METROPOLITAN KLEZMER brings astonishing agility and refreshing depth to an inspired range of musical treasure.  Formed in 1994, this virtuosic octet has won two Outmusic Awards and delighted audiences worldwide, embracing panoramic Yiddish traditions while playing against stereotype.  Combining the best of NYC's downtown and world music scenes, the band shifts effortlessly from rollicking to ethereal to swingingly cosmopolitan, finding alluring approaches to lesser-known gems, and creating entrancing original repertoire with influences found all over the map. From folk dance frolics to thrillingly revamped vintage tango, from transcendent songs of love, lullaby and protest to Big Band-styled 2nd Avenue classics to surprisingly farflung standards, the group glories in soaring solos, exquisite arrangements, haunting melodies and fascinating rhythm.  The UK's Phat Planet lauds their "brilliant, breathless" music for both "humour and style": "Celebrating the living and vibrant tradition that is klezmer - serious, melancholy, exhilarating and funny by turns... mixing levity amongst the gravity."  The Essential Klezmer cites the "topnotch" sound of "just plain great, versatile ensemble playing," praising the band's "exuberant spirit and wit" as well as "hot" vocals by Deborah Karpel.

METROPOLITAN KLEZMER bandmates have their own stellar credits in genres from Albanian to Zydeco, spanning jazz, funk, reggae, swing, r&b, Latin, Greek, Balkan, Turkish, Arabic, punk, classical, and Jewish musical heritage including Sephardic as well as myriad Ashkenazic styles. Individually, MK members have toured, performed and recorded with such artists as Bonnie Raitt, Bill Frisell, Burning Spear, Andy Statman, Rufus Wainwright, David Krakauer, Indigo Girls, Microscopic Septet, Alhambra, "Li'l" Jimmy Scott, Toshi Reagon, Marshall Crenshaw, Natalie Merchant, Natalie Cole, The Klezmatics, Amy Sedaris, Charming Hostess, Robin Holcomb, Smyrneiki Kompania, Bobby Previte, The Voodoobillies, The Mazeltones, Bogomila and The Balkan Brothers.

METROPOLITAN KLEZMER has played repeat engagements at Caramoor Center, World Financial Center, Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, The Jewish Museum, Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, The Knitting Factory mainstage, National Yiddish Book Center, and NYC's legendary Bottom Line cabaret. Also of note: Kaufmann Concert Hall of The 92nd Street Y, Easthampton Guild Hall, Usdan Center, Museum of Jewish Heritage, Joe's Pub nightclub at The Public Theater, and Cape May Music Festival.  The band has broadcast performances on CNN WorldBeat (live from Makor with sister sextet Isle of Klezbos); ARD German TV's Rhythms of NY; WFUV's CityFolk Live; WVBR's Bound For Glory; and WFMU's TransPacific Sound Paradise. MK recordings have been featured by London's Royal Ballet (First Drafts experimental choreography) and SITI Theatre Company (Off-Broadway and nationally touring Score soundscape), as well as Tzadik label's Music from the Winery (live at Tonic) which is curated by David Krakauer.

METROPOLITAN KLEZMER's three CD releases on Rhythm Media Records have aired on over 200 stations, including PRI's Sound+Spirit, CBC's Roots & Wings, WDR's Funkhaus Europa/Mondo Cannibale, Australia's Hot Club, Polish Radio Lublin, UK's Folkswagon, and Argentina's Radio Jai. Collaborative projects have included on-stage roles in The Yiddish Celluloid Closet and Molly Picon is Alive & Well & Living in Brooklyn; and co-compositions with Latin jazz octet Los Mas Valientes.  The group's many facets have been profiled in American Music Center's New Music Box, arts features in The Forward and Jewish Week, and Belgium's RootsTown: "Whoever listens to Metropolitan Klezmer opens the encyclopedia of klezmer ...[all MK players] perform at a rarified level, the absolute top of the genre."

