Jonno Lightstone


Jonno Lightstone

   

Jonno is teaching Clarinet/Saxophone Technique, coaching a Chamber Group, leading Latin Ensemble and Klezmer Band.

Jonno Lightstone is regarded as one of Toronto's finest klezmer musicians. A clarinetist, equally at home on flute and saxophone, he is a multi-faceted musician whose projects, however eclectic, always reveal his passion for klezmer and his thorough knowledge of the idiom. He is the leader of the Yiddish Swingtet, a trio whose music runs the gamut from traditional Eastern European klezmer to American jazz and swing. He founded Hu tsa tsa, a traditional klezmer group with a chamber music aesthetic and has performed klezmer music to the R & B grooves of Matzo Ball Gumbo. In collaboration with guitarist Brian Katz, the duo Lightstone / Katz explores rarely performed klezmer repertoire, creating a variety of diverse moods by weaving together klezmer melodies with the sounds and textures of chamber music, modal jazz, Indian raga, and blues. Klezmology, a group dedicated to exploring the interface between klezmer music and free improvisation is a partnership with renowned saxophonist David Mott, and drummer Nick Fraser.

Lightstone has produced and played on a number of CDs including, Hu Tsa Tsa’s Well Tempered Klezmorim, The Hot Latkes Klezmer Band’s Eine Kleine Klezmer Muzik, Matzo Ball Gumbo’s Peyes Up Front, and The Yiddish Swingtet’s Shul Days. He has performed with the touring Broadway show Evita, Zalman Mlotek’s Soul to Soul and has played at many festivals including: Ashkenaz, The Distillery Jazz Festival, Toronto Jazz Festival and, Caribana.

A much sought after teacher, he instructs privately at Royal St. George College and has taught klezmer workshops for CAMMAC and at Klezkanada. He has coached award-winning ensembles and is the musical director of Klezkonnection, Canada’s largest community klezmer orchestra. He holds a Masters Degree in Ethnomusicology from York University.

 

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Lake Field Music camp for adult amateurs

P.O. Box 73046, 465 Yonge St., Toronto Canada M4Y 2W5

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