Tilson Thomas & The Tomashefskys

April 16th will see a special evening at the Carnegie Hall and the culmination of a project started back in 1998.: Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony will perform "Thomaskefskys Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theatre", which will uncover the personal history of Bessie and Boris Thomaskefsky - some of the most important producers of Yiddish music and, incidentally, Thomas' grandparents. The concert is said to feature a cast of seven, among them Debra Winger. It a piece composed of personal memories, as the initial spark was laid by Tilson-Thomas sifting though Bessies memorabilia, from music scores to costumes. A whole foundation has been put into life, the Thomashefsky Project, which aims to collect these little bits of history and put them together again. This is not say, it will be all serious and stern: The aim, according to the organisors, is to entertain the audience "as any Broadway crowd".

Source: J. - the Jewish Weekly
Source: San Francisco Symphony (PDF Document)