world’s most virtuosic strings musicians. From over a decade of teaching, Strom formed indelible relationships with both students and fellow faculty that have led to a number of world class musical collaborations, including between these strings virtuosi and Yale’s band and repertoire. This is the history behind “Shimmering Lights”, a recording of Jewish holiday songs from around the world, arranged for strings and voice and released by one of world music’s top music labels. The repertoire for this recording includes both well-known songs in dynamic new arrangements and lesser-known Khanike songs from cultures (Moroccan, Turkish, Greek, Israeli, East European and American) around the world, in several languages.

Strom’s dedication to the preservation and reimagining of Jewish culture has reached millions of people around the world through his books, films, photography and thirteen recordings. The personnel include not only Strom and members of his acclaimed klezmer ensemble, Hot Pstromi, but internationally recognized stars of their instruments, including violinist Sara Caswell (Esperanza Spaulding), violist David Wallace (Stevie Wonder, Pierre Boulez), Guitarist/Oud Player Amos Hoffman (Yemen Blues), cellist Alex Greenbaum (Hausmann Quartet) and Hot Pstromi members Strom (violin), Elizabeth Schwartz (vocals), Fred Benedetti (guitar) and Jeff Pekarek (contrabass).

What is a Broken Consort?

A Broken Consort is a harmonious ensemble of different kinds of instruments. Praetorious wrote, “A Broken Consort makes an especially beautiful effect and gives forth an appealing and lovely resonance.”

David Wallace sums it up: There are connections and implications and associations that freely associating minds can and will make. We play music of many traditions and many people.  Quite a few of those traditions and songs grew out of broken people or broken circumstances.  Moreover, if the musical traditions themselves have not already experienced historic breaks, certainly our band's collective approach to the music represents just as much of a break from tradition as it does a continuation.   Ultimately, we play broken music for a broken world.

MUSICIAN BIOS:

Fred Benedetti (guitar) was born in Sasebo, Japan and began playing the guitar at age 9. In 1986 he was one of 12 guitarists chosen worldwide to perform in the Master Class of Andrés Segovia at USC where Guitarra Magazine wrote, "...Fred Benedetti amazed the audience with his performance of the (Bach) Chaconne..." Fred has performed in the United States, England, Germany, the Czech Republic, Canada, Taiwan and Mexico and locally 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. He is a full-time professor of music at Grossmont College where he is the head of the guitar studies program and is chair of the guitar program at San Diego State University. Fred is listed in the prestigious "Who's Who Among America's Teachers-2002" and received an "Outstanding Faculty Award" in 2001 from SDSU, the "NISOD" Excellence in Teaching award from the University of Texas at Austin in 1992 and an "Outstanding Chair" award in 1990 from Grossmont College. As a BMI affiliated composer, Fred has written numerous contemporary pieces for the international CD library company Network Productions and as a studio musician for 30 years his playing is featured on over 100 CD's, numerous movie soundtracks, and TV commercials. He has shared the stage with Mason Williams, Eric Johnson, Doc Watson, Albert Lee, Doyle Dykes, Dan Crary, Art Garfunkel, Basia, Michael Franks, Mark O'Connor, Michael Hedges, and Ottmar Liebert, and has recorded with Willie Nelson, Juice Newton, Paul Overstreet, Patty Loveless, Tom Barabas, Big Mountain, Matthew Lien, Ronny Robbins and William Lee Golden. He has performed for dignitaries such as the King & Queen of Malaysia, Mikhail Gorbachev and Ravi Shankar.

Sara Caswell (violin) is fast becoming one of today’s foremost jazz violinists through her technical facility and gift for lyricism. Recognized as a “Rising Star” in the Down Beat Magazine Critics and Readers Polls every year since 2013 and featured on the cover of the September 2014 issue of Strings Magazine, Sara leads two groups (the Sara Caswell Quartet and the Caswell Sisters Quintet), has released two highly-acclaimed CDs (First Song and But Beautiful), and in 2013 released Alive in the Singing Air with her sister, jazz vocalist Rachel Caswell, featuring jazz pianist Fred Hersch. Sara regularly performs with clarinetist David Krakauer’s The Big Picture, mandolinist Joseph Brent’s 9 Horses, and jazz vocalist Roseanna Vitro's Quintet. She is a member of the house band for NBC's weekly variety show “Maya & Marty” starring Maya Rudolph and Martin Short, as well as the New York Pops Orchestra with whom she has been a featured soloist several times in Carnegie Hall. She has toured extensively with Grammy winners bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding and violinist Mark O’Connor, and performed and/or recorded with such artists as Bruce Springsteen, Kishi Bashi, Regina Carter, Jenny Scheinman, Alan Ferber, Fabian Almazan, Nadje Noordhuis, Gene Bertoncini, and Skitch Henderson. Currently on faculty at both the Berklee College of Music and Manhattan School of

Music, Sara’s formidable teaching experience also includes the Mark O’Connor String

Camps, the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops, the Indiana University String

Academy, and a private studio. Sara began playing violin at age 5, studied with two legendary giants (Josef Gingold ~classical, David Baker ~ jazz), made her orchestral debut at 15, earned degrees from Indiana University and Manhattan School of Music, and amassed over 100 awards in the jazz and classical competition worlds. She was a 2017 Grammy nominee for “Best Jazz Improvisational Solo”.

