Joel Engel

Ukrainian-born Joel Engel (1868–1927) was a multi-faceted musician, who studied at the Moscow Conservatory and worked almost 20 years as music critic, collector of folk melodies by recording on Edison's "new" wax cylinders, lecturer and organizer of concerts through the founding of the Society for Jewish Folk Music. From Moscow to Berlin (1922) and, in his later years (1924) Tel Aviv, he was an advocate for Yiddish music which would bolster cultural identity and memory.