Special Guests

Special Guests
Saturday, December 18, 1999

Tom Brokaw graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1962 and began his career at KMTV in Omaha. In 1965, he moved to Atlanta, where he anchored the late-evening news on WSB-TV. Joining NBC News in 1966, he reported from California and was anchor at KNBC in Los Angeles. Also an acclaimed political reporter, Brokaw has covered every presidential election since 1968, and served as NBC's White House correspondent from 1973 to 1976. He anchored NBC News' "Today" from 1976 to 1981, and has been the sole anchor of the weekday "NBC Nightly News" since 1983. Brokaw also anchored "The Brokaw Report" (1992-93), a series of primetime specials that examined critical issues facing the nation, and co-anchored the primetime news magazine "Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric" (1993-94). He has also played an active role in other NBC news specials, including the "Dateline NBC" documentary, "Tom Brokaw Reports: Why Can't We Live Together," which examined the realities of racial separation in American suburbs. In addition to his career in broadcasting, Brokaw has written articles, essays, and commentary for publications including "The New York Times," "The Washington Post," "Newsweek," and "Sports Illustrated." He is also the author of "The Greatest Generation," and his latest book, "The Greatest Generation Speaks" (both from Random House).

Chee-Yun made her first performance at the age of eight, after winning the grand prize in the Korean Times Competition in Seoul. At 13, she moved to the United States to study under renowned teacher Dorothy DeLay at The Juilliard School of Music. Within the year, she had made her Lincoln Center debut in a New York Philharmonic Young People's Concert, and in 1985, she appeared as a soloist at The Kennedy Center for the Arts and at Carnegie Hall with the New York String Orchestra under Alexander Schneider. In 1993, she returned to Korea to receive the "Nan Pa" award, that country's highest musical honor. Later that year, she was invited by President Clinton to perform at the White House for a National Medal for the Arts ceremony honoring Arthur Miller and Cab Calloway. She continues to perform with some of the world's foremost conductors and orchestras, as well as in recitals in many major cities around the world. Chee-Yun records exclusively for the Denon label, with whom she has released five CDs. Her most recent recording features Lalo's "Symphonie Espagnole" and Saint-Saëns' Violin Concerto No. 3. Chee-Yun is accompanied tonight by pianist Akira Eguchi.

The Klezmatics began playing Jewish roots music in 1986. Concocting klezmer in arrangements and compositions that combine Jewish identity and mysticism with a contemporary zeitgeist and a post-modern aesthetic, they celebrate the ecstatic nature of Yiddish music. Their first recording, "Shvagyn=Toyt" (Yiddish for "Silence=Death") was released on Piranha Records in 1989. Since then, they have recorded "Rhythm and Jews" (Flying Fish/Rounder Records), "Jews with Horns" (Xenophile/Green Linnet Records) and "Possessed" (also on Xenophile), which features music excerpted from their score for Tony Kushner's adaptation of "The Dybbuk." The group has collaborated with a wide range of other artists, including Itzhak Perlman, Ben Folds Five, Israeli singer Chava Alberstein, choreographer Twyla Tharp, and members of the Flying Karamazov Brothers. Television appearances include "Great Performances," "Late Night with David Letterman," the BBC's "Rhythms of the World," and "MTV News." The Klezmatics are: Alicia Svigals (violin), Lorin Sklamberg (accordion/vocals), Paul Morrissett (bass/tsimbl), Frank London (trumpet/keyboards), David Licht (drums), and Matt Darriau (clarinet/saxophone).