Klezmer virtuoso Andy Statman recovering from coronavirus

Andy Statman Image by Matt Carr
Andy Statman and his wife have apparently been infected by the coronavirus. The 69 year-old Klezmer and bluegrass virtuoso says that, although the couple hasn’t been tested, his doctor diagnosed the virus over the phone based on their symptoms.
“He said ‘You have the virus,’” Statman said over the phone.
The Brooklyn-based clarinetist and mandolin player said he woke up ill on the morning of Sunday, March 22nd, feeling dizzy, achy and unable to get out of bed.
“I’ve never had vertigo like this before,” Statman said. “Everything was spinning. It was crazy.”
His wife Barbara got sick the following Wednesday night with a high temperature but had no difficulty breathing.
Statman said he still feels sick and fatigued a week later but that as of Sunday evening his wife’s temperature has been normal for the last 24 hours.
Statman’s doctor directed the couple to isolate from each other, so they have been sleeping in separate rooms, using separate bathrooms and wearing masks when they are in close proximity to each other at home.
“It’s a little bit insane but you have to guard your health,” he said, then joked, “Who is that masked woman?”
Statman says he has no idea of how he and his wife were infected. He said there are some mild coronavirus cases in his heavily Orthodox neighborhood in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. The son of one of Statman’s closest friends, though, has been intubated and is in a coma as a result of the virus.
“I feel very fortunate that I only have a mild case and God willing it’ll stay like this,” said Statman.
Like other musicians, Statman’s income has taken a hit from the pandemic. Gigs for his trio at local venues, including Barbes, Jalopy and The Charles Street Synagogue, have been cancelled as has as a tour in California scheduled for the fall, which was to include Statman’s mandolin teacher David Grisman.
“The whole tour is down the drain for now but, God willing, I think it’ll happen again sometime when things are safer.”
While he waits out the pandemic and recovers his health, Statman spends his time studying the holy texts, listening to music and practicing on his new mandolin when he has the energy to do so. He and his wife Barbara picked up the new instrument outside Charlotte, West Virginia last summer.
“The upside of this thing is that people show chased to one another and concern and love, which they may not normally show during the course of a week and that’s a mitzvah,” he said. “It’s a mitzvah to guard your health.”
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion Trump’s Israel tariffs are a BDS dream come true — can Netanyahu make him rethink them?
- 2
Opinion My Jewish moms group ousted me because I work for J Street. Is this what communal life has come to?
- 3
Opinion I co-wrote Biden’s antisemitism strategy. Trump is making the threat worse
- 4
Film & TV How Marlene Dietrich saved me — or maybe my twin sister — and helped inspire me to become a lifelong activist
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Colombia appoints allegedly fake anti-Zionist rabbi as director of religious affairs
-
Fast Forward GOP Rep. Randy Fine, the newest Jewish congressman, calls Rashida Tlaib a ‘terrorist’
-
Fast Forward Freed hostage Liri Albag responds to backlash over Netanyahu criticism: ‘I fear what we have become’
-
Fast Forward France will move to recognize a Palestinian state this year, Macron says
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.