Narvik
lunch concert: AF TSOFN // Vinterfestuka 2026
“If I were a rich man, yabba dabba dabba diddle duddle…” — a catchy phrase from a well-known musical is what we tend to associate with klezmer music. It is sweeping and sentimental, fiery and melancholic: klezmer contains the whole of human life in tears and laughter. Klezmer comes from Jewish tradition in Eastern Europe, but also from the big cities of Poland, Hungary, and Germany. Klezmer is, first and foremost, the violin, but also clarinets, accordions, string instruments, and drums — and, of course, song.
The language of klezmer is Yiddish, which is spoken in Jewish communities all over the world, and which we may recognize from the hit song “Bai mir bistu sheyn.” Songs about the great emotions—about love, longing, and jealousy; about leaves falling from the trees; and about the yearning for a childhood home one may never see again. And believe it or not: you can sing along too!
The ensemble AF TSOFN consists of Anna-Sofia Ulfsax, violin; Igor Gal, clarinet; Cathrine Holst, piano; Guro Stigen Kvannli, bass; and Sigrid Randers-Pehrson, vocals.