ELIZABETH SCHWARTZ

About

Elizabeth Schwartz has been called “The Edith Piaf of Yiddish” and “a revelation” with a superb mastery of klezmer ornamentations. As the vocalist for Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi and as a soloist, she has performed at festivals, synagogues and concert halls on every continent except Antarctica (she’s working on that). Her myriad acclaimed recordings of Yiddish, Ladino, Hebrew and English have been released on the Naxos World, Arc Music UK, Global Village and Transcontinental Music record labels. On March 18, 2012, Schwartz was invited to become the first woman in history to sing at the 125-year-old Eldridge Street Synagogue in Manhattan, effectively breaking the ban of kol isha in this landmark cultural venue. Schwartz is the subject of the Romanian documentary film, Searching for Schwartz, by Radu Gabrea (z”l).

As a writer, Schwartz co-created the award-winning audio dramas The Witches of Lublin and Debs in Canton for Suemedia Productions. She contributed a chapter on klezmer vocal technique to Shpil: The Art of Playing Klezmer (Scarecrow Press). Her recipes of Jewish food can be found in A Wandering Feast: A Journey Through the Jewish Culture of Eastern Europe (Jossey-Bass), Zydzi Od Kuchni (Austeria) and It’s Always About the Food (Harper Collins). Her first book of fiction (in English... and Yiddish), The Sweet Fragrance of Life & Other Horror Stories, was published by Olniansky Tekst in 2023. The illustrated audiobook, with narration in English and Yiddish and music by Yale Strom, will be released by SueMedia Productions in October of 2024.