Klezmer Composition Unveiled: Crafting New Tunes with Nat Seelen

Join Nat Seelen, Artistic Director of the Boston Festival of New Jewish Music and clarinetist with Ezekiel's Wheels Klezmer Band to demystify the (klezmer) compositional process.

We'll talk about the basic building blocks of klezmer music, discuss an approach to writing new music in the klezmer tradition, and then create a brand new tune using your input, all in the amount of time it takes to finish a proper bagel and lox.

This class is open to anyone interested in exploring klezmer music and the creation of new works. You don't need to be able to read music, play an instrument, or even know much about klezmer music to join.

Clarinetist Nat Seelen is the founder and artistic director of the Boston Festival of New Jewish Music and clarinetist with Ezekiel's Wheels Klezmer Band. Nat performs regularly with The Klezmer Conservatory Band, The Late Risers, and as a freelancer around New England. Awards include the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture Fellowship, CJP Arts and Culture Fund grant, first prize in the 2020 Kleztival Bubbe Awards for Best Original Klezmer Tune, and first prize in the 2015 Klezmer Company Orchestra Composition Competition.