“Yamma” means “toward the sea” in Hebrew. In Arabic it means “mother.” Since 2010, the five members of the Yamma Ensemble have made their mark sharing Hebrew and Jewish music with international audiences. With influences including ancient traditions, tribal singing, sacred and secular Jewish chants, the ensemble brings virtuosic Middle Eastern and world instrumentation on unique instruments such as the dudek, ney, shofar, bansuri, didgeridoo, fujara, kopuz, and oud.

This sophisticated evening of world music is rare, esoteric, niche and played with ancient instruments (that transports the audience to ancient times, with a strong sense of spiritual heritage and tradition although the materials are often original and contemporary. Hebrew language receives a place of honor in all its layers and periods, demonstrating how it is alive and kicking in the twenty-first century. With a focus on Jewish music of various communities around the world, Yamma also performs the traditional music and hidden materials of the various Jewish diasporas their parents and grandparents came from, including the Jewish communities from Yemen, Turkey, Babylon, Uzbekistan, Greece, Iraq, and Sepharad, as well as Hasidic music with the fascinating forms and rhythms that have been preserved by generations of Jewish traditions.

Chutzpah! Festival programming of Israeli artists is supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver and the Ronald S Roadburg Foundation. Yamma Ensemble’s appearance at the Chutzpah! Festival is supported by the JCC of North America’s Mit-Habrim/Connections program.

Date: March 22

Time: 7pm

Running Time: 90 minutes

Tickets: $40 / $34 Seniors, Students, and JCC Members