Mama Doni
Our Next Show Is...
08//01/10 - Camp Louemma (Sussex, NJ) 2:00pm
Upcoming Shows...
- 08/05/10 - JCC of Northern Virginia (Fairfax, VA) 6:00pm
- 08/06/10 - Camp JCC at JCC of Greater Washington (Rockville, MD) 1:00pm
- 08/29/10 - Congregation Beth Israel (Houston, Texas) 10:15am
- 09/05/10 - Jewish Federation Sarasota-Manatee (Sarasota, Florida) 4:00pm
- 09/19/10 - Congregation Adath Israel (Middletown, CT) 2:00pm
- 09/26/10 - Congregation Beth Or (Maple Glen, PA) 1:30pm
- 10/03/10 - Temple Beth Ahm Yisrael (Springfield, NJ ) 1:00pm
- 10/24/10 - Museum of Jewish Heritage (New York, NY ) 2:30pm
- 11/21/10 - JCC of Worcester (Worcester, MA) 3:00pm
- 11/28/10 - Bergen Performing Arts Center (Englewood, NJ) 1:00pm and 4:00pm
- 12/02/10 - JCC of New Orleans (New Orleans, LA) 6:30pm
- 12/05/10 - Temple Israel (West Bloomfield, MI) 1:00pm
- 12/12/10 - United Jewish Communities of Metrowest New Jersey SUPER SUNDAY - UJC Metrowest (Whippany, NJ) 3:00pm
- 12/29/10 - Suffolk YJCC (Commack, NY) 11:00am
- 05/22/11 - JCC of Greater New Haven (Woodbridge, CT) 4:00pm
- 12/11/11 - JCC Rockland (West Nyack, NY) 4:00pm
Past Shows...
Jewish Community Centers & Y’s:
- Mid-Island YJCC - Plainview, NY
- Mandell JCC of Greater Hartford - JCC Swim and Tennis Club - West Hartford, CT
- JCC Manhattan - New York, NY
- JCC on The Hudson - Tarrytown, NY
- JCC Commack - Commack, NY
- Stamford JCC - Stamford, CT
- Jewish Federation of Greater Orange County - Newburgh, NY
- YMHA - Wayne, NJ
- JCC Albany - Albany, NY
- JCC Houston - Houston, TX
- JCC of Middlesex County - Edison, NJ
- Bergen County YJCC - Washington Township, NJ
- Katz JCC - Cherry Hill, NJ
- Rosenthal JCC - Camp Discovery - Croton-on-Hudson, NY
- Suffolk Y and JCC - Commack, NY
- Milton & Betty Katz JCC - Margate NJ
- Worcester JCC - Worcester, MA
- JCC of Bensonhurst - Brooklyn, NY
- JCC MetroWest - West Orange, NJ
- JCC of Kansas City - Kansas City, KA
- Mayerson JCC - Shalom Family - Cincinatti, OH
- JCC of Staten Island - Staten Island, NY
- JCC of Allentown - Allentown, PA
- JCC Wyoming Valley - Wilkes-Barre, PA
Museums, Festivals & Fairs
- The International Jewish Music Festival 2008 - Amsterdam, Holland
- REJOICE 2008– The South Brunswick Jewish Music festival - South Brunswick, NJ
- JCC Toledo - Hanukkah Palooza & Latkefest - Toledo, OH
- YM-YWHA of North Jersey’s Children’s Theater Series - Wayne, NJ
- The Jewish Museum of New York - New York, NY
- REJOICE 2009– The South Brunswick Jewish Music Festival, South Brunswick, NJ
- The International Jewish Music Festival 2009 - Amsterdam, Holland
- JCC Houston - Annual Jewish Book & Arts Fair - Houston, TX
- The Museum of Jewish Heritage - New York, NY
- Bucks County Jewish Festival - Yardley, PA
Synagogue Programming – Preschools, Religious Schools (K-5), Youth Groups
- Marlboro Jewish Center - Marlboro, NJ
- Pine Brook Jewish Center Nursery School - Montville, NJ
- Congregation Oheb Shalom - South Orange, NJ
- Adath Shalom - Morris Plains, NJ
- Temple B’nai Abraham - Livingston, NJ
- Shomrei Emunah - Montclair, NJ
- Temple Emanu-El - Closter, NJ
- Maplewood Jewish Center - Maplewood, NJ
- Kol Ami - White Plains, NY
- Temple Sha'arey Shalom - Springfield, NJ
- B’nai Tikvah - North Brunswick, NJ
- Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel - South Orange, NJ
- Westchester Jewish Center - Mamaroneck, NY
- Temple Beth El - Rochester, NY
- Temple B'Nai Or - Morristown, NJ
- Temple Beth Rishon - The Andrew Friedland Preschool, Wyckoff, NJ
- Adat Shalom - Los Angeles, CA
