About Batya Fonda
I'm a singer of Jewish folk songs and a teacher educator. Besides the lecture-recitals described on this site, I sing regularly with the Nekhama Lifshitz Workshop for Yiddish Song in Tel Aviv, and participate in "Kehilot Sharot" ("Singing Communities" - people who get together to sing and learn about piyyutim). I've lectured on Jewish Folksong at "Talpiot" Teachers' College, Tel Aviv, and for various organizations in Israel and Australia (see Recommendations and listen to sample clips). I have an MA degree in Language Teaching from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Musicology from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
I've always sung, and I've always incorporated singing and learning about songs in my teaching career. With respect to Jewish folksongs, like many people of my generation I heard very few Jewish folksongs growing up. I was lucky enough to be sung to sleep by my grandmother singing Rozhinkes mit mandln and Oyfn pripetshik, but that's about all.
I like the title of one of Lori Cahan-Simon's disks: "Songs My Bubbe Should Have Taught Me": nowadays few of us have been exposed to authentic folk contexts handed down by our parents and grandparents. Most of the music we hear is on disk and on the stage, and has evolved accordingly. It is performed and listened to in isolation from its origins, which are gradually becoming blurred and irrelevant. This has stimulated me to try and find out something about where the music has come from, how it's related to its Jewish roots, and where it might be going. Besides a feeling for nostalgia, I'm also interested in comparing cultures over broad Jewish themes, seeing how similar or different they are, and what each particular context contributes to our general knowledge of and feeling for Jewish tradition. I've been learning now for many years, and would like to share my enjoyment and knowledge with other people.
