Niki Jacobs Performs The Ballad of Resilience – A Yiddish Concert Inspired By the Renowned “Ballad of Mauthausen” in Northeast US

Wed, Mar 16 - Sun, Mar 20  2022

Niki Jacobs Performs The Ballad of Resilience – A Yiddish Concert Inspired By the Renowned “Ballad of Mauthausen” at Joe’s Pub, March 17, 2022 and more Northeastern venues. 

Internationally acclaimed Dutch Yiddish singer Niki Jacobs will appear in concert performing with her classical/klezmer ensemble. Jacobs will present her Holocaust-themed program drawn from “The Ballad of Mauthausen,” also known as the “Mauthausen Cantata,” at:

• Tarrytown (N.Y.) Music Hall on Wednesday, March 16, at 8pm;
• Joe’s Pub at the Public Theatre in Manhattan on Thursday, March 17, at 9:30pm;
• Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Friday, March 18, at 8pm;
• and at Bombyx in Florence, Mass., on Sunday, March 20, at 7:30pm.

The concert is titled A Ballad of Resilience and it is inspired by the world-famous Ballad of Mauthausen by the Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. “The Ballad of Mauthausen  is seen worldwide as one of the most gorgeous musical pieces ever to be written about the Second World War. It is a collaboration between the Greek poet Iakovos Kambanellis who was a survivor of Kamp Mauthausen and Mikis Theodorakis the famous Greek composer, banned for his activism against social injustice.

Since it’s been over 75 years of liberation from the Nazi regime it felt like a perfect moment to re-address this musical piece, resulting in a new, haunting and extraordinary composition of The Ballad of Mauthausen. “We have been honored and praised by composer Mikis Theodorakis himself for our version of his music and his Label has invited us to be part of his musical-family,”  writes Niki Jacobs.

For this program Niki Jacobs has assembled an outstanding group of musicians, with roots in Jazz, Balkan, Jewish, Classical and Improvised music. This Ensemble has put together a concert that honors the culture that survived the devastating attempted annihilation of the Jewish people during the Holocaust. It draws from the vibrant Yiddish world that flourished in America and Europe before the war as well as it’s post war revival inspired by surviving artists devoted to the revitalization and renaissance of this beautiful expressive language. The centerpiece of this concert is a beautiful Yiddish translation of The Ballad of Mauthausen.

Niki Jacobs (1978) has been singing Yiddish repertoire since 1999. She is a well-known performer within the Jewish Music scene in Europe and the USA. Inspired by her family history she developed a deep love and passion for Yiddish Culture and specifically for Yiddish Songs that were created from 1850 to 1950.

For more information about Niki Jacobs go to https://www.nikijacobs.nl and for ticket s to Joe’s Pub, go to https://publictheater.org/productions/joes-pub/2022/n/niki-jacobs/