Adrienne Cooper (September 1, 1946 – December 25, 2011) was a Yiddish singer, musician and activistJWA tribute to Adrienne CooperJWA tribute to Cooper who was integral to the contemporary revival of klezmer music.Adrienne Cooper Embodied Progressive SpiritAdrienne Cooper, Yiddish Singer and Reviver of Klezmer Music, Dies
Biography In addition to her work as a Yiddish singer she was the assistant director at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, program director for the Museum of Chinese in America, and executive officer for programming and executive officer for external affairs for the Workmen's Circle.Workmen's Circle website Artsfuse.org website She co-founded KlezKamp.Tribute to Cooper at JTA.org She was a member of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice's Board of Directors until the summer of 2011, when she was diagnosed with cancer. Cooper won the Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer Risk Taker Award from the Jews for Racial and Economic Justice in 2010, as well as KlezKanada's Lifetime Achievement Award in Yiddish Arts and Culture.Adrienne Cooper official website (PDF) Adrienne Cooper official website (#2)
She died of adrenal cancerNew York Times obituaryIsrael National News notice of Cooper's death at Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan on December 25, 2011, aged 65. She had been diagnosed in July 2011Tribute in Tikkun and underwent surgery in August 2011.
Her partner, Marilyn Lerner, is a pianist-composer. Her daughter, Sarah Mina Gordon, is a vocalist and co-leader of the band "Yiddish Princess."Info re Adrienne Cooper's family in The Jewish Week
Commemoration "A Kholem/Dreaming in Yiddish: A Concert in Tribute to Adrienne Cooper" was organized for December 22, 2012, at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College in New York City. More than 50 Yiddish and klezmer musicians and global colleagues performed songs that Adrienne taught, sang, and recorded – these include The Klezmatics, Michael Wex, Shura Lipovsky, Daniel Kahn, Theresa Tova, Zalmen Mlotek, Eleanor Reissa, Wolf Krakowski, Michael Alpert, Michael Winograd, Sarah Gordon.Kaye Playhouse, Hunter College, NYC, December 22, 2012
The Adrienne Cooper Dreaming in Yiddish Award was established in her honor, issued annually by the Adrienne Cooper Fund for Dreaming in Yiddish since 2013.Adrienne Cooper Fund for Dreaming in Yiddish
Dreaming in Yiddish awardees: Deborah Strauss, 2024, Daniel Kahn, 2023, Rokhl Kafrissen, 2022, Jeffrey Shandler, 2021, Shane Baker, 2020, Kolya Borodulin, 2019, Efim Chorny & Susana Ghergus, 2018, Shura Lipovsky, 2017, Irena Klepfisz, 2016, Josh Dolgin/Socalled, 2015, Michael Wex, 2014, Jenny Romaine, 2013.
Discography
Solo recordings Enchanted (2010)Adrienne Cooper / Enchanted Dreaming in Yiddish (1995)www.adriennecooper.com/Adrienne_Cooper/Adrienne_Cooper_Discography_&_Performance_Highlights.htmlAdrienne Cooper / Dreaming in Yiddish
Other In Love And in Struggle: The Musical Legacy Of The Jewish Labor Bund [ Zalmen Mlotek, Dan Rous, The New Yiddish Chorale, The Workmen's Circle Chorus ] (1999) Ghetto Tango [ Zalmen Mlotek ] (2000) Mikveh [ Alicia Svigals, Margot Leverett, Lauren Brody, Nicki Parrot ] (2001)Yiddish Revived! New and Old Recordings, June 2001
References
External links Biography on the Jewish Music Web Center website Adrienne Cooper's website 2010 Interview with Adrienne Cooper