In this work, Richard Marsella (organ, guitar, horn instruments, voice) leads an ensemble including Tom Richards (tuba and trombone) Aline Homzy (violin), Nichol Robertson (banjo), David French (clarinet) Richard Marsella (voice) and Tania Gill (accordion) in a reinterpretation of ‘Yankele’ from Joseph Rumshinsky’s operetta of the same name as performed by Bessie Weisman. The song is distinct from Moderchai Gebertig’s lullaby with the same title. Marsella performs a duet nearly 100 years after the original recording, keeping the song and its lyrics intact while bringing new life to the music composition.
The role of Yankele was made famous by Molly Picon, vaulting her to fame and fortune both in the Yiddish theatre and mainstream culture in the coming decades. Picon performed the role of the operetta’s namesake a rebellious 13-year-old Yeshiva boy.
Audiences had never seen a woman perform the role of a boy in a comedic role. Picon’s success in the role helped to break gender norms during the period and found her being embraced by European and American audiences alike.
Richard Marsella is the Executive Director of Community Music Schools of Toronto (expanded from Regent Park School of Music). In 2020 he completed a PhD in music education at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Lee Bartel. Marsella’s main research focus was on musical playgrounds as a vehicle for community development, building off of concepts from his teachers manual How to Play Your World (Musagetes, 2017).