Send Miles to Study Klezmer Abroad!
Hey folks! I'm trying to study klezmer abroad this summer!
Mai Li (Miles) here. I'm a Seattle working musician, I play violin and sing a lot, and these days, I'm playing a lot of klezmer. I front and lead a cabaret punk klezmer band called The Debaucherauntes. 
It's been a big year -- shows with Mark Rubin, Juno-nominated Oktopus, and viral Yiddishist singing and acting sensation Daniel Kahn (!); getting interviewed in a book; and mentioned in Jewish in Seattle in an article about the local explosion of Yiddish culture and klezmer, on top of a hole lot of local klezmer organizing and studying Yiddish locally. Whew!
That work has paid off -- I've been granted a rare workstudy opportunity for Yiddish Summer Weimar, where this year's theme is the Roaring 20s in Yiddishland! 
This is a huge deal!! These only occur by special arrangement, and reduce the cost significantly... I will have the opportunity to study 20s repertiore immersively, without distractions, in both klezmer and Yiddish song, *in Weimar*. Even better, it ends as KlezKanada begins, which is the biggest educational festival in North America I've attended annually the last 4 years -- so I could continue to Montreal and further connect and hone what I've learned for the past few weeks in a week of classes and the cabaret.
But I can't make it there without your support!
I cannot emphasize how rare and special this opportunity is to bring this knowledge and strengthened connections with the international klezmer and Yiddish world back to the Pacific Northwest! There is a growing contingent of Seattle and West Coast folks going to KlezKanada, and I feel compelled to continue connecting and learning there alongside to continue the important community building and arts work here at home after Weimar, if I can come up with the funds.
I have learned and achieved so much, with the help of so many folks in my communites! And there is still much more to be done. And yet, the only way to continue to build and further this educational knowledge is through community support. Airfare and room and board is going to be brutal, and far outside what's possible on my own.
The last 4 years at KlezKanada (and 2 at Yiddish New York) have each been lifechanging, renewing connections with incredible klezmer and Yiddish performers across the world that have often resulted in local concerts and classes; deepening knowledge of and connection with this music to play traditional standards with more nuance and accuracy, creating new contributions to the repertoire in my own voice and helping guide others; and generating a hard drive full of field recordings. Last year's efforts resulted in the long anticipated November 20th show with Daniel Kahn, and the cabaret debut of Jew In New York, written under consultation from Daniel Kahn and Josh Waletsky during the previous year's festival... as well as strengthening Seattle's growing scene by supporting other Seattle folks and new groups attending, like Brivele and Shpilkis.
This is a critical opportunity to dive deep into the repertoire that I'm focusing on with guidance from the top of my field; to float new concepts with the world's highest performing and most knowledgeable artists; and to really hone my craft at greater depth. This might be my only shot at being elligible for 317 euro tuition (discounted from 1325!), which is still far out of reach without help. ... especially on a year I'm *still* struggling with a violin-related neck injury and other health concerns. I was so incredibly honored when the director of Yiddish Summer Weimar messaged me with this work-study offer so I can study this repertoire immersively like never before.
The structure and amount of time spent, and increased access to European klezmer and Yiddish luminaries, makes this a heavier, deeper, and longer educational opportunity... especially when coupling both festivals together for a summer-long intensive, connecting with Klezmer and Yiddish artists from across the world.
It's a fantastic opportunity, for my bands, community and colleagues, with deep ripple effects for continuing this new wave of Jewish and Yiddish musical traditions and cultural explosion. Education, networking, playing with other seasoned klezmer and Yiddish musicians from far flung corners of the world, diving deep into the roots of this shared thing that matters to us so much. The benefits are countless, for me, for my bandmates, my students, my communities. 
The trick is, I have about 5 weeks to come up with $4500 to get there.
There is no way I can do this without your help. Please help fund my klezmer study abroad this summer!
Intrigued? Want more details? read on below.
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HOW MUCH? WHEN?
I need to raise $4500 ASAP to cover tuition, room and board in Weimar, and airfare:
---Yiddish Summer Weimar tuition fee of ~$360 US, due July 12
--- Airfare for the entire adventure (incl taxes and baggage fees) is estimated at $1500 incl fees: $750 NY-Hamburg round trip incl. fees; $200 Sea-NY; $150 NY-Montreal, $350 Montreal-SEA (the sooner, the cheaper.), train tickets from Hamburg to Weimar $30 each way. Airline miles accepted in donation!! If you can help me get to Weimar, please let me know!
--- Room and board est $825 for 5 weeks: the cheap hostel down the street from the festival in Weimar est $25/night, which books out (the cheapest spots are booked already), so registering ASAP is critical!
--- food est. $500-$800 for 5 weeks, $100-$160 US /wk
--- KlezKanada Registration fee of $1100 (covers tuition, room and board), due ASAP
As a quick metric, if just 200 (10%) of my 2000+ FB friends chipped in $20, I'd be really close to my goal!
Any extra raised will go toward padding in-case-of-emergency funds, lodging if needed, networking and travel expenses. (A meal on the town with your mentors is priceless, but not costless!) 
WHY DOES THIS STUDY ABROAD TRIP MATTER?
