56 | AUGUST 29 • 2024 J
N
ARTS&LIFE
ON THE COVER
All music lovers are invited
to celebrate Klezmer
and Yiddish culture.
M
ichigan is gearing up for its first annual
Klezmer Festival, KlezMitten. Spearheaded
by Alan Posner of Berkley, the Sept. 15
event will include heritage-rich performances by four
area Klezmer bands and a lively celebration of all
things Yiddish, right here in Downtown Detroit.
Posner’s goal of the pilot event is to make the cel-
ebration fun for the community and accessible for
everyone. The event is being run on no budget, with-
out sponsors — “Maybe next year if it grows,” said
Posner hopefully — and the facilities, International
Institute, are being graciously donated. The bands
will be paid whatever is collected at the door.
Posner got his start in the Klezmer world early.
“I started playing the sax in fourth grade and
loved it,” Posner said. “I joined the Beth El Kidz
Klez Band of Michigan when I
was in fifth grade and was part of
it all through middle school and high
school. Once I graduated college, I
even directed the band after Cantor
Steven Dubov passed away — his
legacy definitely still lives on.”
Posner majored in instrumental
music education at the University of
Michigan and became a band director
in 2009; he’s been directing at Bloomfield Hills High
School since 2014.
In the same year, he started his own professional
band, Klezundheit, which has been performing at
simchahs throughout the last decade.
“Klezundheit is part of the family,” said Posner,
and he meant that literally: Part of his family is in
Klezundheit! His father, Ken Posner, is Klezundheit’s
part-time vocalist and his mother, Gail Posner, is
Klezmer Festival
Michigan’s First
Klezundheit
Heartland Klezmorim
Rochel
Burstyn
Contributing
Writer