Lori Lippitz, band leader, vocalist and guitarist received her BA from U. of Michigan and did graduate work in Slavic Studies at U. of Chicago. She founded Maxwell Street in 1983, which was one of the first bands to launch the klezmer revival in the Midwest. Under the auspices of her Klezmer Music Foundation, Lori organized an annual Midwest Klezmer and Yiddish Music Institute, and organized the Maxwell Street Junior Klezmer Orchestra, a training ground for Middle and High School Musicians. She co-founded the Yiddish Arts Ensemble, a family repertory company, which presents holiday programs such as Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins and Ishkabibl. As well as being the Cantor for ten years at the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation of Evanston, Lori organized their congregational klezmer band, Heavy Shtetl, and also organizes and co-leads the Temple Sholom Klezmer Band. She lectures on klezmer music, teaches a weekly adult ed class on the History of Jewish Music, and is a frequent guest on National Public Radio and Public Television. She also has been honored by The Guide to Jewish Chicago as being 1 of the 10 Jewish Chicagoans of 2004. Lori appears on Maxwell Street's five recordings. Lori, husband Marc Chinitz and daughter Kayla reside in Skokie, Illinois.
	Alex Koffman, violinist, Arranger, and Musical Director, was born in Minsk, Byelorus and received his Masters Degree from the Conservatory of Minsk. His musical positions included Concertmaster of the Byelorussian Pops Orchestra. In 1990. After immigrating to America, Alex studied with Albert Igolnikov of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 1989, Alex became Maxwell Street's first pianist and eventually its violinist and Musical Director. Alex is co-direcor of the David Rothstein Orchestra and he plays in classical and show orchestras. Alex was featured soloist in the world premier of Klezmer Rhapsody in Preston Bradley Hall at the Chicago Cultural Center. Alex has recorded five CDs with Maxwell Street and toured with the band in Germany, Austria, England and the Netherlands. Alex, Olga and daughters Hannah and Sonya live in Skokie, Illinois.
	Kimber Leigh Nussbaum, vocalist, hails from Kansas City. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a BFA in Theater and has played various venues such as the MUNY in St. Louis; Starlight Theater, Quality Hill Playhouse, Martin City Melodrama and Theatre forYoung America in Kansas City and with Famous Door Theatre, Chicago Jewish Theatre and the Yiddish Arts Ensemble inChicago. Kimber shared the stage with Theodore Bikel in Fiddler on the Roof, and has also performed in a work commissioned by the National Council of Jewish Women in Kansas City. She has also performed two cabaret shows at the beautifully renovated Skokie Theatre in downtown Skokie. With Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, she has performed all over the United States and festivals in Europe. You can hear her on Maxwell Street CD?s ?Old Roots, New World?(2000) and ?Eight Nights of Joy? with Rabbi Joe Black (2008). In 2008, Kimber was honored as ?A Jew You Should Know? by OY!Chicago e-magazine. Kimber lives in Chicago, Illinois.
	Bibi Marcell, vocalist, has been performing music throughout the world for many years, spending most of her time in the Chicago area. She began her singing career with her father and later joined the Chicago Klezmer Ensemble. In addition to performing extensively on her own, Bibi is celebrating her 11th year as a vocalist with the Maxwell Street Klezmer band. Between singing engagements, Bibi works as a cantorial soloist and Religious School Director at Congregation Hakafa and cares for her three beautiful children.
	Donald Jacobs, clarinet and saxophone, started playing Klezmer music in 1983, and shortly thereafter began playing with Maxwell Street. He graduated cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis, and has studied with clarinet masters Sid Beckerman, Richard Corpolongo, George Silfies and James Stoynoff. He also plays with Las Guitarras de España and the Jazmer Ensemble, both Chicago-based groups. Don specializes in Balkan music. He has recorded with all the above-mentioned groups, and with the Balkan Rhythm Band. Don's touring career has included two trips to Jewish festivals in London, Vienna and Germany, three Danish tours, and many festivals in the U.S. and Canada. Don also teaches clarinet and saxophone in the Chicago area. Don and his wife Maria live in Evanston.
	Shelley Yoelin, saxophone, clarinet and flute, is a professor of music and the Director of Bands at Triton College in River Grove, Illinois. He has been playing with Maxwell Street since 1985. Shelley holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from Northwestern University and a MA from VanderCook College of Music in Chicago. He is an instructor with the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Clinics and with the International Federation of Jazz in London, where he teaches annually. He has written arrangements and played clarinet and saxophone on three albums with Maxwell Street. He has also recorded Hora and Blue with his own Modern Klezmer Quartet. Shelley (father of three) and Pamela live in LaGrange Park, Illinois.
	Jeff Jeziorski, clarinet, has been playing with Maxwell Street since 1987. His Bachelor of Music Degree in Music History and Theory is from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has played and recorded since the 1960's with Balkan ensembles at folk festivals and at venues such as Old Town Restaurant in Milwaukee, and founded the group Festival European. He has also performed with Skylight Opera. He has written the scores for musical theater productions. Jeff is featured on the band?s most recent CD and has performed twice with Maxwell Street in Europe. Jeff, Elizabeth, and sons Adam and Gregory live just outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
	Ralph Wilder, clarinet, saxophone and flute, received his musical education at Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois. Since 1990, Ralph has been a member of Maxwell Street, as well as the leader of The Ralph Wilder Orchestra. Ralph has been a band director for High Schools and Colleges, and is Director of the Mount Prospect Community Band, which he frequently conducts. His experience ranges from symphony orchestras to jazz, pop, rock, gospel, Broadway, Dixieland and Big Band. Ralph appears on Sweet Early Years, You Should Be So Lucky, and Old Roots New World. Ralph is the father of two and lives with his wife, Lois, in Glenview.
