The San Francisco Symphony Presents: Klezmer at the JCCSF

The San Francisco Symphony is delighted to invite you to a community concert of Klezmer music, led by Symphony violinist David Chernyavsky and featuring Ben Goldberg on clarinet, Rob Reich on accordion and Daniel Fabricant on bass. Klezmer is a musical genre derived from and built upon eastern European music in the Jewish tradition.  The Yiddish word klezmer derives from two Hebrew roots: klei (“vessel” or “instrument”) and zemer (“song”). Join us in our beautiful atrium and let your spirit be moved by the uplifting energy and music. 

David Chernyavsky joined the San Francisco Symphony in 2009. Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, he began violin studies at the age of six and at eleven gave his first solo recital. After winning prizes in competitions in Russia and France, he entered the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. In 1997, Mr. Chernyavsky came to the US to study at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and, later, at the Juilliard School. He has recorded several CDs with the Saint Petersburg Quartet and with the Joel Rubin Klezmer Music Ensemble, and he has released a solo CD, Klezmer Violin. He also performs and teaches with the San Francisco Academy Orchestra. 

Beginning in 1992, when his group New Klezmer Trio “kicked open the door for radical experiments with Ashkenazi roots music” (SF Chronicle), clarinetist Ben Goldberg has established himself as “one of the most vibrant, flexible, and inventive clarinetists in jazz and improvised music” (Downbeat). NPR calls Ben “an artist who seems to find beautiful melodies at the end of every path,” and The New York Times has noted his music for “a feeling of joyous research into the basics of polyphony and collective improvising.” After twice being named Rising Star Clarinetist in the Downbeat Critics Poll, he now consistently places in the top two in the Clarinet category. Ben has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, and the Shifting Foundation. In his coursework on improvisation at UC Berkeley, Ben is dedicated to helping students develop the skill and knowledge to further their own exploration of spontaneous musical creation. Ben has released over forty albums of his original music, including Go Home, “a searching ensemble that welcomes lyrical improvisation while embracing the groove” (The New Yorker); and Orphic Machine, a song-cycle with lyrics from Allen Grossman’s speculative poetics — “knotted and occasionally spooky.” 

Rob Reich is quintessentially what makes the San Francisco music scene a vibrant and vital mecca for independent music; he’s become one of its stalwart underground artists. His music defies genre, combining strong melodic ideas, rhythmic drive, and a spirit of irreverence and experimentation. He is best known for his work with Tin Hat, Gaucho, and Circus Bella. 

Daniel Fabricant may be the most versatile bassist in San Francisco—and the most in-demand. Playing upright or electric, he can adapt to a wide range of musical settings, from intimate chamber groups to sprawling dance bands and Latin ensembles. In his decade on the San Francisco scene, he has played as a sideman with dozens of San Francisco groups and is a founding member of the award-winning Nice Guy Trio. 

Fabricant has performed internationally with Piaf! The Show, The California Honeydrops, Michael Feinstein, Liza Minnelli, Betty Buckley, Joan Rivers, Spencer Day, Ann Hampton Callaway, Petula Clark, Dan Hicks and Mary Wilson of the Supremes, among many others. In the Bay Area, he regularly performs with Rupa and the April Fishes, Redwood Tango Ensemble, The Cosmo Alleycats, Lavay Smith and the Red Hot Skillet Lickers and Gaucho, among many others. He has appeared at SFJAZZ, Monterey Jazz Festival, Yerba Buena Gardens, Yoshi’s, The Freight and Salvage, and the Feinstein’s at the Hotel Nikko, and New York City venues including Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Café Carlyle and The Algonquin.  

A skillful arranger for jazz, theater and pop ensembles, Fabricant is also an accomplished music instructor, teaching guitar, bass and ukulele to students of all ages in private and group settings. He has taught music notation to graduate students at Academy of Art University. In 2015, Fabricant was selected as a teaching artist for the SF Symphony’s Adventures in Music program. The son of a preschool teacher, Fabricant uses games and stories to engage young children in music-making. He has created and implemented music curriculum at UCSF’s Kindergym, Blue Bear School of Music, and the Discovery Center School. Fabricant holds a degree in Music Education from San Francisco State University and has studied the Orff method. He is also active in outdoor education, as an instructor in rock climbing and sea kayaking. 

The San Francisco Symphony exists to inspire and serve audiences and communities throughout the Bay Area and the world through the power of musical performance.