Alex Greenbaum (cello) enjoys a diverse and adventurous musical life. As a member of the Hausmann Quartet he is an Artist-in-Residence at San Diego State University, where he teaches cello and chamber music. As a long-time member of The Knights he has performed throughout the U.S. and Europe, from New York to Vienna, Ireland, Germany and the Canary Islands, and appeared at the festivals of Caramoor, Dresden, Ojai, Ravinia, Tanglewood, and this season in Aix-en-Provence. Alex's varied interests have led to collaborations with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Shen Wei Dance Arts, Malashock Dance and the Mark Morris Dance Group as well as studies of baroque cello and early music. In San Diego he is a mainstay on the Art of Élan series, an affiliated artist with San Diego New Music, a founding member of the San Diego Baroque Soloists and appears regularly with Bach Collegium San Diego. A dedicated advocate for new music, past associations include the Tarab Cello Ensemble and Hutchins East, performances with the FLUX Quartet, Newband and at Music at the Anthology (MATA). 
Also an active performer in Mexico, Alex was a member of the Orquesta Sinfonica Sinaloa de las Artes, based in the state of Sinaloa, and returned there to perform as soloist with the Tarab Cello Ensemble in the Feria de las Artes. A highlight of recent seasons was a residency in Tijuana which included visits to a dozen schools, and he performed and taught as part of the Northern Lights Music Festival in Ajijic, Jalisco from 2009-2013. Alex has recorded for Ancalagon, Bridge, Canary Classics, Cantaloupe, In a Circle, Koch, Naxos, Warner Classics and Sony records, as well as music for film, television and commercials. His teachers have included Steven Doane, Marcy Rosen, Ross Harbaugh, Joseph Elworthy and Andre Emelianoff; he holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Queens College (CUNY) and Juilliard Pre-College. Alex plays a cello crafted in 2006 by Michele Ashley. A native New Yorker, he lives in North Park, San Diego.

Jeff Pekarek (contrabass) is a native of San Diego, California. He began playing trumpet and guitar at age ten, and by age twelve he was familiar enough with the piano to begin learning the art of arranging from his grandfather (a US Navy bandleader). Jeff discovered the contrabass at fourteen, studying with Federico Silva and Bertram Turetzky. He was the youngest contracted member of the San Diego Symphony when he joined the contrabass section at age seventeen. He performed with the orchestra from 1975-79, and during the summer pops concerts backed up such luminaries as Benny Goodman, Sarah Vaughan, and Sergio Mendez. After releasing his first album of originals in 1981, he became a bandleader in his own right, founding and fronting several successful period music and folk music ensembles, including the Jackstraws and the Electrocarpathians. In addition, he is the principal arranger for filmmaker and composer Yale Strom. This collaboration has included many audio recordings, three documentary films, three ballets, the orchestral piece 'Aliyot' (performed by the St. Louis Symphony), and a litany of chamber works. Jeff performed on bluegrass legend Richard Greene's most recent album, Shufflin'. Since June 2004, he has also worked as an arranger for Canum Entertainment. His lengthy discography includes albums by The Peter Pupping Quartet (Peter Pupping Band), The Electrocarpathians, Keltik Kharma, and Kick Up The Dust. In 2006, he was the bassist for the theatrical documentary 'Primal Twang', backing up Dan Crary, Eric Johnson, Albert Lee, Mason Williams and other major artists. Today Jeff continues to work as an arranger, bassist, guitarist, and audio editor.

