FROM ‘THE OLD COUNTRY,’ WITH LOVE

Local monthly showcase celebrates ‘music of the diaspora’

BY ADAM PERRY

The sounds filling Denver’s Mercury Café at the end of each month may come from Colorado musicians, but the traditions behind them traveled a long way to get here. That’s the idea driving Festo Festo, a regular showcase of mostly traditional European folk music and dance, connecting local communities whose paths to the Front Range began at scattered points across the globe.

“I think of it as music of the diaspora,” says Denver trumpeter Tung Pham, co-founder of Festo Festo and longtime member of 10-piece brass band Gora Gora Orkestar. “The goal of Festo was to bring communities together: people who are in the Jewish community, people who are in the Balkan community, people who are in the folkdance community, and musicians. We originally thought, ‘Let’s get these groups together [to] share ideas … and dance together.’”

This month’s featured artist is the Boulder Klezmer Consort, whose musical lineage traces back to the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe. Festo Festo is usually held on the last Thursday of each month, but since that falls on the Jewish high holiday of Shavuot this time around, the upcoming edition will happen on Tuesday, May 23. But regardless of when they take the stage, bandleader Sheldon Sands — who met Festo Festo coorganizer Eitan Kantor in Boulder a few years ago — says he jumped at the opportunity to take part in the showcase spearheaded by a collaborator he admires.

“We’ve had numerous chances to share a stage — he has an awesome voice, musicality and presence,” Sands says. “I guess you can say we belong to a mutual admiration society.”

Sands first got into Klezmer music — whose name comes from a Yiddish contraction of the Hebrew words kley says. “While I didn’t grow up on it, all four of my grandparents were born in the late 19th century in the shtetles — the small towns with Jewish populations — of Eastern Europe. This was the music played at weddings and other simchas (happy events). I sometimes feel while performing like we’re embodying the spirit of those times and places, and encouraging, as my ancestors did, the impulse to find joy and laughter in the midst of all life’s challenges, which they certainly had their fair share [of], and we do as well.”

‘THIS IS MY JUDAISM’

Before he became a music teacher for Denver Public Schools and fiddlervocalist for local groups like Upsherin and Hadgaba, Festo Festo co-organiz- it’s not an Israeli or even simply a Jewish artform, but rather a musical melting pot representing the forced migration of communities across the map.

“This music is very much European, with some influences from places like Turkey,” he says. “I don’t relate to this as Israeli music, and my family isn’t from Israel. I’m excited to learn about where my family is from and not necessarily be playing Israeli music.”

Kantor’s fellow co-organizer Pham, who grew up in Boston, took a different path to the world of traditional European folk music: joining the circus.

“We started to get into Balkan and Klezmer music, and sort of circusmusic fusion. When I moved to Colorado for graduate school, I started my own band and zeroed in on the Balkan and Klezmer idiom for our brass band, and met co-conspirators in Boulder who were so welcoming in the folk-music community,” Pham says. “It’s just what I’ve been doing for a long time now … 14 to 15 years.”

As for your average Festo Festo, which really got going in July of last year, visitors can expect two house bands (Gora and Upsherin) and then the featured act, culminating in a 30-minute jam session involving musicians and dancers that include both the scheduled artists and the audience.

(“instrument”) and zemer (“song”) — as a student at Naropa University in the 1980s. Traditionally featuring instruments like violin, accordion, tuba and hammered dulcimer, he says he found the genre “fun and expressive, also sometimes downright hokey.” But after 20 more years of immersion in various genres of international music, Sands found a passion.

“I get particular joy playing this music and sharing it with our greater community, who regardless of background have been incredibly receptive,” he er Kantor grew up with traditional music. He remembers being blown away by Itzhak Perlman in the film In the Fiddler’s House as a kid.

“I didn’t take that out much into the non-synagogue world until I was in Hadgaba, when I started to learn that there were both Jews and non-Jews who were excited to dance to this music and learn [it] outside of the synagogue context,” Kantor says. “I was one of those guys.”

One of Kantor’s missions with Klezmer music is to teach people that

“There are a lot of unaffiliated young Jewish people for whom this is one of their main forms of connection to Jewish life and Jewish culture,” Kantor says. “Somebody even said to me, ‘I don’t go to synagogue, so this is my Judaism.’”

FJALLRAVEN HIKE + YOGA

6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 18, Chautauqua Park, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. $15 (members), $35 (non-members)

Usher in summer the Boulder way: with a hike up Chautauqua, followed by a little outdoor yoga. Fjallraven, the Swedish outdoor brand whose brick and mortar has become a staple on Pearl Street, hosts the event including yoga and gear discounts, free swag and more.

