(AMHERST, Mass.) – The Klezmatics and the Klezmer Conservatory Band – widely considered to be the two greatest modern klezmer groups – headline Yidstock 2014: the Festival of New Yiddish Music at the Yiddish Book Center from Thursday, July 17, through Sunday, July 20, 2014. The third annual Yidstock Festival features an international cast of musicians, an expanded lineup of workshops, and a pre-Shabbat concert on Friday afternoon by the Nigunim Trio, featuring Lorin Sklamberg and Frank London of the Klezmatics.

The musical lineup of this year’s event includes a performance by Berlin’s Daniel Kahn & the Painted Bird, one of the most creative and cutting-edge Yiddish ensembles, marking the first time Yidstock is presenting a European-based group. Also on the lineup is Basya Schechter: Songs of Wonder (The Heschel Project), featuring poetry by the great Yiddish poet and theologian, Abraham Joshua Heschel, put to new music by Basya Schechter, the founder and leader of Jewish world-beat group Pharaoh’s Daughter. The curtain comes down on the festival on Sunday evening with the boisterous, joyful and radical sounds of Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars, featuring the acclaimed Yiddish vocalist Eleanor Reissa.

Yidstock 2014 offers a rare opportunity for festivalgoers to take in performances by several generations of the most accomplished and influential klezmer musicians, including those who revived the music in the 1980s, those who made it blossom in the klezmer renaissance of the 1990s, and those who are blazing new trails well into the 21st century.

A series of workshops and talks is also on the schedule, including two Yiddish Folk Dance workshops led by internationally renowned Yiddish dance teacher Steve Weintraub; a lecture by Hankus Netsky, founder of the Klezmer Conservatory Band; an instrumental klezmer workshop with Brian Bender; a Yiddish song workshop with Asya Vaisman Schulman; and a multimedia journey through a thousand years of klezmer history by author and music critic Seth Rogovoy, who programs the annual event.

Back by popular demand, Yosi Kitchen’s falafel tent will once again be serving an assortment of great food.

Last year Yidstock drew festivalgoers from around the country. Festival passes and tickets to performances sold out quickly, with most attendees purchasing tickets to all or multiple concerts.

All events take place at the Yiddish Book Center’s 49,000 square-foot campus in Amherst, Mass.

For more information, the complete schedule, and to purchase tickets visit Yidstock or call 413.256.4900.

Founded in 1980, the Yiddish Book Center is a nonprofit organization working to tell the whole Jewish story by rescuing, translating and disseminating Yiddish books and presenting innovative programs that broaden understanding of modern Jewish identity.