Klezmania
Location: Melbourne
Country: Australia


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About the band

They carry the audience along an emotional journey and break down language barriers through engaging explanations of the songs. With energy and passion they play everything from romantic ballads to whirling frenetic traditional dance tunes to foot tapping jazzy songs. Klezmania's broad repertoire moves from the diverse cultures of the "Old World" of Rumania, the Balkans, Turkey and the Ukraine to the USA and Australia with their own spirited original music. Enjoy the depth and colour of klezmer music and yiddish folk with Klezmania live or on recordings.

What kinds of gigs?

Concert performances from small, intimate folk clubs, to municipal and community festivals to large stages at major regional, state and national festivals.

Klezmania have also made their mark on many private functions surprising many with the breadth of their repertoire.

Corporate events have also featured in Klezmania's calendar.

What they said...
"Jump up on the table and dance music..." Andrew Pattison - Multicultural Arts Victoria Newsletter
"Freydi Mrocki... provides emotion-charged vocals that easily surmount the language barriers..." The Age
"Lionel Mrocki, switching hats as he switches musical styles, can make a clarinet wail and yell with almost human joy and suffering..." The Age
"... The main thing I remember is the sheer joy of the music. It is very infectious." The Melbourne Times
"The group then performed three songs, compelled by a cheering crowd - some of whom had been unable to resist the melodies to spring spontaneously into dance - to perform an encore." Yvonne Fein - Australian Jewish News
"...For a change of pace we clap our hearts out upstairs at the Athenaeum. The tantalising Yiddish folk group Klezmania really gets the blood rhythms flowing... We're packed to the roof." The Age

Line Up

Freydi Mrocki - vocals, percussion
Freydi, a founding member of Klezmania, was born into a world of Yiddish theater and folk songs, performing on stage from childhood. She was a founding member of the Yiddish folk-rock band Flamen and co-wrote “Zibn Teg”, a prize winning song in an international Yiddish song competition. She has performed in many roles with the Melbourne Yiddish Theater, and Saltpillar Theater and recorded an album with the Melbourne band The Klezmer Trio in 1991. She has also recorded songs on soundtracks for three films. In the ABC docu-drama "Bitter Herbs and Honey" (The story of the Jews of Carlton), Freydi both sang and acted as the Yiddish song researcher. She is often consulted by singers and performing groups; from Kate Ceberano to the Melbourne Chorale as well as 'up and coming' klezmer bands Australia wide, for advice in the area of Yiddish song. She has traveled overseas to further her studies in Klezmer music and Yiddish song and has collected a number of previously undocumented songs from 'living treasures' in Australia. Freydi is also a teacher/co-ordinator of Yiddish at a number of Jewish Schools in Melbourne. Her impassioned vocals and her love of Yiddish leave a deep impression on audiences wherever she sings.

David Krycer - double bass, guitar, vocals, harmonica
Multi-instrumentalist David Krycer has an extensive playing history in many styles of music, working with leading players of jazz, rock, blues, and folk music. David has played with Judith Durham, Barry Humphries, Mike Rudd and Bill Putt from Spectrum and has played and recorded with many of Australia's leading folk performers. A founding member of both The Klezmer Trio and Klezmania, David has been actively researching Klezmer music for the past 20 years and continues this folk music tradition by writing his own pieces, often with a modern twist. He just loves playing music, and it shows by the smile on his face while he performs.

Lionel Mrocki - clarinet, guitar, didgerido

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