The Kugels

Door sales plus advanced tickets sales from Take Note, Picton and Alyssums, Blenheim.

Music that makes you want to dance – wild spirited and haunting.

Take three former members of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, a top New Zealand composer and Arts Laureate, and a shared passion for Klezmer music – and you have The Kugels.

The folk idiom of the Jewish people, Klezmer was originally played at weddings and other celebrations in Eastern and Central Europe. The music gained popularity in America with the arrival of Yiddish speaking immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, assimilating jazz elements into the mix.

Ross Harris is one of our leading NZ composers, having been awarded an Arts Laureate in 2014 and is the recipient of numerous prestigious prizes and awards.

The career of Robin Perks spans from NZ to Germany and back, and he has recently retired from the NZ Symphony Orchestra, now devoting himself entirely to the art of Klezmer violin.

Debbie Rawson is probably best known as the leader of the ensemble Saxcess, NZSO orchestral player, and in her role as Head of Woodwind at the NZ School of Music, Victoria University.

From playing violin in the Wellington Chamber Orchestra to leading street bands in Europe, Jacqueline Nordon is the ideal exponent of Klezmer bass and drives the ensemble with character and style.