	Gail Mangurten, piano, graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington, and has played with musical theater groups such as Tuxedo Junction.  She performs regularly with the College of DuPage Jazz Band.  She has made four recordings with Maxwell Street and composed the program Jewish Songbirds of Tin Pan Alley.  Gail and Alan live in Morton Grove, Illinois.
	Bob Samborski, trombone, has compiled a reputation over the years as one of Chicagoland's leading trombonists. Bob's love of music is obvious and contagious in his performing style. Not only is he comfortable playing trombone in virtually all musical styles - including Jazz, Classical, Latin, Pop, Swing, Dixieland, and Klezmer - but Bob is one of the most multi-talented and versatile musicians around and is a highly-skilled pianist and percussionist. After studying music at the University of Illinois, Bob embarked on a professional career which included stints of varying lengths with such notable performing artists as Elvis Presley, Glen Campbell, Mel Tormé, Cab Calloway, Les Elgart, Ben Vareen, Sonny & Cher, Warren Covington & the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Howard Keel, Mimi Hines, Kate Smith, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra - to name a few. In Chicago, he has recorded with jingle houses and bands including Dick Marx, Cliff Colnot, Bob Perna, Buddy Childers, and KMFDM. Bob has a long-time association with Jack Kramer and Roger Pauly and has been performing with the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band since January 2007, a musical match he feels was made in Heaven.
	Ivo Braun, trumpet, is a native of Prague and has been with Maxwell Street since 1993. He received his BA in trumpet performance from the University of Illinois and his MM from the University of North Texas where he performed with the school?s award-winning Two O?Clock Jazz Band. Ivo?s performance experience includes Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, the Irving Symphony in Dallas and the Symphonic Pops Orchestra of Chicago. In addition to performing, Ivo has enjoyed teaching music appreciation at the college level and he graduated from Chicago?s famous Second City Training Center. Ivo currently resides in Des Plaines, Illinois.
	Mark Ponarovsky, percussion, was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and received his BA from the Kiev College of Music.  He toured with various show orchestras in the former Soviet Union and became the percussionist of the Kiev State Circus Big Band.  After his immigration in 1989, Mark performed in Milwaukee until relocating to Chicago in 1991, when he joined Maxwell Street Klezmer Band. He has recorded four CDs with Maxwell Street.  Mark and Lilya live in Northbrook, Illinois.
	Jim Cox, bass, attended the University of Illinois in Urbana where he received a bachelors degree in double bass performance in 1979. Between 1979-82 he toured with Earl "Fatha" Hines. After that, he settled in Chicago and has worked there full time as a free lance musician, playing live music of all types, teaching and recording. He works regularly with Marian McPartland, Rosemary Clooney, Michael Feinstein and Judy Roberts in the Midwest. He has also played with Phil Woods, Red Rodney, Ben Vereen, Cheri Lewis, and Harry Belefonte. He has performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival three times. He has taught at Illinois Benedictine College, North Central College, College of DuPage, and is currently adjunct faculty at DePaul University. He has recorded over 50 CDs in the Chicago area, including four with Maxwell Street. Jim and Loreen live in Chicago.
	Steven Lee Weintraub, Traditional Jewish Dance Master, came up from Atlanta and is new to Chicago. A choreographer, performer and teacher, Steve is one of only three dancers specializing in traditional Eastern European Jewish dance. Henry Sapoznik (Yiddish Radio Project, Klezkamp) calls him ?The best Yiddish dance teacher around?. Steve moved to Chicago this year (2003) and joined the staff of the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band as a performer and dance leader. Steve received his dance training in Manhattan with Alvin Ailey and Erick Hawkins, among others. He has worked with choreographers Felix Fibich and Shula Kivel, and has performed the work of Fred Berk. He choreographed a production for the Joseph Papp Yiddish Theater, and has choreographed and performed dances based on Jewish themes including the annual Workman?s Circle Third Seder in New York. In Atlanta, he choreographed Kuni Leml for the Jewish Theater of the South and Something?s Afoot for Georgia Ensemble Theater. He has been on the faculty of KlezKamp for the past 5 years and has taught at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. He has also given Yiddish dance workshops in Winnipeg, St. Louis and Washington, D.C. Steve also lectures on the history of Jewish dance, recreates "Shtetl Weddings," and leads dancing at real weddings. He also presents Jewish Folktales and Dances, a one-man show of storytelling; A History of Dance in Jewish Culture, a lecture series covering Jewish history from the Bible to the present.
	Audrey Morrison, trombone, a native of New York City, received her musical training at the Eastman School of Music where she later earned the coveted Performer?s Certificate for excellence in performance.  Her accomplishments include Principal Trombone of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada from 1975-80, the Principal Trombone of the Elgin Symphony from 1981-present, lead trombonist with the Chicago Jazz Ensemble and numerous guest appearances with various orchestras throughout United States.  Ms. Morrison?s other credits include trombonist and leader of the Chamber Brass players Quintet for ten years and has played as a substitute/extra trombonist with the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra, Grant Park Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic and San Diego Symphony. Ms. Morrison can also be heard regularly on radio and in television jingles.