LAEMMLE LIVE proudly presents Dyad, an innovative violin and bassoon duo on a quest to explore uncharted territory. After meeting at Juilliard, Niv Ashkenazi and Leah Kohn were inspired to create a new kind of chamber music. Unwilling to let a lack of repertoire stand in their way, they thrive on reimagining classic works as well as premiering new pieces. Through engaging, personal performances, they create connections between audience, performers, and music. Sunday’s performance will include pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, Gernot Wolfgang, and Niccolo Paganini. Since their first performance in May 2015, they have given concerts for the Wednesdays@Noon series at the Encinitas Library, the Classical Music Series at the Peninsula Center Library, the Cultural Arts Society of La Verne, Newport Beach’s Sunday Musicales, and other performances in Southern California, in venues ranging from the Skirball Center to art galleries and private homes. Dyad has collaborated with Lineage Dance and TranscenDanceGroup on performances which relate stories through dance, music, and other mediums. They have also appeared as guest artists and speakers at exclusive business networking events sharing their music and passion for innovation with a wider community. Dyad has given several world premieres of works written for and commissioned by them. In May 2017, they gave several performances in New Jersey, including at the Axelrod PerformingArts Center and the Kessler Foundation.

Sharing their music with audiences outside a traditional concert setting is a vital part of Dyad’s mission. They perform as an ensemble for Street Symphony, an organization founded by former Los Angeles Philharmonic member Vijay Gupta, which brings inclusive concerts to people experiencing incarceration and homelessness.

LAEMMLE LIVE presents acclaimed klezmer gypsy-rock band Mostly Kosher, reconstructing Judaic and American cultural music through ravenous klezmer beats and arresting Yiddish refrains. Mostly Kosher is a musical feast that “explodes into a global food-fight of Jazz, Latin, Rock, and Folk.”

In response to the poetry and folk music of Judaic roots, their original voice resounds with themes of social justice, human dignity and mutual understanding. Led by frontman Leeav Sofer, one of Jewish Journal’s “30 under 30” most accomplished professionals in the Los Angeles Jewish diaspora, Mostly Kosher is comprised of some of the highest regarded Los Angeles musicians: violinist Janice Mautner Markham, drummer Eric Hagstrom, bassist Adam Levy, and on guitar, Will Brahm. Guest artists include Aníbal Seminario, Gee Rabe, Taylor Covey and Lorry Aaron Black on xylophone.

Mostly Kosher is a fixture at renowned Southern California stages such as the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, Skirball Cultural Center and The Torrance Center for Performing Arts. They have also graced the stage of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for a live television broadcast to over half a million viewers in 2015 and once again in 2017. The ensemble has headlined multiple summer festivals such as Silicon Valley Jewish Music Festival, Claremont Folk Festival and more. Mostly Kosher had the honor of being the first Jewish music ensemble at the Disney parks and with 2018/2019 marking their third season performing during the 2-month long Festival of Holidays. Mostly Kosher was credited for “stealing the Festival of Holidays Show” by the acclaimed Fresh Baked Disney podcast. For the 2017/2018 holiday season, Mostly Kosher added Epcot Center in Florida to their list of holiday performance venues, becoming Disney’s first Jewish cultural music performed on both coasts.

Staying true to giving back to the community, Mostly Kosher is proud to be teaching artists for Urban Voices Project, performing and educating in underserved areas in and around Southern California including prisons, community clinics and shelters serving men and women suffering from homelessness. Mostly Kosher is also mentor ensemble to the Jewish Youth Orchestra, a project of the Jewish Federation of San Gabriel Valley,  offering performance opportunities and ongoing workshops for the middle school and high school musicians.   

The band’s self-titled debut album has won international acclaim by World Music Network, Songlines Magazine, and BBC radio. The first track, Ikh Hob Dikh Tsufil Lib (I Love You Much Too Much), was recognized as one of World Music Network’s Top 6 Songs of 2014. Mostly Kosher’s music videos have been garnering accolades on the film festival circuit, receiving two nominations at the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema and Best Music Video at the Glendale International Film Festival. This year Mostly Kosher is touring nationally and internationally through 2020 to support new original music and videos culminating in a full album release. Learn more: mostlykosher.com @mostlykosher