 20 at 7:30 p.m.
The performance precedes a nationwide tour of "Holy Ground" and kicks off the Museum's campaign to upgrade its Bitter Hope exhibition that chronicles the experiences of 982 Jewish refugees - the only refugees that escaped the Nazis and came to the United States during World War II.

Holy Ground features the recently discovered words of Woody Guthrie set to music by son Arlo Guthrie and The Klezmatics. "Dust-Bowl Balladeer" Woody Guthrie's lyrics were deeply inspired by his mother-in-law, outspoken Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt. His passion for Jewish spirituality was the topic of much of his writing. He loved to delve into the connections that bound different peoples, races, religions and cultures. "Holy Ground" continues to investigate disparate religious and spiritual worlds, always with Guthrie's keen insight and good humor and explores everything from Hanukkah to the Holocaust or, as Woody Guthrie said it, "from the sweet to the sour."

Special guest vocalist Susan McKeown of Dublin, Ireland will join the Klezmatics on stage. Also performing with Arlo Guthrie will be his son, Abe, providing supporting vocals and playing keyboard and string virtuoso, Gordon Titcomb, playing banjo, guitar and mandolin. The Klezmatics are a six-piece group featuring Lorin Sklamberg (vocals, accordion, keyboards, guitar), Frank London (trumpet, vocals, keyboards), Lisa Gutkin (violin, vocals), Matt Darriau (winds), Paul Morrisset (bass, vocals, violin, brass) and David Licht (drums, percussion, vocals).

Since their founding in New York City's East Village in 1986, the Klezmatics have celebrated the ecstatic nature of Yiddish music with works which are, by turns, wild, spiritual, provocative, reflective and danceable. The Klezmatics appeared with Itzhak Perlman on his Emmy Award-winning PBS special
"Great Performances: In the Fiddler's House." They also have appeared on "Late Night with David Letterman," "CBS Nightwatch," and are regular guests on NPR's "New Sounds Live"," Soundcheck" and "A Prairie Home Companion" with Garrison Keilor.

Arlo Guthrie first performed at age 13. His career exploded in 1967 with the release of "Alice's Restaurant." Over the last four decades he has toured throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. He plays the piano, six and 12-string guitars, harmonica and a dozen other instruments.

The concert launches the Museum's fundraising effort to update its exhibition - Bitter Hope: From Holocaust to Haven that tells the story of refugees who excaped Nazi death camps and sailed to America. They lived out the war years at Fort Ontario, a decommissioned Army base. Although isolated and without legal status, these refugees lived safely for 18 months. Following the war they became American citizens.

This exhibition has been seen by millions of visitors since opening in the mid 1980s. But high traffic has taken its toll and the exhibition is in serious need of restoration. The Museum's goal is to restore the exhibition by the end of 2005, to update and improve curricular materials for use in the schools and to encourage more educators to use the exhibition in history lessons.

In conjunction with the fundraising effort, concert tickets will be sold at various sponsorship levels and those who buy at the $250 per pair level and above will be invited to a special reception immediately following the performance.

The base ticket price for the concert only is $40 for members, $45 in advance for non-members
and $50 at the door. For tickets and further information call (518) 408-1033.

The State Museum is a cultural program of the New York State Department of Education. Started in 1836, the museum has the nation’s longest continuously operating state natural history research and collection survey. The museum is located on Madison Avenue in Albany. Further information is available by calling 474-5877 or visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.

The New York State Museum is located on Madison Avenue in Albany. It is open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week throughout the year except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Further information about programs and events can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.