Klezmer Faculty
From the landmark experimental music venue Roulette to the Krakow Jewish Culture Festival, Philadelphia-native Dan Blacksberg has created a singular musical voice as a trombonist, composer, and educator. Acknowledged as the foremost practitioner of klezmer trombone in its traditional and modern forms and a respected voice in jazz & experimental music, Dan is known for a formidable virtuosity and versatility. This has led to performances with artists such klezmer masters Elaine Hoffman Watts, Adrienne Cooper, Michael Winograd and Frank London to experimentalists like George Lewis, Anthony Braxton, Marshall Allen, and extreme doom metal band The Body, to being a featured jazz soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.
Described by Bandcamp Daily as “a maestro who effortlessly hops between—and, ultimately, deconstructs—genres with abandon,” Dan’s musical vision has led him to compose music with a wide reach. From writing danceable klezmer melodies on his most recent album Radiant Others – the first klezmer album to feature the trombone as the lead instrument – to the free-jazz of the Dan Blacksberg Trio, to genre-busting projects like his Hasidic doom metal band Deveykus and Name Of the Sea, commissioned by the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts Jazz Residency, Dan forges music that “aims to infuse the fearless avant-garde with timeless sounds and techniques, and vice versa.” (WXPN’s The Key)
Dan currently teaches jazz and klezmer at Temple University, and coordinates the Instrumental and Dance programs at Yiddish New York. He is the klezmer-musician-residence at Kol Tzedek Synagogue in West Philadelphia. He is also in high demand as a teacher and workshop leader at many of the leading klezmer festivals such as Klezkamp, Klezkanada, Yiddish Summer Weimar, and was the 2020 Guest artist at Klezmequerque. He also makes the klezmer musician interview podcast Radiant Others.
Described by Bandcamp Daily as “a maestro who effortlessly hops between—and, ultimately, deconstructs—genres with abandon,” Dan’s musical vision has led him to compose music with a wide reach. From writing danceable klezmer melodies on his most recent album Radiant Others – the first klezmer album to feature the trombone as the lead instrument – to the free-jazz of the Dan Blacksberg Trio, to genre-busting projects like his Hasidic doom metal band Deveykus and Name Of the Sea, commissioned by the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts Jazz Residency, Dan forges music that “aims to infuse the fearless avant-garde with timeless sounds and techniques, and vice versa.” (WXPN’s The Key)
Dan currently teaches jazz and klezmer at Temple University, and coordinates the Instrumental and Dance programs at Yiddish New York. He is the klezmer-musician-residence at Kol Tzedek Synagogue in West Philadelphia. He is also in high demand as a teacher and workshop leader at many of the leading klezmer festivals such as Klezkamp, Klezkanada, Yiddish Summer Weimar, and was the 2020 Guest artist at Klezmequerque. He also makes the klezmer musician interview podcast Radiant Others.