Surprising Finds (2003, Rhythm Media Records) Outmusic Award/2004; Worldbeat Year-End Top 30, Phat Planet [UK]

Mosaic Persuasion (2001, Rhythm Media Records) Outmusic Award/2002; Top Ten List Year-End, Five Star [Highest] Rating, Jewish Week

Yiddish For Travelers (1998, Rhythm Media Records) Top Ten lists, Moment Magazine and KlezmerShack; selected for The Essential Klezmer Library Top 20

Music from the Winery (2004, Tzadik Records) Featuring live tracks from Tonic's legendary Klezmer Brunch shows, curated by David Krakauer

All MK discs are distributed worldwide by Stern's Music Ltd. (NYC & London)

*denotes repeat engagements

CONCERTS
World Financial Center, NYC*
Ellis Island Museum, NYC
92nd Street Y, NYC*
Caramoor Center for Music & the Arts, Katonah NY*
Trinity Concerts, NYC
Rutgers University, NJ*
Polish Consulate of New York
Abrons Arts Center, NYC*
Museum of the City of New York
Bergen Community College, NJ
Corning Glass Museum, Corning NY
Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts*
Rockland Community College, NY
Nassau Community College, NY
The Emelin Theater, Mamaroneck NY
Washington Market Park Summer Concerts, NYC*
Sullivan County PAC, NY
Town of Hempstead Summer Concert Series, NY
Brooklyn Arts Coalition Concert Series
Elmira College, NY
Music Mountain, CT
North Pointe Cultural Center, NY
Flushing Town Hall Concert, NYC*
Easthampton Guild Hall, NY
Brooklyn Children's Museum*
Jacob's Pillow, Becket MA                                
Third Street Music School Settlement, NY*
The Tenement Museum, NYC*
Club Helsinki, Great Barrington MA
Joe's Pub at the Public Theater, NYC

FESTIVALS
CityFolk Festival, NYC*
Museum Mile Festival, NYC*
Snug Harbor Cultural Festival, NY
Liberty State Park Summerfest, NJ
Lower Eastside Festival, NY
Jewsapalooza, NYC
CMJ Festival
Sixth & B Garden Festival, NY
New Jewish Music Festival, NYC
Jewish Music & Heritage Festival, NYC
Cape May Music Festival, Cape May NJ
Summer on the Hudson series, Riverside Park South, NYC
Cooperstown Music Series, Cooperstown NY          

JEWISH CULTURAL EVENTS
The Museum of Jewish Heritage, NYC
YIVO Institute, NYC
The Jewish Museum, NYC*
Abrons Arts Center/Henry Street Settlement, NY*
Albert JCC, Albany NY
American Friends of Israel Museum, NYC
Hebrew Tabernacle, NYC
Temple Sholom, NJ
Bendheim Center for the Performing Arts, Scarsdale NY
Temple Emanuel, Long Beach NY
National Yiddish Book Center, Amherst MA
Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, NYC*
JCC Rochester, NY
Temple Beth Abraham, Tarrytown NY
Rego Park Jewish Community Center, NY*
Jewish Community Center, Yonkers NY

THEATER, DANCE, TELEVISION & LIVE RADIO APPEARANCES
CNN "Worldbeat" program: "Crazy for Klezmer" (broadcast worldwide)
Public Radio International "Sound + Spirit"* (aired nationally in the US & Canada, with semi-annual repeat broadcasts)
ARD German TV: "Rhythms of New York" (aired across Europe)
WFUV "City Folk Live"* (Hanukah concert, broadcast annually)
WVBR "Bound for Glory"
WFMU "TransPacific Sound Paradise"
"SCORE" by the SITI Theatre Company, New York Theater Workshop & national tour
"Molly Picon is Alive & Well & Living in Brooklyn," Gowanus Arts Exchange, Brooklyn NY & The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, NYC
‘First Drafts' Program, New Choreographic Work by Royal Ballet first dancer Vanessa Fenton, Royal Opera Hall, Covent Garden, London UK