Joel Rubin

Joel Rubin is an American clarinetist, klezmer musician, ethnomusicologist, and scholar of Jewish music. Since becoming involved in the klezmer revival in the late 1970s, he has been researching, teaching and performing klezmer music and related genres. He has been a member of, or performed with, such groups as Brave Old World, the Joel Rubin Ensemble, and Veretski Pass.

Biography Early life and education Joel Rubin was born in Los Angeles in 1955. His paternal grandfather, who was from Kyiv, was a guitarist and his maternal grandfather, who was from New York City, was a passionate fan of classical music and opera. Both men instilled a love of music in him. Rubin's father was a psychoanalyst and his mother was a visual artist and painter. In 1978 he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of Music at the State University of New York at Purchase. At around that time, he was experimenting with jazz music and other more contemporary genres. He was often performing with Lisa Rose, a pianist who was interested in Jewish music, and when an acquaintance lent him an LP by Dave Tarras, he began to take a greater interest in klezmer music. Rubin moved to Berlin, Germany, in 1989; for the next three years, Brave Old World toured regularly in Europe, although in 1992 Rubin left the group. He has also appeared with klezmer revival groups such as the Klezmer Conservatory Band, Daniel Kahn & the Painted Bird, The Klezmatics, and the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band. He has also directed some university klezmer ensembles, including the University of Virginia Klezmer Ensemble (of which he has been the director since 2006), the Syracuse University Klezmer Ensemble (in 2006), and the Cornell University Klezmer Ensemble (2003–2006).

His 2001 dissertation at City, University of London, examined the performance style of klezmer clarinetists Dave Tarras and Naftule Brandwein. His most recent book, New York Klezmer in the Early Twentieth Century: The Music of Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras (University of Rochester Press, 2020) revisits those two clarinetists.

After finishing his PhD, in 2003 he returned to the United States and worked as an instructor at Cornell University and Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York. In 2006 he became an assistant professor at the University of Virginia where he worked until 2020. At present he is an Adjunct Researcher at the University of Bern.

He has also published many academic papers, many of which are available on Academia.edu. In 2021, Rubin deposited his collection of research materials and other documents with the Library of Congress American Folklife Center.

Selected publications

(Jewish Musical Traditions), co-authored with Rita Ottens. , 2001. , co-authored with Rita Ottens. Bärenreiter and dtv, 1999. Mazltov! Jewish-American Wedding Music for Clarinet. Schott Musik International, 1998. New York Klezmer in the Early Twentieth Century: The Music of Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras. University of Rochester Press, 2020.

Selected recordings Joel Rubin Klezmer Band. Brave Old World (1988, Global Village). Brave Old World. Klezmer Music (1991, Flying Fish Records) Joel Rubin and Josh Horowitz. Bessarabian Symphony: Early Jewish Instrumental Music (1994, Schott WERGO) Joel Rubin with the Epstein Brothers Orchestra. Zeydes un Eyniklekh (Grandfathers and Grandsons): American-Jewish Wedding Music from the Repertoire of Dave Tarras (1995, Schott WERGO). Joel Rubin Jewish Music Ensemble. Beregovski's Khasene (Beregovski's Wedding): Forgotten Instrumental Treasures from the Ukraine (1997, Schott WERGO). Joel Rubin Ensemble. Midnight Prayer (2007, Traditional Crossroads). Joel Rubin and Uri Caine. (2011, Tzadik Records) Joel Rubin Ensemble featuring Rabbi Eli Silberstein. Nign of Reb Mendel: Hasidic Songs in Yiddish (2010, Traditional Crossroads). Veretski Pass with Joel Rubin. Poyln, A Gilgul (2015, Golden Horn Records) Veretski Pass with Joel Rubin. The Magid Chronicles (2019, Golden Horn RecoRECORDrds), based on the work of Sofia Magid

Curated or produced albums Shteygers (Ways). New Klezmer Music 1991–1994, Trikont, 1995 Yikhes (Lineage): Early Klezmer Recordings 1911–1939 (1996, Trikont) Doyres (Generations): Traditional Klezmer Recordings 1979–1994 (1995, Trikont) Jüdische Lebenswelten/Patterns of Jewish Life: Highlights from the Concert Series 'Traditional and Popular Jewish Music' Berlin 1992, (1993, Schott WERGO) The Epstein Brothers Orchestra. Kings of Freylekh Land: A Century of Yiddish-American Music (1995, Schott WERGO) Hungry Hearts: Classic Yiddish Clarinet Solos of the 1920s (1998, Schott WERGO) Oytsres (Treasures): Klezmer Music 1908–1996 (1999, Schott WERGO) Cantor Isaac Algazi: Sweet Singer of Israel. Ottoman Jewish Music from the Early 20th Century, in cooperation with Prof. Edwin Seroussi and the Renanot Institute for Jewish Music, Schott WERGO, 2002 Di eybike mame (The Eternal Mother): Women in Yiddish Theater and Popular Song 1906–1929 (2003, Schott WERGO) Shalom Comrade!: Yiddish Music in the Soviet Union 1928–1961 (2005, Schott WERGO) Aneinu (Answer Us): Hasidic-Orthodox Music from the Festival of the Torah in Jerusalem (Moussa Berlin Ensemble) (2008, Schott WERGO) Chekhov's Band: Eastern European Klezmer Music from the EMI Archives 1908–1913 (2015, Renair Records)