Yiddish Summer Weimar is the longest immersion camp for Yiddish culture in the world. 5 weeks long, there are 2 weeks of workshops before bookending a festival week in instrumental music, vocal music, dance and Yiddish culture & language tracks-- each one individual, separate, internally independant, many eligible for college credit. Each workshop is several successive days of day-long classes, set up as deep dives into the material in a continuous immersive experience. It shares faculty with KlezKanada (the largest klezmer and Yiddish culture retreat in North America), but headed by Artistic Director/artist in residence Alan Bern, includes European luminaries on its faculty as well.
The focus on deep immersion and access to European luminaries really makes this festival different, allowing for depth of study that's impossible with a handful of 60-90m classes offered at most week long festivals. The location also really makes it special; The opportunity to study and create in this historic location while focusing on obsure repertoire that is in my wheelhouse is a perfect storm of luck, especially at a generous discount. Volunteering alongside some of the most successful organizers of klezmer and Yiddish culture in the world will also net great experience and connections for our communities here.
Website: https://yiddishsummer.eu/main/workshops.html 
Similarly, KlezKanada is the largest immersion camp for klezmer in North America, headed by New York klezmer clarinetist Michael Winograd, and accoladed Yiddishist (of Seattle Ravenna Kibbutz fame!) Seb Schulman. The coursework includes instrumental, vocal and ensemble instruction, history, Yiddish, dance, literature, and philosophy. There are over 100 courses.
Website: http://klezkanada.org/ 
The quality of instruction there is second to none on this side of the Atlantic, and it's an environment full of other serious musicians, performers, writers, and scholars from across the world from all ages & walks of life; This is a place that launches promising careers, where serious players can rub elbows, learn, become inspired, and create artistic and cultural connections that will last a lifetime. It's a place where, as a cabaret punk klezmer bandleader, singing fidlr, and Yiddish Vaudeville tumlr, I get deeper understandings of craft and close gaps in my knowledge of the repertoire. As a queer feminist non-traditional Jew, it's a place where I can build community. As a composer and violin principal, it's a place where my writing and playing becomes more infused and inspired. There are literally so many courses you could go 20 times (at 4 intensive courses a week) and never take the same classes, let alone outside learning.
This study abroad intensive is a huge, meaningful opportunity-- for me, and to bring the knowledge back into local community. Seattle's Yiddish and klezmer scene is growing rapidly, with more classes, more shows, newer bands, new sounds, and younger voices, and needs to be fed with as much of the good stuff as we can give it right now. Seattle klezmer players all become richer when some of us go off to study, because we play together, and become enriched by each other's experiences. Jews in the community all benefit from those in the community going: the broadening and deepening of our cultural experiences trickle out in our havurahs, minyans, tisches, and shuls. My students benefit directly. The people who go out to see klezmer benefit directly.
IS THIS A DONATION? LOAN OR TOTEBAGS, NU?
I'm open to discussing donations and barter/work trades, as long as the schedule is flexible (for my part, freelancer schedules fill up paying bills, so it will take time to work off!) Here's some offers we came up with if you want to go the donation incentive route. Check it out!
$200 -- Meal for 4 (excluding booze, limit 5, Seattle area only), Solo Yiddish song show (limit 5), or 4 session + intro crash course on anything I teach (Seattle only)! (Meal: 3-5 courses of homecooked goodness, negotiated in advance, at my place or yours.) Must be scheduled by Sept 1st 2020 and be located within Western Washington. (May be negotiable pending travel expenses!)
$100 -- Singing Telegram! I will play and sing a short message (Greater Seattle area, or travel expenses may be asked! or video message) to someone of your choice on an instrument of your choice (Violin, Viola, Voice, Guitar, Bass, Keys, Glockenspiel). Limit 5!
$75 -- Learn a new solo song! I will learn a new song of your choosing (at my discretion), and record video or audio of me performing it for you by Feb 2020. Limit 5!
$50 -- Violin/Vox or Viola/vox cameo with your band! Must be scheduled by Sept 1st 2020 and be located within Western Washington. (May be negotiable with additional travel expenses!)
$18 -- Video L'Chaim! I will make a video toast on social media with a shoutout from abroad about how awesome you are! Limit 5.
$10 -- Postcard! I will send you a postcard from Weimar, filled with gratitude, and possibly doodles. ***Please make sure you include your address with your donation so I can do this while in the city before or after camp; there's almost no internet at camp so I can't follow up to get it from you once I'm there!***
**Please be aware many of these are likely to be fulfilled by late October at the soonest (after High Holidays), due to a combination of Jewish Holidays, scheduled performances and other deadlines, but I'm intent on getting these out as soon as possible!**
If you have the scratch to help a working musician grow artistry, cultural connection, and bring back a whole lot of that into the community, please throw some dollars or share this to your friends! Literally all of my dollars are just scraping by to rent, utilities, phone, medical expenses, and debt repayment, which is sometimes the difficult part of being a working musician-- there are many great opportunities that would pass us by without the assist from my community!
Thanks so much for considering, and please pass this along to your networks; one more way to feed Seattle Klezmer! <3
Love,
Miles