clarinet

David Krakauer, clarinetist, is renowned for his mastery of myriad styles. He occupies the unique position of being one of the world’s leading exponents of Eastern European Jewish klezmer music, and at the same time is a major voice in classical music. As one of the foremost musicians of the vital new wave of klezmer, David Krakauer tours the globe with his celebrated Klezmer Madness! ensemble. While firmly rooted in traditional klezmer folk tunes, the band “hurls the tradition of klezmer music into the rock era” (Jon Pareles, New York Times).

David Krakauer, clarinetist, is renowned for his mastery of myriad styles. He occupies the unique position of being one of the world’s leading exponents of Eastern European Jewish klezmer music, and at the same time is a major voice in classical music. As one of the foremost musicians of the vital new wave of klezmer, David Krakauer tours the globe with his celebrated Klezmer Madness! ensemble. While firmly rooted in traditional klezmer folk tunes, the band “hurls the tradition of klezmer music into the rock era” (Jon Pareles, New York Times).

In addition to his annual European tours to major international festivals and jazz clubs, recent seasons brought Krakauer and his band to the Library of Congress, Stanford Lively Arts, San Francisco Performances, the Krannert Center, Carnegie’s Zankel Hall, the Venice Biennale, Krakow Jewish Culture Festival, BBC Proms, Saalfelden Jazz Festival, Transmusicales de Rennes, La Cigale, New Morning in Paris, and many others. Recently he has also done extensive international touring with the multi-genre super group Abraham Inc. that he co-leads with funk legend Fred Wesley and hip-hop renegade Socalled.

In addition, Krakauer is in demand worldwide as a guest soloist with the finest ensembles including the Emerson, Orion, and Kronos String Quartets, as well as orchestras including the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Detroit Symphony, Weimar Staatskapelle, Phoenix Symphony, Dresdener Philharmonie, and Seattle Symphony.

Krakauer’s discography contains some of the most important klezmer recordings of the past decade including six CDs under his own name: two on John Zorn’s Tzadik label and four on Label Bleu; plus collaborations with The Klezmatics, Itzak Perlman, the Kronos Quartet/Osvaldo Golijov, and Socalled. Abraham Inc.’s Tweet-Tweet on his own label, Table Pounding Records (and Label Bleu in Europe), was released in early 2010.

Composers who have written major pieces for him include David del Tredici, Paul Moravec, Ofer Ben-Amots, Jean Philippe Calvin, George Tsontakis, Anthony Coleman, and Wlad Marhulets.

David Krakauer is on the clarinet and chamber music faculties of Mannes College of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, New York University, and the Bard College Conservatory of Music. His unique sound can be heard as soloist in Danny Elfman’s score for the film Taking Woodstock and throughout The Tango Lesson.

Performances

Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory | November 23, 2019

News and Press

[Concert Review] Boston Globe Klezmer Madness Review

The title of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s Saturday concert at Jordan Hall, “Klezmer Madness,” accurately represented half of its program. That portion consisted of two recent concertos for clarinet and orchestra that were audibly steeped in klezmer, the folk music of Eastern European Jews. Both pieces also featured the outstanding klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer, an ideal guide to the contemporary state of klezmer, who brought their solo parts thrillingly to life in performance.

The Boston Globe Full review
[CD Review] Classical Lost and Found reviews Paul Moravec: Northern Lights Electric and Thomas Oboe Lee: Six Concertos

With these two recent releases from BMOP/sound we get an attractive bouquet of concertos from a couple of America's most highly regarded contemporary composers, Thomas Oboe Lee (b. 1945) and Paul Moravec (b. 1957, see below). Lee was born in China but left there with his family in 1949, spending ten years in Hong Kong and another six in Brazil. He then emigrated to the United States in 1966, where he pursued extensive musical studies, graduating from Harvard in 1981. He's received a number of outstanding awards, and now teaches at Boston College.

Classical Lost and Found Full review