A project of remembrance

BASYA LAYE

The Ger Mandolin Orchestra is a memorial project that revives a mandolin orchestra from the Polish town of Ger (Gora Kalwaria). A popular performing group in the 1920s and ’30s, the orchestra did not survive the Holocaust.

The revived orchestra features 10 musicians from Canada, the United States, Europe and Israel. They performed in Canada for the first time earlier this month in Toronto, and the Jewish Independent had an opportunity to speak with orchestra member Eric Stein, artistic director of Toronto’s Ashkenaz Festival and an accomplished musician.

Jewish Independent: Who were the members of the original Ger Mandolin Orchestra? What happened to them?

Eric Stein: The original Ger Mandolin Orchestra was active in the Polish town of Gora Kalwaria (known as Ger in Yiddish) in the 1920s and ’30s. There were 11 members and it was led by Beryl Ryback. Our information about the group is pretty sketchy. It is based mostly on a brief account in the Yizkhor (Remembrance) book of Ger, where the original photo appears. Three of the members emigrated to Israel in the mid-30s, the other eight were killed in the Holocaust. Orchestras like this one were very common throughout Jewish Eastern Europe, and thus our work in the new Ger Mandolin Orchestra is representative of an entire musical tradition that was once central in Jewish cultural life.

JI: How did the project to resurrect the orchestra begin?

ES: The notion of resurrecting the orchestra originated in 2010 with Avner Yonai, who is grandson of David Ryback, one of the members of the original orchestra. After researching his family’s roots in Poland, Yonai had already initiated various efforts in the town of Gora Kalwaria to memorialize the town’s Jewish past, including the erection of a mazeva (tombstone) in the remains of the Ger cemetery. But Yonai felt unsatisfied by these memorial efforts, as they essentially reinforced the notion of that world being dead. He hit on the idea of creating a new version of the orchestra as a “living memorial,” and took the idea to Ellie Shapiro, the director of the Jewish Music Festival in Berkeley, Calif. Together, they approached Mike Marshall to be musical director – Mike lives in Oakland and is one of the world’s great mandolinists. Mike then handpicked a cast of 10 other musicians to join him in the project.

The orchestra came together for the first time in March 2011 and, over three days, developed a repertoire that was performed for the first time at the famed Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse in Berkeley on March 6, 2011. A week after this performance, the group received an invitation from the current mayor of Gora Kalwaria to perform there. In September 2011, the group traveled to Poland and performed in the crumbling remains of the old Ger synagogue for an audience of 500 mostly local residents. It was the first time a crowd of this size had been in the building since the deportation of the town’s Jews in 1941. The group also performed in Warsaw at the Nozyk Synagogue and at the finale of the Singera Festival, in the shadow of the last remaining buildings of the Warsaw Ghetto. The recent performances by the group in Toronto (Nov. 7) and in Claremont, Calif. (Nov 12) were the orchestra’s first since the Poland tour.

We would love to come to Vancouver, though there are as of yet no definitive plans for this. We are planning to record a CD in 2014.

JI: Mandolin has been considered to be the “quintessential Jewish musical form.” Can you expand on this?

ES: Just to correct, it is a quintessential Jewish musical form (not the, as there are certainly others).

The mandolin was widely popular in Jewish communities throughout Eastern Europe. There are literally hundreds of amazing historical photographs that document the popularity of this tradition. It was an instrument of the people, an instrument on which children would first learn about music, an instrument that was acceptable for women to play, and an instrument that united communities in common cultural experiences (especially left-wing secularist and workers groups). This tradition was brought to America and thrived as well in immigrant communities. While most people think of klezmer when they think of East European Jewish music, that was a professional musical tradition performed by a relative few, compared to the thousands of amateur enthusiasts, children and adults for whom playing the mandolin was the most common form of community musical expression.

JI: How did you get involved?

ES: I was invited to join the group by Mike Marshall when he first started assembling it in early 2011. I play mandobass ... and contribute a number of arrangements to the orchestra’s repertoire.

JI: From where does orchestra get its repertoire?

ES: The task for which the group was originally formed – to recreate the authentic repertoire of this pre-World War Two group – presented unique challenges, as no documentation of this group’s repertoire exists. Through careful research and historical inference, the group was able to fashion a repertoire reflecting the multi-ethnic folk music and light classical context in which we believe the original orchestra functioned. The repertoire included some preexisting mandolin orchestra arrangements of Polish, Italian and classical music from the early 20th century. Then there are selections that are newer arrangements by myself and some other musicians (notably, David Grisman) of Jewish songs, klezmer music, Romanian and Russian tunes. My arrangements in particular are mostly based on transcriptions of recordings from the early 20th century by klezmer ensembles that I re-imagined and adapted to mandolin ensemble instruments. There is also a segment in our concerts where we perform in smaller combinations and introduce some variety, showcasing the various members’ skills in styles such as jazz, classical and Brazilian music, while remaining true to the orchestra’s roots in a Jewish musical context. For example, in our recent concerts, two of our members performed an adaptation of a Jewish-styled classical composition by the late Toronto-based Holocaust survivor and composer Leo Spellman, while three other members performed a medley of popular standards from the ’30s by the famed American-Jewish composers Irving Berlin and Harold Arlen.

