Music for Good: Kommuna Lux Live from Odesa

Please arrive early! We're expecting a full house. Doors open at 7PM for this special benefit concert beginning at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, October 13 2026. Casual attire. Short walk from Penn Station. Please share this life-affirming event with your friends and post to social media.

Join the internationally acclaimed Ukrainian ensemble Kommuna Lux for an unforgettable evening of music while helping children whose lives have been devastated by war. Advance tickets are $36 ($50 at the door) with free tickets for refugees and recent immigrants. A free kosher reception follows the concert. Our co-host for the evening is The New York Klezmer Series, a cultural program that presents live klezmer music and Yiddish dance. Founded in 2010, the organization is led by renowned drummer, violinist and composer, Aaron Alexander.

All proceeds benefit the Common Man for Ukraine, a humanitarian, volunteer-led grassroots initiative of the Plymouth, NH Rotary Foundation. Your tax-deductible contribution provide food, generators, emergency relief, and trauma counseling for orphaned children and their widowed mothers. This is an immediate and impactful way to help alleviate their suffering. If you cannot attend, please consider making a donation. Non-anonymous donors will be recognized in the printed concert program.

About the Performance

Kommuna Lux performs the joyful, high-energy music of Ukraine's Black Sea port city of Odesa—a vibrant blend of Klezmer, Balkan, and Ukrainian folk traditions. This genre, which is often called "Odesa Music", was banned as subversive in the later years of the Soviet Union. Since Russia's invasion, the band has become a powerful cultural ambassador for Ukraine, earning international recognition while raising support through music.

Klezmer is a vibrant folk tradition of instrumental music historically played by Jewish communities in Eastern Europe (including most notably, Ukraine). This joyous – yet often wistful or even melancholy – music was the highlight of celebrations like weddings. Klezmer music features prominently in Fiddler on the Roof and is now enjoyed and played by people of all backgrounds.

About the Common Man for Ukraine

Russia's invasion has created one of the greatest humanitarian crises for children in Europe since World War II. Tens of thousands of children have lost one or both parents in the war. Over 730,000 children remain displaced within Ukraine. These children face not only overwhelming grief, but also economic hardship, interrupted education, and lasting emotional trauma. They need hope!

Since 2022, the Common Man for Ukraine has delivered more than 4.5 million pounds of food to frontline communities through an all-volunteer network working with Rotary partners in Ukraine and Poland. But in addition to humanitarian aid, as shown in this video, they help to heal the invisible wounds by providing three-week trauma counseling retreats for these children of war and healing retreats for their widowed mothers. More than 1,600 children have already participated, but many more are still waiting.

The Common Man volunteers (including the American founders) brave mine fields and drones to deliver aid to frontline cities within sound of the explosions. But they risk their lives not just to deliver the basics for physical survival. Because they understand the importance of the children’s emotional needs they also hand-deliver Beanie Babies to the youngest orphans (who often escape without their toys), and provide small solar lanterns to help lessen the terrors of the night.

It's hard to fathom the depth of pain the Ukrainian children of war will have to endure for the rest of their lives; but with your help, we can alleviate at least some small measure of their suffering. Food keeps children alive. Love, safety, counseling and hope will help them to truly live again.

7:30-9:30 PM (Doors open at 7 with a free reception following the concert).

Hudson Yards Synagogue • 347 West 34th, NYC • NEAR PENN STATION

Come for extraordinary music. Leave knowing you helped bring hope, healing, and practical aid to Ukraine's children and families.

Special thanks our hosts and community sponsors, including the

Hudson Yards Synagogue
The New York Klezmer Series
Ukrainian Music Initiative
Ukrainian National Home
Vira + Friends
Center for Traditional Music and Dance
Yiddish New York
Philly KlezJam

For information, to sponsor and volunteer opportunities, contact:

Marvin Weinberger marvin@innovationfactory.com (610-574-8450).

NY Klezmer Concert for Ukraine's Children of War

Raising joy and funds to provide food, warmth, and trauma counseling to Ukraine's Children of War