Alicia Svigals, a violinist, composer, and founding member of the Grammy-winning Klezmatics, has been awarded a 2024 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Folk/Traditional Arts. Svigals is widely recognized as the world’s leading klezmer fiddler and played a pivotal role in reviving klezmer fiddling through her 1990s debut album, Fidl.
In 2018, Svigals collaborated with jazz pianist Uli Geissendoerfer to release Beregovski Suite, a project inspired by the klezmer melodies documented by early 20th-century Soviet Jewish ethnomusicologist Moshe Beregovski. More recently, in June 2024, Svigals released her latest album, Fidl Afire, which showcases her return to her roots with a dynamic party band. Earlier, in May 2023, she was honored with a Doctor of Humane Letters degree by the Jewish Theological Seminary in recognition of her “extraordinary contributions to the arts and Jewish life.”
The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship awards $8,000 in unrestricted cash grants to artists based in New York State across 15 disciplines, rotating five disciplines annually over a three-year cycle. The fellowship is administered by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) with support from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).
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Author: World Music Central News Room
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