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Updated 5/19/2022

Anthony (Mordechai Tzvi) Russell

  • M

    MA

Institution/Business Type: Artist / Creative (Individual)

Ten years after making his professional debut in the world premiere of Philip Glass's Appomattox, Anthony Russell is now a vocalist, composer and arranger specializing in Yiddish art and folk song, chazones and Chasidic nigunim.

Anthony's work in traditional Ashkenazi musical forms led to a musical exploration of his own roots through the research, arrangement and performance of a hundred years of African American traditional music. The result of this work is Convergence (Finalist, 2014 New Jewish Culture Network Music Commission). An ongoing performance project in collaboration with klezmer consort Veretski Pass, Convergence combines diverse strains of African American and Ashkenazi religious and folk music directly at spiritual, historical and textual crossroads to create a new repertoire of works exploring exile, spirituality, hope and redemption. An album is set to be released in 2018.

Shortly after winning the Concorso Internacional de Canciones en Idish (Der Idisher Idol) in Mexico City with accordionist and pianist Dmitri Gaskin, the two formed a duo, Tsvey Brider, dedicated to creating contemporary, idiosyncratic and unique interpretations of music set to the contemporary works of the greatest poets in the Yiddish language.

Anthony's work in Jewish music has brought him to stages in Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, New York and Tel Aviv, JCCs in Manhattan and San Francisco, Symphony Space in New York City, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and Limmud Fests across the United States and Europe. Recent engagements have included performances in Berlin, the UK and a tour of Poland.

Find Me

Anthony Russell
Job Title: Vocalist, Arranger & Composer
Address:
Acton, MA 01720

Social Media:

Additional Content:

About

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

Artist / Creative (Individual)

Legal Status:

Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

Artist / Creative (Individual)

Legal Status:

Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship

Disciplines

Primary Discipline:

Multi-Disciplinary

Additional Disciplines:

  • Multi-Disciplinary

Activities and Services

Activities and Services:

  • Creation of a Work of Art (Including Commissions)
  • Residency - Other
  • Workshops / Demonstrations / Master Class
  • Performance / Concert / Reading
  • Residency - Community
Seasons Active: spring, summer, fall, winter
Events Per Year: 20

Communities

Populations Engaged:

  • General Public
  • Adults
  • LGBTQ Populations
  • Nonprofits

Languages Available:

  • Hebrew
  • English

Geographic Reach:

  • Town / City
  • County
  • Multi-County Region
  • State
  • Multi-State Region
  • National
  • International

Media Gallery

I Have Worked With

JW3, London

Date: 12/2017-12/2017

Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell presents a program of Yiddish art and folk song with accompanist Joseph Findlay.

Gorki Theatre, Berlin

Date: 11/2017-11/2017

Tsvey Brider: Radikale Jüdische KulturtageDie Musik des amerikanischen Sängers Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell und Musikers Dmitri Gaskin vereint die musikalischen Traditionen zweier entfernter Diasporas – der African-American und des aschkenasischen Judentums. Bei der Konzert-Performance entwickelt sich ein persönliches Narrativ aus Spirituals, jiddischen Volksliedern, frühen Bluessongs, chassidischen Nigunim und Wiegenliedern des amerikanischen Südens und aus Osteuropa.

Jewish Arts Collaborative

Cultural Series Organization

Date: 10/2017-10/2017

Congregation Or Atid, 97 Concord Road, will celebrate the fourth annual Mass Creative Arts Matter Day with Anthony Russell, an international Yiddish performer, at 7 p.m. Oct. 27.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Date: 03/2016-03/2016

In a unique story-telling performance format, basses Mark Glanville, Mathias Hausmann, and Anthony Russell together present a sweeping tapestry of modern Jewish life in Central Europe and beyond across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Affiliations and Accomplishments

Awards

Awards:

  • Jewish Federation of the East Bay Fromer Award, 2014
  • Asylum Arts Small Grants Recipent, 2014
  • Schusterman Foundation #MakeItHappen Grant, 2013
  • Ruth Chamberlin Memorial Scholarship Voice Competition, 2005

Awards

Awards:

  • Jewish Federation of the East Bay Fromer Award, 2014
  • Asylum Arts Small Grants Recipent, 2014
  • Schusterman Foundation #MakeItHappen Grant, 2013
  • Ruth Chamberlin Memorial Scholarship Voice Competition, 2005

Education

Education:

  • BA in Music, Holy Names University, Oakland CA

Artist Info

Touring Artist

Technical Requirements:

  • adjustable boom mic stand
  • vocal mic
  • onstage monitors
  • amplification system
  • Manhasset-style music stand

Fee Range:

$1,000 - $6,000

State of Residence:

Massachusetts

Minimum Number of Performers:

1

Maximum Number of Performers:

3

Touring Artist

Technical Requirements:

  • adjustable boom mic stand
  • vocal mic
  • onstage monitors
  • amplification system
  • Manhasset-style music stand

Fee Range:

$1,000 - $6,000

State of Residence:

Massachusetts

Minimum Number of Performers:

1

Maximum Number of Performers:

3