Stempenyu

Stempenyu (Yiddish: סטעמפּעניו, 1822–79) was the popular name of Iosif Druker (יוסף דרוקער), a klezmer violin virtuoso, bandleader and composer from Berdychiv, Russian Empire.

[1][2] He was one of a handful of celebrity nineteenth century Jewish folk violinists from Ukraine; others included Aron-Moyshe Kholodenko "Pedotser" (also from Berdychiv) and Yechiel Goyzman "Alter Chudnover" from Chudniv.

[6] Iosif (Yossele) Druker was born in Berdychiv, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire in 1822 (now located in Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine).

[2] His father, Sholem Druker, was a musically literate klezmer clarinet player and bandleader; according to Joachim Stutschewsky their family may have come from somewhere else in Kiev Governorate, possibly Hornostaipil or Radomyshl.

[1] Berdychiv was a large enough to have several competing klezmer ensembles in the late nineteenth century, all with a high level of musicianship: Stempenyu's, Pedotser's, and that of another bandleader named Moyshe-Abe.