01/26/25 8:00pm
THE STRANNIKI
Polina Shepherd & Psoy Korolenko
Philadelphia
Kleinlife JCC
10100 Jamison Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19116
View Map | BUY TICKETS
Philadelphia
Kleinlife JCC
10100 Jamison Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19116
View Map | BUY TICKETS
THE STRANNIKI
The Stranniki is a collaborative project of Polina Shepherd and Psoy Korolenko, two multilingual, cross-genre artists and authors, prominent in the Yiddish music scene for over two decades.
Soon after their initial mini-tour and presentation at the conference “Mediating a New Cold War in the Digital Age” at Dartmouth College (2016), the duo embarked on a cross-US tour, followed by more international concerts, including JetLAG Festival, featuring the program “Schlepping the Steppes and the Shtetl.”
Central to their repertoire is the concept of a “strannik” (wanderer; literally “wandering stranger,” “strange-nik”), roughly translatable into Yiddish as “navenadnik” (vagabond), and the associated archetype of “doroga” (Russian for road, path). The Stranniki draw upon, feature, and fuse elements of poetry and songs from Yiddish and Russian literature, folklore, and popular culture of the 19th and 20th centuries, organically weaving in their own original material. Their first mutual album unveils a distinctive continuity of texts, melodies, paths, and destinies, inspiring and informing in the peculiar 2020s as much as it ever has—if not more so.
Soon after their initial mini-tour and presentation at the conference “Mediating a New Cold War in the Digital Age” at Dartmouth College (2016), the duo embarked on a cross-US tour, followed by more international concerts, including JetLAG Festival, featuring the program “Schlepping the Steppes and the Shtetl.”
Central to their repertoire is the concept of a “strannik” (wanderer; literally “wandering stranger,” “strange-nik”), roughly translatable into Yiddish as “navenadnik” (vagabond), and the associated archetype of “doroga” (Russian for road, path). The Stranniki draw upon, feature, and fuse elements of poetry and songs from Yiddish and Russian literature, folklore, and popular culture of the 19th and 20th centuries, organically weaving in their own original material. Their first mutual album unveils a distinctive continuity of texts, melodies, paths, and destinies, inspiring and informing in the peculiar 2020s as much as it ever has—if not more so.
“Yuddish is about being a weird Russian, a weird Pole, a weird Ukrainian, a weird German. Weird but somehow cute and familiar”
Does every immigrant feel being a “weird American” because doesn’t 100% fit into the new homeland with all his “heritage”? I would assume that all people fill this way sometimes. The title “The Stranniki” or “The Weird People” perfectly captures the essence of this new project.
Collaboration between Psoy Korolenko and Polina Shepherd began at a conference called "Mediating a New Cold War in the Digital Age". As the world we once knew seems to crumble around us, one true way to conquer our fears is through the universal language of music. Nothing brings people together quite like sharing in the simple joy of creating and listening to music, dancing, and singing as one.
Klezmer musicians have always been wandering minstrels, invited to share in life's most intimate and unforgettable moments—from joyous weddings to solemn funerals. Today, we all desperately need a taste of this healing energy, this sense of togetherness that springs from shared emotions.
Central to this repertoire is the concept of the 'strannik' (wanderer; literally 'wandering stranger, strange-nik'), roughly translatable into Yiddish as 'navenadnik' (vagabond), and the associated archetype of 'doroga' (Russian for road, path). The Stranniki draw upon, feature, and/or fuse elements of poetry and songs from Yiddish and Russian literature, folklore, and popular culture of 19th and 20th centuries, organically weaving in their own original material. Their first mutual album unveils a distinctive continuity of texts, melodies, paths, and destinies, inspiring and informing in the peculiar 2020s as much as it ever has—if not more so.
Collaboration between Psoy Korolenko and Polina Shepherd began at a conference called "Mediating a New Cold War in the Digital Age". As the world we once knew seems to crumble around us, one true way to conquer our fears is through the universal language of music. Nothing brings people together quite like sharing in the simple joy of creating and listening to music, dancing, and singing as one.
Klezmer musicians have always been wandering minstrels, invited to share in life's most intimate and unforgettable moments—from joyous weddings to solemn funerals. Today, we all desperately need a taste of this healing energy, this sense of togetherness that springs from shared emotions.
Central to this repertoire is the concept of the 'strannik' (wanderer; literally 'wandering stranger, strange-nik'), roughly translatable into Yiddish as 'navenadnik' (vagabond), and the associated archetype of 'doroga' (Russian for road, path). The Stranniki draw upon, feature, and/or fuse elements of poetry and songs from Yiddish and Russian literature, folklore, and popular culture of 19th and 20th centuries, organically weaving in their own original material. Their first mutual album unveils a distinctive continuity of texts, melodies, paths, and destinies, inspiring and informing in the peculiar 2020s as much as it ever has—if not more so.
“The Robert Plant of klezmer” (Seth Rogovoy, The Essential Klezmer), performs an explosive mixture of songs of the Steppes and the Shtetl spiced up by Tatar Bazaars and washed down with an Odessa fisherman’s tune: Russian and Yiddish, folklore and fakelore, the powerful and the profound.
Polina Shepherd is a composer, performer, educator and cultural activist originally from Siberia, now living in Brighton UK. She grew up with singing at family gatherings where she accompanied her grandfather, a WWII veteran and her whole Cossack / Jewish family from the age of 7. Since moving to the UK in 2003 has been performing, teaching, composing and touring with various projects internationally.
