“Kleinerman's playing takes a middle path between folkish vigor and classical formality…”
Medieval and renaissance music
Shulamit Kleinerman specializes in early off-shoulder technique on medieval vielle and Renaissance and Baroque violin.
As a founding member of the Elizabethan quartet Plaine & Easie, winner of the 2009 Early Music America Competition in Medieval and Renaissance Music, Shula earned acclaim for her “enticing solos” that “reminded one how close early music can be to folk fiddle tunes” (Express Milwaukee). Her 2008 English country dance CD, New New Nothing, was recorded during an artist residency awarded at Jack Straw Productions. The album has been called “earthy and enjoyable” (EMA Magazine) and praised for taking a “middle path between folkish vigor and classical formality” (AllMusic.com). She has also performed with ensembles including Utopia Early Music, the Medieval Women's Choir, the Salish Sea Early Music Festival, the Seattle Bach Choir, Istanpitta, and The Christmas Revels in Houston, Portland OR, and Puget Sound.
Shula earned a bachelor's degree with honors in Music and English from U.C. Berkeley in 1999, receiving from the music department an Alfred Hertz Memorial Travelling Fellowship, which enabled her to travel to London to study baroque violin with Monica Huggett and others.
Uniting her dual careers in historical performance and children's education, Shula is the founding director of Seattle Historical Arts for Kids. She maintains a large, active violin-teaching practice. Passionate about introducing students to many styles of music, she is also the founder of Seattle Fiddlesticks.
Sound samples
Three tracks with Ruthie Dornfeld*:
*Original compositions by Ruthie Dornfeld for medieval vielles, arr Dornfeld & Kleinerman, from Ruthie's album Lay of the Waves. Buy them on Bandcamp!
Vielle at the Medieval Women's Choir
Reviews
Shulamit Kleinerman... flew through blazing scale passages with ease…
--Third Coast Daily, concert review, 2011
Kleinerman’s enticing solos... reminded one how close early music can be to folk fiddle tunes.
--Express Milwaukee, concert review, 2011
Kleinerman's playing takes a middle path between folkish vigor and classical formality. It feels right, and there's an indefinable attractiveness to the whole project that puts the listener in touch with what made these durable tunes.
--AllMusic.com, review of New New Nothing, 2008
What made Plaine & Easie stand out was the sparkle and verve of each of the players and their absolute command of the material.
--Countertenor Drew Minter, adjudicator at EMA Medieval and Renaissance competition, 2009
The instrumentalists are impeccably musical, presenting hornpipes, bransles, and other dances with real warmth and style.... This isn't just a pedagogical tool, though it's an excellent one; it's also a pleasure to listen to.
--Karen Cook, review of Merry It Is, 2011
I am so charmed I can hardly speak. [This music] was made for these kids to sing!
--Susan Hellauer, Anonymous 4, 2011
Earthy and enjoyable...
--Early Music America Magazine, review of New New Nothing, 2009