Caravan Orchestra and Choir is an international young musicians exchange project between Yiddish Summer Weimar, the Department of Music of the University of Haifa and F. Liszt University of Music, Weimar, exploring East European Jewish, East Mediterranean and Middle Eastern music.

APPLICATIONS FOR 2026 ARE NOW OPEN HERE.

Performance schedule will be published in late spring.

Every year, the Orchestra invites around 40 young musicians from Israel / Palestine and Germany to for an intensive rehearsal period and concerts – originally in both countries, as well as fun social activities, workshops and excursions. Together with the artistic directors, participants explore both East European Jewish (Yiddish), East Mediterranean and Middle Eastern music traditions. It is the synthesis of those cultures that makes the sound of the Caravan Orchestra unique. While having clear differences in the repertoire and style, these traditions share some forms, tonal material and, most importantly, a performance philosophy with similar approach to improvisation, ornamentation, modality and many other concepts that we discover again each time.

Polina Shepherd is the Artistic Director of the project.

In 2026, she will be joined by these colleagues:

Veronika Varga is a Budapest-based Hungarian folk singer and double bass player, primarily representing both traditional and urban music from the Balkans and the Greek Mediterranean, in Hungary and abroad, as a member of various bands and as a soloist, over the past decade.

Josh “Socalled” Dolgin is a pianist, accordionist, journalist, photographer, puppet maker, rapper, composer, magician, teacher and producer based in Montreal, Quebec. He has lectured and led master classes in music festivals around the world, from Moscow to Paris, from London to LA, and from Krakow to San Francisco, and has performed on every continent. With 8-ish solo albums (and one with Vulfpeck’s Jack Stratton and Michael Winograd as Yiddishe Pirat) and 6 produced musical comedies to his name, he has performed solo or with his band all over the world for more than 25 years.

We are currently talking to one more specialist for Turkish music who will join the team soon.

Caravan Orchestra and Choir 2025 by Shendl Copitman

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