Dr. Alan Bern is the founding Artistic Director of Yiddish Summer Weimar and the Other Music Academy (OMA). Recipient of the prestigious Bundesverdienstorden in 2022, the Thuringia Order of Merit in 2017, and the Weimar Prize in 2016, he is a composer/arranger, pianist, accordionist, educator, cultural activist and philosopher.
A pioneer of modern klezmer music and New Jewish Music, he is known for his work with Brave Old World, The Other Europeans, Diaspora Redux, and the Semer Ensemble, among other ensembles. He holds a master's degree in Philosophy and a doctorate in Music Composition.
Alan has composed and directed music for theater and dance in New York, Montreal, Berlin, Lucerne, Essen and Bremen, among others. He is the creator of Present-Time Composition©, an innovative approach to music improvisation informed by insights from cognitive science.
