As the Micki Levin Concert Series continues, join Yale Strom and his extraordinary ensemble, Hot Pstromi, together with special guest artists Fred Benedetti and Sara Caswell. Enjoy an evening of music that begins with klezmer and spans influences from the Middle East, Central, and Eastern Europe.
Join us in person or gain access to the exclusive livestream by purchasing your tickets now!
Yale Strom is one of the world’s leading ethnographer-artists of klezmer and Roma music and history. Since Hot Pstromi’s inception in 1981, Strom has composed original New Jewish music that combines klezmer with Hasidic melodies, as well as Roma, jazz, classical, Balkan, Arabic, and Sephardic motifs. Strom’s compositions range from folk to orchestral, and works have been performed by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Chamber Orchestra, Hausmann Quartet, Burdick-Thorne String Quartet, Rachel Barton Pine, Mike Block, Bordeaux Philharmonic, the Ostrava Philharmonic of the Czech Republic, and others. In addition, he has composed original music for theater, film, and television.
The musicians of Hot Pstromi are virtuosos in their own right, each having achieved international recognition for their work.
Fred Benedetti began studies of classical guitar at 16 and by 26 was one of 12 guitarists worldwide to perform in one of the last masterclasses of Maestro Andres Segovia. He has performed in the United States, England, Germany, the Czech Republic, Canada, Taiwan, and Mexico as well as with the San Diego Symphony, the San Diego Opera, the Starlight Opera, the American Ballet Company, the Old Globe Theatre, Luciano Pavarotti, and jazz artist Dave Brubeck. Fred is an emeritus professor of music at Grossmont College, where he was the head of the guitar studies program, and is part of the guitar program at San Diego State University. He has received numerous accolades for his teaching and has performed for dignitaries such as the king and queen of Malaysia, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Ravi Shankar.
Grammy Nominee Sara Caswell is a leading jazz violinist known for her technical mastery and lyrical artistry, recognized as a “Rising Star” in DownBeat Magazine since 2013. She has released three acclaimed CDs, including Alive in the Singing Air with her sister Rachel, and leads the Sara Caswell Quartet while co-leading the Caswell Sisters Quintet. Caswell has toured with artists such as Esperanza Spalding, David Krakauer, and Darol Anger, and is a member of the New York Pops Orchestra, performing at Carnegie Hall. A faculty member at Berklee College of Music and Manhattan School of Music, she also conducts jazz improvisation masterclasses, having studied under renowned mentors Josef Gingold and David Baker. Raised in a musical family, Caswell began violin at age five and holds degrees from Indiana University and Manhattan School of Music.