Her singing, though based on traditional forms, cuts a sound deeply rooted in east European Jewish and Russian folk. Growing up in Tatarstan also placed her close to Islamic ornamentation and timbre, which can be heard in her unique vocal style.
As a solo performer she presents a variety of original songs including her solo album Three Centuries Ago, some of the songs with her own poetry. In 2023 Polina joined the GRAMMY®-winning baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire (Cleveland, USA) as a guest singer in Exile & Resilience tour of the USA and Europe. Amongst dozens projects, as a vocalist worked and recorded with a remix artist Max Pashm in Never Mind the Balkans, a Romanian Gypsy style brass band Fanfara, and most recently for Gecko Theatre production Kin (2022).
Polina Shepherd is a composer, performer, educator and cultural activist originally from Siberia, now living in Brighton UK. She grew up with singing at family gatherings where she accompanied her grandfather, a WWII veteran and her whole Cossack / Jewish family from the age of 7. Since moving to the UK in 2003 has been performing, teaching, composing and touring with various projects internationally.
Her singing, though based on traditional forms, cuts a sound deeply rooted in east European Jewish and Russian folk. Growing up in Tatarstan also placed her close to Islamic ornamentation and timbre, which can be heard in her unique vocal style.
As a solo performer she presents a variety of original songs including her solo album Three Centuries Ago, some of the songs with her own poetry. In 2023 Polina joined the GRAMMY®-winning baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire (Cleveland, USA) as a guest singer in Exile & Resilience tour of the USA and Europe. Amongst dozens projects, as a vocalist worked and recorded with a remix artist Max Pashm in Never Mind the Balkans, a Romanian Gypsy style brass band Fanfara, and most recently for Gecko Theatre production Kin (2022).
Psoy Korolenko (Pavel Lion) is a poet-chansonnier, translator, columnist, and philologist. In 1996, he defended a dissertation on the writer Vladimir Korolenko (1853-1921) at Moscow State University, who became an art symbol and a sort of standard for him. He has been performing on stage since 1997.
Known as a “wandering scholar” or “singing professor,” Korolenko created his unique multilingual cabaret, combining traditions of Russian and European (especially French) popular and urban folk songs, and Yiddish folk and theater songs, with elements of rap, sound poetry, and other kinds of free-style poetry.
Psoy Korolenko has released over 20 albums, either solo or in creative collaborations. He has created a unique type of folk cabaret, integrating styles and traditions from various cultures (Soviet pop and author’s song, French chanson, klezmer), including through multilingualism, translations, and adaptations. He is a member of the American Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
In 2019, the joint project of Psoy Korolenko and historian Anna Shternshis, "Yiddish Glory," was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Psoy is one of the organizers of the international music festival "JetLAG '' and has been seasonly teaching folklore at Dartmouth College since 2022.
Known as a “wandering scholar” or “singing professor,” Korolenko created his unique multilingual cabaret, combining traditions of Russian and European (especially French) popular and urban folk songs, and Yiddish folk and theater songs, with elements of rap, sound poetry, and other kinds of free-style poetry.
Psoy Korolenko has released over 20 albums, either solo or in creative collaborations. He has created a unique type of folk cabaret, integrating styles and traditions from various cultures (Soviet pop and author’s song, French chanson, klezmer), including through multilingualism, translations, and adaptations. He is a member of the American Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
In 2019, the joint project of Psoy Korolenko and historian Anna Shternshis, "Yiddish Glory," was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Psoy is one of the organizers of the international music festival "JetLAG '' and has been seasonly teaching folklore at Dartmouth College since 2022.
- …a stunning vocalist with a four-octave range and no slouch on piano, either - Forward
- Her dramatic interpretation was such that one did not need the translation to understand what was going on in the harrowing song - Chicago Classical
- Singer Polina Shepherd …combines virtuoso vocal talent with raw emotional delivery. She plumbs energy from the same archetypical sources that make blues and flamenco singing so powerful - Portuguese American Journal
- Shepherd’s performance was delivering the prayer inimitably, with ornamentation reflecting her immersion in the chant of the muezzin as much as in the cantorial tradition, it was about transcendence via art. It was a cry from her own heart, an act of creation, and a transformation of time and space into - Forward
- Her dramatic interpretation was such that one did not need the translation to understand what was going on in the harrowing song - Chicago Classical
- Singer Polina Shepherd …combines virtuoso vocal talent with raw emotional delivery. She plumbs energy from the same archetypical sources that make blues and flamenco singing so powerful - Portuguese American Journal
- Shepherd’s performance was delivering the prayer inimitably, with ornamentation reflecting her immersion in the chant of the muezzin as much as in the cantorial tradition, it was about transcendence via art. It was a cry from her own heart, an act of creation, and a transformation of time and space into - Forward
Polina Sheperd
composer, performer, educator and cultural activist
- Korolenko is after something beyond literal understanding, pursuing instead the more pure forms of knowledge, like communion and community. - Forward
Psoy Korolenko
poet-chansonnier, translator, columnist, and philologist
Muze: Marina Smirnova-Philidor
E-mail: marina.philidor@gmail.com
Phone: +1 856 359 4220
Current Events: Get Tickets
E-mail: marina.philidor@gmail.com
Phone: +1 856 359 4220
Current Events: Get Tickets
