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Barclays Center Concert To Celebrate 'Jewish Comfort Music'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A celebration of traditional Jewish music is coming to the Barclays Center this Thursday.

Legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman will be joined by cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot of the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan. They will be backed by a Klezmer band and an 18-piece chamber orchestra for the concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Perlman and Helfgot released an album together last year called, "Eternal Echoes: Songs and Dances for the Soul." It incorporated classical and liturgical music, sung in Hebrew and Yiddish, and showcasing the roots of the music in various Eastern European traditions – including Klezmer, folk, and traditional cantorial music.

Perlman, who was born in Israel but has roots in Poland, calls the style "Jewish comfort music."

"My parents came from Poland, so that's the kind of music I'm used to. Some of the music is Klezmer music, which is also from the same area," Perlman told WCBS 880. "You know, you've got the dance kind of feel. You've got something that goes straight to the heart. You know, you can call it kind of soul music. Some of it is almost operatic."

Proceeds from the Thursday concert will benefit the Met Council and the Perlman Music Program.

Meanwhile, Perlman said it is likely there will be another collaboration with Cantor Helfgot coming up in the future.

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