Andreas Schmitges, (guitar, mandolin, vocals, dance) has been an active member of the klezmer scene for almost a decade, working in this field as a musician, author, researcher and dancer. He studied Jazz in Maastricht (NL) with Joep van Leeuwen and at the Musikhochschule Köln with Prof. Frank Haunschild where he also completed his thesis, entitled: ‘Klezmer and Jazz – Points of connection'. Since then, his contributions on North American Klezmer Music have been featured in the acclaimed 'Klezmerwelten' Exhibition ‘Klezmer heymish and hip' which is still travelling around Europe. Andreas, a fluent Yiddish speaker, has been a freelancing klezmer musician since 1998 during which time he has attended Klezmer-Workshops and Yiddish Courses in Oxford, London, Weimar and New York. Andreas works as a teacher for Yiddish Dance at Festivals in London, Kiev, Odessa and Weimar and has given concerts, dance- and Klezmer-workshops at festivals of Jewish and Yiddish culture in Europe, including London, Amsterdam, Enschede, Berlin, Munich, Gelsenkirchen and Weimar. Andreas has performed internationally in Paris, London, Washington D.C. and Amsterdam with his bands ‘A Tickle In The Heart' and ‘Klezmer Alliance'. His highly successful collaboration with Yiddish storyteller and teacher Pesakh Fiszman from New York in a Yiddish Music & Language Programme has won high acclaim.

email: Schmitges@aol.com