Songs My Mother Never Taught Me

Songs My Mother Never Taught Me is a one-woman musical memoir written and performed by Deborah Karpel.

Raised in Queens and Long Island, the classically-trained singer/ storyteller unearths hilarious and haunting stories from the fringes of her family’s fractured history and weaves them together to reveal a unique and cohesive identity.

An acclaimed singer of opera, Yiddish songs and the American songbook, Karpel gloriously interprets over a dozen songs (with live piano, accordion and string accompaniment) to illustrate her deeply personal journey.

With an unexpected repertoire comprising such disparate selections as the rousing Yiddish classic “Der Alter Zigeuner,” Jolson’s “Dirty Hands, Dirty Face,” Puccini’s “Un bel di” and Weill/Blitzstein’s “Love Song,” Songs My Mother Never Taught Me spins a dream of 20th century America, tracing lines in song between Europe, New York City and Appalachia, and bringing to life the richness of our common American experience.