Margot Leverett is a New York City-based clarinettist. Born in Ohio, she lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Buffalo, New York before studying at Indiana University School of Music. At Indiana University, she was classically trained. [1] Leverett later became interested in klezmer, a traditional musical style of the Jews of Eastern Europe. [2] [3] She studied with klezmer clarinettist Sidney Beckerman [4] and was a founding member of The Klezmatics in 1985. [2] The Klezmatics, a band associated with the Klezmer revival would later become the first klezmer band to win a Grammy Award. [5] [6] [7]
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In 1999, Leverett was a founding member of another klezmer band of all women musicians called Mikveh. They released a self-titled album in 2001, described by Rambles magazine as "a potent and heady mix of passion and power." [8] Leverett left the band when she began her solo career and founded "Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys".
Leverett's solo album, called The Art of Klezmer Clarinet , was released in 2001. The 17-track album was favorably reviewed—Klezmershack.com called it a "tribute to greats of the American Klezmer clarinet" and a "tremendous leap in skill and soulfulness." [9] [10] "She achieves the nearly impossible feat of rendering the music with authenticity and respect, while simultaneously making a highly personal statement about the art of klezmer clarinet- the instrument and its history." [11]
In 2001, Leverett founded the group Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys, which fuses the styles of klezmer and bluegrass. [10] [12] [13] The group was filled with outstanding musicians, Barry Mitterhoff, Kenny Kosek, Joe Selly and Marty Confurius. Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys released two albums: a self-titled album in 2002 and an album called Second Avenue Square Dance. The group was featured by the Paul Taylor Dance Company in a piece entitled "Klezmerbluegrass".
Leverett has been a guest soloist for the Philadelphia Orchestra. [1] She has taught at many klezmer camps, including KlezKamp, KlezKanada and KlezmerQuerque. She continues to teach, guest lecture, and perform. [12]
