Mar.5, 2020 Ilya Shneyveys’ “Electrocord”

Ilya Shneyveys presents Electrocord (East-European prog folk)

Latvian-born / Berlin expat / current Brooklyn resident multi-intrumentalist Ilya Shneyveys is best known as one of the leading accordionists in the Klezmer world.

While researching and performing traditional music for over 15 years, his secret passion always lay in the realm of experimental and rock music.

His new project Electrocord explores the heavier side of East European folk and Klezmer music. Hear and dance to all your favourite klezmer genres (doinas, freylekhs, terkishers, zhoks and bulgars) performed by a power trio of New York’s finest musicians, featuring

Max Kutner – electric guitar

Ilya Shneyveys – electric bass and keyboards

Aaron Alexander – acoustic drums

Ilya Shneyveys is an international performer, accordionist and multi-instrumentalist, teacher, composer, arranger and producer of contemporary Jewish music, from klezmer and Yiddish folk song to fusion and experimental projects.

A founding member of Berlin’s famous Neukölln Klezmer Sessions and Shtetl Neukölln festival, as well as a long-time faculty member at Yiddish Summer Weimar, Ilya has performed and taught at major Jewish festivals around the world, including Yiddish Fest Moscow, Yiddish New York, Klezfest St.Petersburg, Klezfest London, KlezKanada, Montreal Jewish Festival, Toronto Ashkenaz Festival, Krakow Jewish Festival and more.

He is the artistic director and a founding member of the Yiddish psychedelic rock band Forshpil (LV-RU-DE) and a founding member of the Yiddish-Bavarian fusion project Alpen Klezmer (DE), winner of 2014 RUTH World Music Award at TFF Rudolstadt. He is an artictic director of the German-Israeli student exchange project The Caravan Orchestra, for which he was awarded the 2017 Shimon-Peres-Prize. As a touring member of the klezmer-balkan band Dobranotch (RU) he has received the Eiserne Eversteiner Preis in 2017. He has performed and collaborated with such projects like Opa! (RU), The Klezmatics (US), Daniel Kahn and the Painted Bird (DE) and many others.

Ilya composes contemporary traditional klezmer pieces and creates original arrangements of traditional Jewish music. He is renowned as an improviser, accompanist and band leader.

Originally from Riga, Latvia, Ilya has been traveling the world for the last 15 years promoting Yiddish music and culture. He is currently based in Brooklyn, NY.


Klezmer Workshop 6:30pm   $25 per class
Concerts & Dance Parties begin at 8:00pm – $15
Jam Session follows Concert
Full night pass – $35 (includes Workshop, Concert & Jam Session)

All events will take place at The Town & Village Synagogue, Social Hall,  334 East 14th St.(between 1st & 2nd Ave.)