Golden Thread Ensemble presents Yiddish Songs of Social Change, a program that explores the nature and dynamics of social change in the 20th century, featuring new arrangements for string quintet by Craig Judelman. Covering a wide array of topics including shifting opportunities for women, the struggle for workers’ rights, tensions between religious and secular movements, assimilation and relationship with the outside world, this program gives context and voice to the myriad changes and social struggles faced by Ashkenazi communities of the last century. The ensemble itself reflects this evolving identity as it straddles the line between traditional klezmer kapelye and contemporary art ensemble.