The Cornell University Klezmer Ensemble is a student organization at Cornell University dedicated to playing and preserving the tradition of klezmer music. The members of CUKE are a mixture of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, community members, and musicians from the central New York region. We play at numerous events throughout the year! CUKE was formed in January 2004 by the great klezmer clarinetist Joel Rubin during his time teaching at Cornell. Today we play a wide variety of klezmer music, with selections from pre-revolutionary Ukraine and Belarus, 1910-20s America, the late 30s to mid 40s pieces written by New York clarinestist Dave Tarras and Naftule Brandwein, and ningunim which are melodies of spiritual elevation from the Lubavitcher Hasidim.
