The Band

AUFWIND was founded in Berlin 1984, when Claudia Koch, Hardy Reich and Andreas Rohde created several programs of Yiddisch song; they then traveled to places of Jewish interest in Poland, Hungary and Rumania and undertook extended studies of Yiddish language, history and culture.

In November 1987 the band received an award at the 9th Tage des Chansons in Frankfurt/Oder in East Germany. In 1988, after clarinetist Jan Hermerschmidt and a bassist had joined the band, AUFWIND began to focus more on klezmer, as distinct from folksong.

In addition to large numbers of concerts in Germany, the band also performed in Israel, the USA, Canada, Poland, France, Chile, Argentina, Italy, Holland, Switzerland, Turkey, Belgium, Slowakia and Portugal. From 1988 to 1990, AUFWIND worked frequently with actor Gerry Wolff, with whom they mounted two television and one theatrical production, the latter at Berlin´s Theater im Palast. In 1992, the band was invited to participate in a production of Joshua Sobol´s play, Ghetto, at the Gorki Theater in Berlin; it ran for three years. In 1994-95 they also worked in a production of Schneider and Schuster (also by Sobol) at the same theatre.

Band members:

Claudia Koch - vocals, violin, viola
Hardy Reich - vocals, mandolin, guitar, banjo
Andreas Rohde - vocals, bandonion, guitar
Jan Hermerschmidt - clarinets, flute, vocals
Janek Skirecki - bass

 

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