Olga Avigail Mieleszczuk

Olga Avigail Mieleszczuk is a singer, accordion player and researcher of Eastern European musical folklore, known for singing Ashkenazi Jewish songs in Yiddish.[1][2] [3][4] In 2012 Olga Mieleszczuk converted to Orthodox Judaism, acquired the first name Avigail and now she lives in Israel.[1]

Olga Mieleszczuk was born in Warsaw to a Polish Catholic family. She received B.A. in classical music from the Chopin University of Music, Warsaw and M.S. in cultural anthropology from the University of Warsaw. [1] After enrolling in a course on Yiddish music by Warsaw's Shalom Foundation,[1] she focused on Ashkenazi Jewish music, especially from the Eastern Borderlands of Poland, she studied Chassidic music, Yiddish folk songs, as well as Jewish songs in various languages.[5] Her interest in Jewish culture was sparked by an interfaith visit to Auschwitz.[1]

Her major musical projects were Jewish Polesye,[6] Li-La-Lo (based on the Yiddish-language cabarets of Poland (called kleynkunst) and Tel Aviv[7]) and Jewish Tango.[5]

Her husband Shlomi is of Kurdish descent and they have two children.[1]