From her many appearances with Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi and as a solo artist, Elizabeth Schwartz (vocals) has built a loyal following among fans, critics and collaborators. Her first recording of Yiddish, Hebrew and Ladino vocals for the Naxos World label, "Garden of Yidn”, debuted on Canada's Mundial Top World Music poll. It was hailed as “a landmark in modern Yiddish song” (Sing Out! Magazine). Her vocals can be heard on the soundtracks for the films “L'Chayim, Comrade Stalin!”, “Rumenye, Rumenye”, “Searching for Schwartz” and “American Socialist: The Life & Times of Eugene Victor Debs”. Beyond "Garden of Yidn", her recordings include “Café Jew Zoo” (Naxos World), " Dveykes (Adhesion)” (Global Village Music) "The Absolutely Complete Klezmer II" (Transcontinental), "Borsht with Bread, Brothers" (Montreal Gazette, Top Ten World Music Recordings), "The Devil's Brides" and “City of the Future” (ARC Music UK). In a historic, barrier-breaking concert, Schwartz was the first woman invited to sing in New York City's 125 year-old landmark Eldridge Street Synagogue. She performs regularly across North America and Europe in venues ranging from jazz clubs to concert halls (including Carnegie Hall), as well as synagogues and festivals. Musical collaborations have included Alicia Svigals, Mark Dresser, Marty Ehrlich, Salman Ahmad, Samir Chatterjee, Hungarian supergroup Muzsikas, Tsimbl maestro Kalman Balogh , Romanian panflutist Damian Draghici , guitar legend Lulo Reinhardt, Marta Sebestyen, fiddle legend Mark O'Connor, Andy Statman, Tovah Feldshuh, violin virtuoso Rachel Barton Pine and many others.  Schwartz is the subject of the documentary film, "Searching for Schwartz", by acclaimed Romanian filmmaker Radu Gabrea. As a writer, Schwartz co-created the award-winning audio drama “The Witches of Lublin” and contributed a chapter on klezmer vocal technique to “Shpil: The Art of Playing Klezmer” (Scarecrow Press). Her recipes and writings about Jewish food can be found on www.theweiserkitchen.com, “A Wandering Feast: A Journey Through the Jewish Culture of Eastern Europe” (Jossey-Bass) and “It’s Always About the Food” (Harper Collins).

Yale Strom (violin) is one of the world's leading ethnographer-artists of klezmer and Romani music and history. He has done extensive ethnographic research in Eastern Europe. His findings were instrumental in forming the repertoire of his klezmer band, Hot Pstromi, based in New York and San Diego. Since organizing his band in 1981, he has composed original New Jewish music that combines klezmer with Khasidic melodies, as well as Roma, jazz, classical, Balkan, Arabic and Sephardic motifs.  Strom's compositions range from several quartets to a full symphony. These 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 theatre, film and television. Yale’s fifteen CDs run the gamut from traditional klezmer to "new" Jewish jazz. His most recent CD was “City of the Future: Yiddish Songs from the Former Soviet Union”, where Strom worked with seven internationally known Yiddish singers. As a collaborator, Strom has had numerous world-renowned partners, including Andy Statman, Mark Dresser, Marty Ehrlich, Alicia Svigals, Joel Rubin, Hankus Netsky, Peter Sprague, Mike Block, Samir Chatterjee, Salman Ahmad, Gavin Rossdale, Damian Draghici and Kalman Balogh.  With Salman Ahmad, Strom is cofounder of the world music ensemble Common Chords and he performed at the United Nations General Assembly in 2010 for the "Concert for Pakistan" with Ahmad’s ensemble Junoon.  Strom has also directed nine award-winning documentary films and written thirteen books. His latest documentary film is “American Socialist: The Life and Times of Eugene Victor Debs.” Currently, Strom is developing a musical about the life of artist Marc Chagall with the San Diego Repertory Theatre. Strom is Professor and Artist-in-Residence in the Jewish Studies Program at San Diego State University, a position created for him in 2006.  Prior to this, he taught at New York University.

Dr. David Wallace (viola) improvises solos like “Jimmy Page fronting Led Zeppelin,” according to The New York Times.  David is a fiercely eclectic musician, award-winning composer, master teaching artist, and Chair of Berklee College of Music’s String Department.  Prior to Berklee, David enjoyed a fourteen-year tenure as a Juilliard professor and seventeen years as a New York Philharmonic Teaching Artist. David’s concert appearances include solo and chamber performances with the New York Philharmonic, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Continuum, the 92^nd Street Y, and the New York Viola Society.  David leads his Texas-style string band, The Doc Wallace Trio, and is a founding member of the flute-viola-harp trio, Hat Trick, which released its critically acclaimed debut CD Garden of Joys and Sorrows on Bridge Records.  His television and radio broadcast credits include NPR, PBS, NHK, KTV (Korea), Tokyo MX, WQXR, CBS, and ABC. As a composer and arranger, David has received commissions from Carnegie Hall, the New York Philharmonic, the Juilliard School, violinist Rachel Barton Pine, the Marian Anderson String Quartet, and the Robert F. Ryan & Qin C. Ryan Foundation.  Symphony Magazine deemed his book Engaging the Concert Audience: A Musician’s Guide to Interactive Performance “an invaluable manual for all musicians, classical or otherwise.” David received his D.M.A in viola performance from the Juilliard School where he served as a Morse Teaching Artist Fellow and Teaching Assistant to legendary violist and pedagogue Karen Tuttle.