260. Scratch Night 2024 with Maia Brown and Brivele

Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series

Town Hall's 2024 Scratch Night featuring the work-in-progress of our Artist-in-Residence Maia Brown

In collaboration with Brivele bandmate, Stefanie Brendler, Maia crafts an intimate evening that dives deep into the Yiddish archives of anti-fascist poetry and song, offering a glimpse into their creative process.

Maia Brown, a visual artist, Yiddish musician, and educator, brings a rich background in oral history and fine art to this exploration, alongside Stefanie Brendler, a multi-talented Seattle-based artist, composer, and member of the klezmer brass band Shpilkis. This evening comprises a stirring blend of storytelling and music, echoing the resilience and resistance found within Yiddish tradition.

About the Artists

Maia Brown (she/her) is a visual artist, Yiddish musician, writer, translator, and educator. Brown has a background in oral history and fine art, including a Watson Fellowship to study storytelling and advocacy in South Africa and the North of Ireland. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts at Goddard College. She is a dedicated student and teacher of her own tradition as well as the many ways people have reached out to each other across communities.

Stefanie Brendler is a Seattle-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, visual artist, translator, storyteller, and union stagehand. The founder of Seattle’s premier klezmer brass band Shpilkis, Stefanie is also a member of the Yiddish folk-punk band Brivele. Despite the constant toil under capitalism, heteropatriarchy, and nationalism, Stefanie’s artistry reflects the joys of life as a queer Jew.

Brivele, a Seattle-based ensemble, blends Yiddish song, anti-fascist and labor balladry, folk-punk, and contemporary protest themes into powerful vocal harmony. Meaning “little letter” in Yiddish, Brivele symbolizes the journey songs undertake, crossing borders and time, carrying tales of love, resistance, and resilience. Rooted in the Yiddish anti-fascist tradition, their repertoire merges satire, remembrance, and political commentary, echoing the voices of ancestors in today’s struggles. With an irreverent spirit, Brivele proudly embraces Diaspora heritage, singing in Yiddish as a testament to the enduring relevance of our mixed-up, impure Yidishkayt.

About Town Hall Residencies

Every year, Town Hall selects exceptional local artists and scholars for paid residencies where they engage with Town Hall programs and collaborate with our programming team to develop original events for the community. Read more about our residency program here.

WORKS CITED:

• "Music in Concentration Camps: 1933-1945" by Guido Fackler
• Passionate Pioneers: The Story of Yiddish Secular Education in North America, 1910-1960 by Fradle Pomerantz Freidenreich
• "The birth and long life of ‘Peat Bog Soldiers’ on its 90th anniversary" by Fiete Ausländer
• "Memories of a Jewish American red diaper baby" by Susan Gosman