As of yet, the group does not perform “contemporary” repertoire, though we are beginning to think about that as a natural next step.... There is a great deal of compositional skill and accomplishment among the members that would be natural for us to begin exploring in this context, and we’ve also discussed the idea of commissioning contemporary composers to write new music for this unique musical format.

JI: What has been the reaction of audiences, including survivors?

ES: Audiences, Jewish and non-Jewish, have absolutely loved what we do. It is such a unique and rarely heard sound, and it is performed with such skill and verve by this ensemble. The story behind the orchestra is compelling enough, but to then deliver it with world-class musicianship and a unique repertoire that is diverse and exciting makes it really easy to like this group! It is extremely accessible music that resonates with many generations.

I think when survivors hear the group it brings back memories of the world they came from, and brings them a little sense of warmth to know that though that world no longer exists, the music lives on.

JI: What’s it been like to play together with musicians from around the world?

ES: It is an extraordinary joy and privilege to be part of this group and play with all these incredible musicians. Everyone in the group comes from a different musical and cultural background and that makes for some amazing variety and range of skill. We didn’t all know each other when we started, but we’ve all now developed great relationships and terrific musical repertoire with each other. It feels like a family.

JI: What is it like to work with Mike Marshall? What’s been his impact in this music’s revival?

ES: Working with Mike in this project has been an incredible experience. He has been one of the most important innovators in the mandolin world for over 35 years, and he has undoubtedly been a primary influence and inspiration to each of us in the group in our own careers. Despite his stature and enormous talent, he is incredibly down to earth and perfectly generous as a leader. Neither he nor any member is elevated above another; each member has an equal voice in our collaboration. We work together as a collective and Mike’s leadership style allows us to create a whole that is much more than simply the sum of our parts.

JI: Can you tell readers about your background?

ES: I grew up in Toronto. I began my life in music as a bass player in my mid-teens, playing mostly rock music. My tastes and interests evolved over the years and, in my mid-twenties, I was increasingly drawn to the mandolin after getting interested in bluegrass music and the more progressive work of such musicians as David Grisman, Sam Bush and, of course, Mike Marshall. Before I started to play mandolin, I didn’t really think I would have a career in music. I was studying to be a history professor, in fact! But the mandolin actually led me to different musical styles and, ultimately, opportunities that allowed me to pursue music as a career. The direction I have taken in my musical life also allows me to draw upon my background in history, and the Ger project in particular personifies that marriage of music with history that has been an important part of my career over the last 15-plus years.

JI: You have a unique style of playing the mandolin, and your band, Beyond the Pale, plays Eurofolk fusion. What music has influenced your playing and to what do you attribute your style?

ES: I’ve listened to a lot of music and have very eclectic tastes. My first musical love was the Grateful Dead and other classic rock and folk of the ’60s and ’70s, everything from the Beatles and Bob Dylan to Little Feat and Pink Floyd. Later, I got into funk, reggae and jazz. All of this helped me establish strong instincts around groove and improvisation. Later, my interests turned to bluegrass and “new acoustic” music, and then East European folk, Balkan and Jewish music. My most recent obsession has been Brazilian choro music. No matter what I am playing, I have always strived to develop my own voice as a musician and not be too slavish about stylistic purity in any context. I do feel authenticity is important and that’s led to very serious study of the musical styles I play, which I feel equips me to venture outside the bounds of any particular tradition to find my own expression.

JI: Can you tell me about your involvement with KlezKanada and the Ashkenaz Festival?

ES: KlezKanada was and continues to be instrumental (pun intended!) in my musical career. I first attended as a scholarship recipient in 1998 and, over three consecutive years in that capacity, had the opportunity to study closely with masters of Jewish and klezmer music, and make a lot of lasting connections with other musicians and academics in this scene. Since 2001, I have been a member of KlezKanada’s faculty, which has allowed me to hone my teaching skills and continue deepening my own knowledge of these styles. In fact, all of my musical arrangements that are played by the Ger orchestra were first created to be played with ensemble workshops at KlezKanada. Without that part of my career, I would not necessarily have had the opportunity to immerse deeply in the mandolin orchestra as a musical format and develop my own work for such instruments.

When I got the call from Mike to join Ger, I had a dozen mandolin orchestra arrangements to bring forward, thanks to over a decade of experience leading mandolin ensembles at KlezKanada. At the moment, I am a board member of KlezKanada and, as artistic director of the Ashkenaz Festival, I have frequent opportunities to collaborate with KlezKanada on programming ideas.

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