Psoy Korolenko

Polina Shepherd

THE STRANNIKI Does every immigrant fill being a “weird American” because doesn’t 100% fit to the new homeland with all our “heritage”? I would assume that all people fill this way sometimes. This title “The Stranniki” or “The Weird People” perfectly captures the essence of this new project. The collaboration between Psoy Korolenko and Polina Shepherd began at a conference called "Mediating a New Cold War in the Digital Age". As the world we once knew seems to crumble around us, one true way to conquer our fears is through the universal language of music. Nothing brings people together quite like sharing in the simple joy of creating and listening to music, dancing, and singing as one. Klezmer musicians have always been wandering minstrels, invited to share in life's most intimate and unforgettable moments—from joyous weddings to solemn funerals. Today, we all desperately need a taste of this healing energy, this sense of togetherness that springs from shared emotions. Central to this repertoire is the concept of the 'strannik' (wanderer; literally 'wandering stranger, strange-nik'), roughly translatable into Yiddish as 'navenadnik' (vagabond), and the associated archetype of 'doroga' (Russian for road, path). The Stranniki draw upon, feature, and/or fuse elements of poetry and songs from Yiddish and Russian literature, folklore and popular culture of 19 and 20 centuries, organically weaving in their own original material. Their first mutual album unveils a distinctive continuity of texts, melodies, paths and destinies, inspiring and informing in the peculiar 2020s as much as it ever has—if not more so. “Yuddish is about being a weird Russian, a weird Pole, a weird Ukrainian, a weird German. Weird but somehow cute and familiar” Grammy nominated Psoy Korolenko is a well-known “Lion King” of Russian-Yuddish Avant-Bard, a songwriter and the most influential cross-language translator and promoter.-Korolenko is after something beyond literal understanding, pursuing instead the more pure forms of knowledge, like communion and community. - Forward Polina Shepherd is an accomplished and prolific singer, pianist, composer, conductor, and arranger of a Yiddish and Russian song repertoire that she has performed worldwide. She presently conducts five choirs in the United Kingdom and the United States that sing Russian and Yiddish folk and art songs connecting those two cultures; performances incorporate the newly-composed material that she bases in the history and culture of Yiddish musical composition and song.  - …a stunning vocalist with a four octave range and no slouch on piano, either. - Forward- Her dramatic interpretation was such that one did not need the translation to understand what was going on in the harrowing song. - Chicago Classical- Singer Polina Shepherd …combines virtuoso vocal talent with raw emotional delivery. She plumbs energy from the same archetypical sources that make blues and flamenco singing so powerful. - Portuguese American Journal- Shepherd’s performance was delivering the prayer inimitably, with ornamentation reflecting her immersion in the chant of the muezzin as much as in the cantorial tradition, it was about transcendence via art. It was a cry from her own heart, an act of creation, and a transformation of time and space into. - Forward {"itemData":"//www.youtube.com/embed/Xo0I3xR7PXM"} {"itemData":"//www.youtube.com/embed/94wFJDTZEjA"}

Does every immigrant fill being a “weird American” because doesn’t 100% fit to the new homeland with all our “heritage”? I would assume that all people fill this way sometimes. This title “The Stranniki” or “The Weird People” perfectly captures the essence of this new project.

The collaboration between Psoy Korolenko and Polina Shepherd began at a conference called "Mediating a New Cold War in the Digital Age". As the world we once knew seems to crumble around us, one true way to conquer our fears is through the universal language of music. Nothing brings people together quite like sharing in the simple joy of creating and listening to music, dancing, and singing as one.

Klezmer musicians have always been wandering minstrels, invited to share in life's most intimate and unforgettable moments—from joyous weddings to solemn funerals. Today, we all desperately need a taste of this healing energy, this sense of togetherness that springs from shared emotions.

Central to this repertoire is the concept of the 'strannik' (wanderer; literally 'wandering stranger, strange-nik'), roughly translatable into Yiddish as 'navenadnik' (vagabond), and the associated archetype of 'doroga' (Russian for road, path). The Stranniki draw upon, feature, and/or fuse elements of poetry and songs from Yiddish and Russian literature, folklore and popular culture of 19 and 20 centuries, organically weaving in their own original material. Their first mutual album unveils a distinctive continuity of texts, melodies, paths and destinies, inspiring and informing in the peculiar 2020s as much as it ever has—if not more so.

“Yuddish is about being a weird Russian, a weird Pole, a weird Ukrainian, a weird German. Weird but somehow cute and familiar

Grammy nominated Psoy Korolenko is a well-known “Lion King” of Russian-Yuddish Avant-Bard, a songwriter and the most influential cross-language translator and promoter.

-Korolenko is after something beyond literal understanding, pursuing instead the more pure forms of knowledge, like communion and community. - Forward

Polina Shepherd is an accomplished and prolific singer, pianist, composer, conductor, and arranger of a Yiddish and Russian song repertoire that she has performed worldwide. She presently conducts five choirs in the United Kingdom and the United States that sing Russian and Yiddish folk and art songs connecting those two cultures; performances incorporate the newly-composed material that she bases in the history and culture of Yiddish musical composition and song.  

- …a stunning vocalist with a four octave range and no slouch on piano, either. - Forward

- Her dramatic interpretation was such that one did not need the translation to understand what was going on in the harrowing song. - Chicago Classical

- Singer Polina Shepherd …combines virtuoso vocal talent with raw emotional delivery. She plumbs energy from the same archetypical sources that make blues and flamenco singing so powerful. - Portuguese American Journal

- Shepherd’s performance was delivering the prayer inimitably, with ornamentation reflecting her immersion in the chant of the muezzin as much as in the cantorial tradition, it was about transcendence via art. It was a cry from her own heart, an act of creation, and a transformation of time and space into. - Forward

Psoy Korolenko & Polina Shepherd

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THE STRANNIKIDoes every immigrant fill being a “weird American” because doesn’t 100% fit to the new 

Sweeney's Station Saloon

Psoy Korolenko & Polina Shepherd in Philadelphia

Grammy nominated Psoy Korolenko is a well-known “Lion King” of Russian-Yuddish Avant-Bard, a songwri

Polina Shepherd
“The Robert Plant of klezmer” (Seth Rogovoy, The Essential Klezmer), performs an ex

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