Isabel Frey

Isabel Frey by Michèle Pauty
Isabel Frey (c) Michèle Pauty

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Genre(s): Folk, Global
From: Vienna, Austria
Contact: isabel.frey@gmail.com
Website: www.isabelfrey.com
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BIOGRAPHY

Isabel Frey was born in Vienna and raised in a secular Jewish family. Growing up in Vienna I was both rooted in mainstream Austrian culture as well as in the Jewish community. After finishing high school I spent a gap-year in Israel, doing social work and living in kibbutzim. Though a meaningful experience, it made me realize that my Jewish identity was rooted in the diaspora, not in Israel.

When Isabel started studying, she became a political activist for various social justice movements. This was when she stumbled upon the tradition of Yiddish revolutionary songs, which accommodated both my Jewish identity as well as my activism.
After a few performances at political protests she started to also perform Yiddish revolutionary songs in concert, for example at international Jewish music festivals in Vienna, Bratislava, Warsaw. Her debut album “Millenial Bundist” was released in September 2020. She also started to play in different ensembles, like the Yiddish song duo Soveles, which released its debut album with the same name in November 2022. In addition to her artistic work she is also a PhD candidate at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in ethnomusicology, researching unaccompanied Yiddish folksong transmission, performance and style.

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