COMMUNITY OPEN MIC NIGHT

Join us for a fun evening of showcasing our community's talents! Whether you have a poem, a song, a skit, or something else entirely, come claim your 3-4 minutes on the mic. You can perform in any language. No oppressive attitudes will be tolerated. Please review our Conduct Policy (coming soon) before signing up to perform for the Open Mic. The evening event will be co-MC'd by poets and YFFFL organizing committee members Dovid Forman and freygl gertsovski.


BIOS

DOVID FORMAN, PhD, is the grandson of the Yiddish author Solomon Simon. He was first a calligrapher, then a psychology professor before finally returning to his early love of writing. A published poet, he began studying Yiddish in his fifties, to fulfill a lifelong vow of reading his grandfather’s work. Dovid lives in Ithaca, New York where he has taught Yiddish privately, in adult education classes and at Cornell University. His English translation of Simon's The Clever Little Tailor was published in a bilingual edition by Kinder-Loshn Publications.

FREYGL GERTSOVSKI is a creative producer and community arts organizer, passionate about fostering opportunities for cultural belonging and participation through accessible and inclusive events. freygl is the founder and director of Rad Yiddish and Queer Yiddish Camp. As a multi-disciplinary writer, fae writes at the intersections of queerness, disability justice, post-Soviet identity, and Yiddishkayt. fae recently completed a graduate program in Arts Administration and Cultural Management at Humber College.


FESTIVAL INFO

This event is part of Yiddish Folklife Festival of the Finger Lakes (YFFFL), a new three-day arts and cultural festival taking place April 25-27, 2025 at the Lifelong Community Center downtown and other venues in Ithaca, NY.

Featuring live klezmer music, folk dancing, a community potluck, cooking and cultural workshops, a nature talk, an academic lecture, an open mic, and other community events, this intergenerational, all-ages festival is open to the public, including those new to Yiddish music and culture.

*Please see YFFFL Full Festival Schedule for YFFFL full festival pass & links to other individual events of the festival.


YFFFL SUPPORTERS

We thank our partners: Klezmer Ensemble at Cornell University and Jewish Studies at Cornell University for working with us to put on this festival!

We thank our sponsors: Temple Beth El, Congregation Tikkun V'Or, and Ithaca Area United Jewish Community for supporting Yiddish Folklife Festival of the Finger Lakes!

We thank our funder: This festival is made possible in part with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, administered by the Community Arts Partnership.