German Goldenshteyn profile picture

German Goldenshteyn

About Me

Born in 1934, he lost his parents in the Holocaust and after the war, he and his siblings entered an orphanage in Odessa. As a young man, German successfully auditioned for the army band school, after which he spent 10 years playing in military orchestras and completing his service.
German later studied at a technical institute in Kiev, earning an engineering degree, and became a machinist in the town of Mohyliv-Podilskyi in Moldavia. It was there that he met some older musicians at a Jewish wedding, and had another life-changing audition: the clarinetist of the wedding band handed him his horn and commanded, "play." As a result, from the mid 1950's until he came to the United States in 1994, German played thousands of simchas. He learned melodies quickly, but found he could not retain too many simultaneously. So, whenever he learned a new song, he would write it down so as not to forget it.
Over time, German managed "not to forget" more than 800 melodies, most of which have never been heard on this side of the pond. He has self published 2 vollumes of these tunes, and a new collection of music will be published, along with a CD of his playing, very soon

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 02/02/2006
Band Website: http://www.germangoldenshteyn.com
Band Members: German Goldenshteyn, clarinet
Alex Kontorovich, clarinet
This tribute site maintained by Mark Rubin
Influences: Hasidic niggunim, Russian marches, Moldavian dances, Ukranian Hopaks, Romanian Batutas, Gypsy Coceks Polish Kolomeykes and Polkas. Pickled herring, blasck rye and vodka. Lot's of vodka.
Sounds Like: Jewish dance music from Moldavia played by a Red Army WW2 veteran.
Record Label: Living Traditions
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Goldenshteyn Bessarabian Band Appears @ Montreal Jazz Fest

The Goldenshteyn Bessarabian Band is named in honor of German Goldenshteyn, Moldavian grandmaster of klezmer, born in Bessarabia near the Ukrainian border in 1934. His death last year inspired this Mo...
Posted by on Fri, 22 Jun 2007 22:36:00 GMT

German Goldenshteyn Repertoire Published

"From the Repertoire of German Goldenshteyn"A collection of transcriptions of 100 bulgars, freylakhs, hongas, khosidls and zhokuls from German Goldenshteyn's unique repertoire. Includes all the melodi...
Posted by on Sat, 31 Mar 2007 13:49:00 GMT

Klez Kamp 2006 Concert Tribute

The Klez Kamp staff band, the very same from the CD recording session, ably led by Alex Kontorovich, in tribute to German.See a bit of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5JrABKGQRo
Posted by on Sat, 06 Jan 2007 20:51:00 GMT

German reveiwed in the Jewish Week

German Goldenshteyn: A Living Tradition (Living Traditions)This is not merely a very fine album of traditional klezmer. It is also a historical document of 20th -century Jewish culture of incalculable...
Posted by on Wed, 20 Sep 2006 19:44:00 GMT

Memorial Benefit Concert Great Sucess

Thanks again to those who attended this Sunday's concert and gathering at South Paw in Brooklyn. Special thanks goes to Alex Kontorovich for marshalling the troops and leading the band on stage, as we...
Posted by on Tue, 19 Sep 2006 10:37:00 GMT

German on NPR

In case you missed it, here's a profile and tune from German on NPR's Sound Check.
Posted by on Tue, 19 Sep 2006 10:18:00 GMT

Letter From Alex K.

Dear friends,I hope this email finds you well. As exciting as my summer has been with traveling, performing and teaching all over the world, I've returned home with a harsh reminder of the song "Abi G...
Posted by on Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:04:00 GMT

Memorial Concert Planned for 9/15/2006

From Alex Kontorovich:Yesterday morning Hank Sapoznik and I were at Mina's for the last hour of shiva. As we uncovered the mirrors and formally ended the period of intense mourning, I remembered somet...
Posted by on Mon, 19 Jun 2006 10:53:00 GMT

LA Times Obituary

Clarinetist German Goldenshteyn, 71, a native of Eastern Europe who wasconsidered a kind of Woody Guthrie of the klezmer revival in America, diedJune 10 of a heart attack while fishing on Long Island,...
Posted by on Mon, 19 Jun 2006 10:50:00 GMT

The Scotsman Obituary

*GERMAN Goldenshteyn*, a celebrated traditional clarinetist from the former Soviet Union who forged a crucial link to the vibrant klezmer music of the Old World with his arrival in the New World 12 ye...
Posted by on Sat, 17 Jun 2006 16:54:00 GMT