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Updated 8/30/2024

The Magid Ensemble

  • Massachusetts

    MA

Institution/Business Type: Performing Group

Shterna and the Lost Voice transports audiences into the rich world of Yiddish folklore. Developed through rigorous research on Eastern-European Jewish folklore, this immersive storytelling production follows Shterna on an epic hero’s journey, through the living world, the underworld, and the immortal world, in order to retrieve the lost voice of her friend. Narration unfolds alongside a stunning papercut crankie (a long scroll wound onto two spools that illustrates the story as it unwinds) and is accompanied by a live original klezmer music score. Shterna and the Lost Voice is a highly engaging 50-minute storytelling performance suitable for audiences of all ages!

Shterna and the Lost Voice is presented by The Magid Ensemble (magid, meaning “storyteller” in Yiddish) –  a new collaboration featuring award-winning klezmer musicians and composers Mattias Kaufmann, Raffi Boden, and Rachel Leader, Yiddishist and storyteller Weaver, and visual artist Kiah Raymond. The Magid Ensemble explores the interplay of sound, story, light, and shadow to create expressive and immersive storytelling landscapes.

Find Me

Rachel Leader
Job Title: Musician
Address:
Northampton, MA 01060

Social Media:

About

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

Performing Group

Legal Status:

Nonprofit - Unincorporated

Year Founded:

2022

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

Performing Group

Legal Status:

Nonprofit - Unincorporated

Year Founded:

2022

Disciplines

Primary Discipline:

Music - Band

Additional Disciplines:

  • Theater - Storytelling

Activities and Services

Activities and Services:

  • Performance / Concert / Reading
  • Residency - Community
  • Virtual Events
  • Wedding / Parties / Private Gatherings
  • Arts Instruction / Lessons
  • Cultural Education
  • Residency - In School
  • Workshops / Demonstrations / Master Class
  • Audio or Video Recording
  • Residency - Production / Development
  • Professional Network Gatherings / Events
  • Community Arts
  • Artist Market
  • Public Art Projects (In Free, Public Spaces)
Seasons Active: spring, summer, fall, winter
Events Per Year: 50

Communities

Populations Engaged:

  • Adults
  • Artists
  • Elders
  • Families
  • General Public
  • LGBTQ Populations
  • Nonprofits
  • People with Disabilities
  • Rural Populations
  • School Groups
  • Teens

Languages Available:

  • English
  • Spanish

Geographic Reach:

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

Accessibility of Services

Accessibility of Services:

  • Access accommodations for people who use a wheelchair and have limited mobility
  • Access accommodations for people who are blind, partially sighted, and have low vision
  • Access accommodations for people who are Deaf and hard-of-hearing

Media Gallery

musicians and crankie with storytelling
Kiah Raymond (Crankie) / Mattias Kaufmann, Rachel Leader, Raffi Boden (Music, composition)
Juliette Sutherland
Storyteller Weaver
Papercut Crankie
Papcercut Crankie, backlit
Poster of The Magid Ensemble Presents: Shterna & The Lost Voice; A New Yiddish Folktale - Image includes a crankie drawing and photo of the members of the ensemble
Papercut of a street in a Jewish Shtetl with a boy wandering the streets with his goah
Papercut of Elijiah waking up in his bed and clouds billowing from his lips

I Have Worked With

Affiliations and Accomplishments

Professional Associations

Professional Associations:

  • The Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant
  • Harold Grinspoon Foundation Grant
  • Combined Jewish Philanthropies Grant

Professional Associations

Professional Associations:

  • The Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant
  • Harold Grinspoon Foundation Grant
  • Combined Jewish Philanthropies Grant

Awards

Awards:

  • The Bubbe Awards Klezmer Fesitval - Best Original Composition (São Paulo, Brazil)

Education

Education:

  • New England Conservatory
  • The Julliard School
  • Oberlin Conservatory
  • New Klezmer Leaders Fellowship - Brooklyn Conservatory

Artist Info

Touring Artist

NEST Eligible Artist

Technical Requirements:

  • PA System

Accessibility Accommodations Needed:

N/A

Fee Range:

$800-$5000

State of Residence:

Massachusetts

Minimum Number of Performers:

2

Maximum Number of Performers:

6

Touring Artist

NEST Eligible Artist

Technical Requirements:

  • PA System

Accessibility Accommodations Needed:

N/A

Fee Range:

$800-$5000

State of Residence:

Massachusetts

Minimum Number of Performers:

2

Maximum Number of Performers:

6