Rakija Klezmer Orkestar is a klezmer group which formed three years ago in Kaunas, Lithuania. They have performed Hanukkah concerts at the Lithuanian Jewish Community.
The group say they want to revive Litvak klezmer traditions. The four-set will soon become five with addition of Mantas Ostreika on saxophone. The other members are Darius Bagdonavičius, Mikas Kurtinaitis, Skirmantas Rumševičius and Povilas Jurkša.
Band manager Karolis Kašiuba says almost no audio or film recordings of pre-war Litvak klezmer music has survived, and there isn’t even any real amount of sheet music. He said they travel around to different Jewish communities in Lithuania and record the memories of elder community members.