TOUR DE VICTORY

7 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, May 20, YMCA of Northern Colorado, 2800 Dagny Way, Lafayette. $100

20K, 50K or 100K — riders far and wide are invited to the Tour de Victory, a noncompetitive cycling event with proceeds supporting the Davis Phinney Foundation, whose mission is to improve quality of life for people with Parkinson’s Disease.

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COLORADO MAHLERFEST

Various times. Wednesday-Sunday, May 17-21, various locations. Free to $48

Celebrate legendary Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer Gustav Mahler at Colorado MahlerFest — a multi-day event complete with chamber performances, classic symphonies, panels and more. Read last week’s BW story on the festival at boulderweekly.com, and check out the full schedule and locations at mahlerfest.org

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THE UPSLOPE GET DOWN

2-10 p.m. Saturday, May 20, Upslope Brewing Company, 1898 S. Flatiron Court, Boulder. Free

Let loose at Upslope this Saturday at their annual Get Down event — a day of music, community and (of course) plenty of craft beer. Rain or shine, Upslope will throw a killer party featuring The Main Squeeze, Shakedown Street, Guerilla Fanfare and more.

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GO TOPLESS DAY

11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, May 20, Left Hand Brewing, 1265 Boston Ave., Longmont. Free

It’s not what you think: Left Hand Brewing invites you to their Longmont beer garden to enjoy the warm weather and craft brews alongside a top-down Jeep parade — plus kids’ activities, vendors and opportunities to support local hunger advocacy org Food For Thought.

STRAWBERRY FESTIVALVINTAGE & ANTIQUE MARKET

9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, May 21, Boulder County Fairgrounds, 9595 Nelson Road, Longmont. $10

Support the St. Vrain Historical Society with “an array of vintage and antique dealers in art, furniture, jewelry, primitives, clothing, collectibles” and more during this weekend’s Strawberry Festival at the BoCo Fairgrounds. What’s old is new again at this annual show that’s been a local staple for more than half a century.

Events

Notice To Creditors

Estate of Dan Fraenkel, Deceased

Case No.: 2023PR030229

All persons having claims against the above-named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Boulder County, Colorado on or before September 11, 2023, or said claims may be forever barred.

Rachel Fraenkel, Personal Representative c/o Howard O. Bernstein, P.C. at 1111 Pearl Street, Suite 203 Boulder, Colorado 80302

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THREE LEAF FARM TOUR

1-2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 21, Three Leaf Farm, 445 S. 112th St., Lafayette. Free

Ever had a nice dinner at Chautauqua Dining Hall? How about a relaxing morning at Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse, or a delectable meal at Zucca Italian Ristorante? If you answered yes, chances are the ingredients came from Three Leaf Farm. Come out for this Sunday tour to see where some of our community’s best farm-to-table products get their start.

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EARTH SONGS

3 p.m. Sunday, May 21, First United Methodist Church, 1421 Spruce St., Boulder. Free

Join Denver Women’s Chorus in celebrating our earth and sounding the alarm on climate change at Earth Songs. Vocal performances at this eco-conscious event will include songs by Joni Mitchell, Jonathan Larson and more.

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JAZZ JAM SESSION

7 p.m. Monday, May 22, The Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Boulder. Free

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Aids Candlelight Memorial

6 p.m. Sunday, May 21, First United Methodist Church, 1421 Spruce St., Boulder. Free

Join the International Candlelight Vigil for HIV/AIDS, one of the world’s oldest and largest grassroots campaigns dedicated to spreading awareness of a virus that has claimed too many lives. Sunday’s memorial event features a silent walk through downtown Boulder.

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IN SOLIDARITY: PRISON PEN PAL WRITING GROUP

5:30-7:30 p.m. Monday, May 22, Equality Center of the Rocky Mountains, 3340 Mitchell Lane, Boulder. Free

Want to support LGBTQ people behind bars? Out Boulder County hosts this prison pen pal writing group at the Equality Center of the Rocky Mountains on Monday to show solidarity with incarcerated members of the community, who are more likely to experience violence amid the “dehumanizing, dangerous and traumatizing” experience of being locked up.

Live jazz and improv go hand in hand, and you can experience the thrill in-person at The Muse Performance Space. Join host Brad Goode as the local musician leads a full-bodied, all-ages jam session at this intimate Boulder venue. 24

WEDNESDAY WALTZ, ETC.

7:30-9:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 24, Avalon Ballroom, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder. $10

Feeling classy? Don’t miss next week’s Wednesday Waltz at Avalon Ballroom, with opportunities for other forms of couples dancing like tango, foxtrot, swing and more.

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