YIVO Receives CLIR Recordings at Risk Grant

(New York, NY) – The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is thrilled to announce that it has been awarded a $29,992 Recordings at Risk Grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). This grant will enable YIVO to preserve the YIVO Folksong Project: East European Jewish Folksong in its Social Context (YFP).

YIVO’s collection contains recordings of 2,000 Yiddish folksongs and oral histories (approx. 320 hours), which were collected as part of the 1973 -1975 YIVO Folksong Project directed by Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett.

This collection is a one-of-a-kind, large-scale gathering of oral histories and recordings of   Yiddish folk music. These recordings represent one of the only remaining sources of live performances of Yiddish folksongs in the world.

“The YFP is critical in its efforts to salvage information that is no longer available because of the destruction of Yiddish culture during the Holocaust,” said Jonathan Brent Executive Director and CEO of YIVO. “The CLIR grant demonstrates the value of this work to the Jewish world and to general culture,” he said.

The project includes recordings from genres and groups which are rarely documented and gives insight into the songs traditional Eastern European Jewish singers sang, the range and variety of their repertoire, how they learned to sing, and what singing meant to them on a personal and communal level.

Due to the fragile nature of the physical recordings and lack of proper in-house equipment, there is currently no way for researchers to listen to the recordings in their current form. “Digitizing YFP will provide an unsurpassed resource to the public,” said Dr. Stefanie Halpern, Director of the YIVO Archives.

Along with the over 300 musicians, educators, and researchers who visit the YIVO Sound Archives each year, there is a vibrant international Yiddish cultural scene eager to find “new” sources of inspiration for learning, disseminating, and creating new works based in Yiddish musical traditions.

“This project will allow for the preservation and distribution online of this material, making it accessible to researchers and the public alike,” said Dr. Halpern.

For any media inquiries please contact:

Shelly Freeman
Chief of Staff

The Council on Library and Information Resources

The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) is an independent, nonprofit organization that forges strategies to enhance research, teaching, and learning environments in collaboration with libraries, cultural institutions, and communities of higher learning. To learn more, visit www.clir.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

YIVO

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is dedicated to the preservation and study of the history and culture of East European Jewry worldwide. For nearly a century, YIVO has pioneered new forms of Jewish scholarship, research, education, and cultural expression. Our public programs and exhibitions, as well as online and on-site courses, extend our outreach to a global community. The YIVO Archives contains 24 million unique items and YIVO’s Library has over 400,000 volumes—the single largest resource for the study of East European Jewish life in the world. yivo.org / yivo.org/the-whole-story