Legendary actor and singer Theodore Bike, 91, l was looking forward to coming to this month’s KlezKanada in the Laurentians and then performing at its followup concert in Montreal. *
With his death on July 21, KlezKanada has turned the annual Der Groyser Kontsert on Aug. 23 at Oscar Peterson Hall into a tribute to Bikel, perhaps best known as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, a role he played on stage more than 2,000 times.
The lineup for the concert includes some of the world’s top klezmer and other popular Jewish music performers at this, the 20th KlezKanada, which runs Aug. 17 to 23 at Camp B’nai Brith.
They are the Grammy Award-winning Klezmatics from New York; singer Efim Chorney and pianist Suzanne Ghergus of Moldova, who have been reviving klezmer in the former Soviet Union; the Tarras Band from Brooklyn; singer Shura Lipovsky of Holland, and Montreal’s own Josh (Socalled) Dolgin.
Bikel had a strong affinity with Montreal and was supportive of KlezKanada’s mission to preserve and disseminate to a broad audience traditional eastern European Jewish culture and foster a new generation of musicians that interpret it in their own way, said KlezKanada founder Hy Goldman, who considered Bikel a friend.
Bikel was on the faculty of KlezKanada in 2006 and 2011, performing at the later Montreal concerts. In 2011, he also played the grandfather in a musical adaptation of Lies My Father Told Me at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts.
“He was very excited about coming here again, even though he had been in and out of hospital,” said Goldman, who with his wife, Sandy, had hosted Bikel at his home for Shabbat and a seder.
The Viennese-born Bikel was to have led a session on Jewish folksongs at this year’s KlezKanada and was scheduled to perform at the Groyser Kontsert. He was to have come with his third wife, Aimee Ginsburg Bikel, a senior journalist and writer, whom he married in 2013.
His second wife, Tamara Brooks, an accomplished musician and choral conductor who died in 2012, had also taught at KlezKanada.
Despite his celebrity after a seven-decade career on stage and screen, Bikel did not hesitate when Goldman invited him to KlezKanada 10 years ago. Bikel was an Emmy Award winner and an Academy Award nominee.
“He was very appreciative of what we are doing,” said Goldman. “It reflects what he felt is important, too.”
Bikel became a member of the KlezKanada board, which Goldman chairs.
Bikel described the annual retreat, which attracts hundreds from around the world as: “a place of learning, a place of teaching, a place of listening, of playing, of singing, of giving and receiving – that is what KlezKanada has come to mean to me.
“More important, it is a place of Yiddish song, poetry and humour and a place of unforced Yiddishkeit. KlezKanada may be only one week out of the year, but one takes away from it a sense of belonging, a sense of family with a song that lasts through winter and spring.”
Aside from his talent and accomplishments, Bikel was “just a wonderful person,” Goldman said. “He had a profound effect on people of all ages, and was particularly good with children, who would gather around him and listen to his million stories.
“We are honoured that he considered himself part of the KlezKanada family.”
KlezKanada artistic director Frank London is a leader of The Klezmatics founded more than 25 years ago and a pioneer of the klezmer revival movement.
The MC at the Groyser Kontsert will be writer and humourist Michael Wex. It takes place at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available through Admission.com or at 1-855-790-1245.
Proceeds will go toward KlezKanada’s scholarship fund that sponsors the participation of promising young artists from around the world at KlezKanada each summer.
Correction: Early version of this story said Bikel was suffering from cancer. In fact he died of natural causes.