Adah Hetko (she/her) is a Yiddish singer, songwriter, and educator in the international Yiddish culture scene. Since 2013, she has trained with leading artists in her field, including NEH fellow Ethel Raim and songwriter Daniel Kahn. While completing a Masters in Jewish Studies at Indiana University, Adah developed deep knowledge of Yiddish language and culture, which she has learned to effectively share with students and audiences. Adah is lead vocalist and dance leader for the Western Massachusetts-based klezmer band Burikes, and co-founder of Boston-based Yiddish song trio Levyosn. This fall, she began a Massachusetts Cultural Council Traditional Arts Apprenticeship to study Yiddish song and dance-leading with veteran artist Judy Bressler, and she is currently curating and translating a collection of Yiddish songs into English with the support of a Yiddish Book Center Translation Fellowship.

Hetko's band Levyosn will perform as part of the events associated with Material/Inheritance. Leyvosn is a Boston-based trio specializing in Yiddish song and klezmer. Their repertoire also includes songs in Hebrew, Ladino, and English and draws from adjacent Eastern European folk traditions. Levyosn takes its name from the Ashkenazi Hebrew word for the leviathan, a mythical sea creature traveling the world’s oceans collecting songs, krill, and dreams. Our band consists of Adah Hetko (voice, guitar), Lysander Jaffe (violin, voice), and Kaia Berman Peters (accordion and voice).