- The Shirley & Paul Pintel Nursery School of Fair Lawn Jewish Center - Fair Lawn, NJ
- Woodlands Community Temple - White Plains, NY
- Congregation Tikvat Israel - Rockville, MD
- Kol Ami - White Plains, NY
- Congregation Agudath Israel - Caldwell, NJ
- Temple Sha’arey Shalom - Springfield, NJ
- B’nai Keshet - Montclair, NJ
- Shir Ami - Newton, PA
- Congregation B ’nai Israel - Millburn, NJ
- Kaplan Preschool – United Synagogue of Hoboken - Hoboken, NJ
Camps & Day Schools
- Friedberg JCC - Summer Camp - Wheatley Heights, NY
- JCC of Staten Island - Lillian Schwartz Day Camp - Staten Island, NY
- Hillcrest Jewish Center - Summer Camp Program - Flushing, NY
- Mandell JCC of Greater Hartford - Camp Shalom - West Hartford, CT
- Central Queens YM-YWHA - Summer Camp Program - Wheatley Heights, NY
- Samuel Field Y - Summer Camp Program - Wheatley Heights, NY
- JCC Princeton Mercer Bucks - Abrams Day Camp - Lawrenceville, NJ
- JCC Bridgewater - Camp Ruach - Bridgewater, NJ
- Gesher Summer Camp - Livingston, NJ
- The Rosenthal JCC of Northern Westchester
- Camp Discovery - Croton-on-Hudson, NY - Solomon Schechter - Queens, NY
- Henry Kaufman Campgrounds - Wheatley Heights, NY
- Camp Louemma - Sussex, NJ
- Westchester Summer Day - Mamaroneck, NY
- Mid-Island Y-JCC - Oceanside, NY
- Friedberg JCC - Oceanside, NY
- The Rosenthal JCC of Northern Westchester - Camp Discovery - Croton-on-Hudson, NY
- Solomon Schechter School - West Orange, NJ
- Hebrew Academy of Morris County - Randolph, NJ
Benefits, Country Clubs & Senior Centers
- Benefit Concert for American Cancer Society - Relay For Life - Montville, NJ
- United Jewish Council of Greater Toledo - Sylvania, Ohio
- "Little Kids Rock" Concert - Montclair, NJ
- Parents Who Rock - Montclair, NJ
- Children's Winter Holiday Party - Orange Lawn Tennis Club - South Orange, NJ
- Help Haiti Heal Benefit Concert - NY, NY
- Miriam Apartments - Clifton, NJ
- Miriam Apartments II - Clifton, NJ
- Fox Hills Chaverim - Rockaway, NJ
Mama Doni Bio
Mama Doni, a.k.a. Doni Zasloff Thomas, is a mom, educator, performer, songwriter, and lead singer in The Mama Doni Band, winner of the 2008 Simcha Award for “Inspiring Joy Through Music,” in competition with more than 100 bands from 15 different countries at the International Jewish Music Festival in Amsterdam, Holland. She was invited back to Amsterdam the next year in 2009 to perform a concert and conduct a workshop.
Immersed in Jewish life and music since childhood, Doni grew up in the Washington DC area, attending The Hebrew Day Institute and The Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School. She then moved to Philadelphia and finished high school at Akiba Academy. She attended Camp Ramah, Camp Judea, Camp Moshava, and Camp Bnai Brith where she was drama/dance counselor. Through highschool she was a Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutor and Hebrew School teacher, she then went to Brandeis University and NYU, where she earned a degree in Educational Theatre and Performing Arts. Pursuing a career in children's media and marketing, Doni was creative director for an award winning, pioneering children's media company for more than seven years.
When Doni’s children’s preschool asked her to take a position as music teacher in early 2007, she became a trained Music Together teacher, and the creative juices started flowing. Wanting to share her love of Jewish culture with kids in a fun and cool way, Doni soon began writing and recording her own songs. Mama Doni Productions was born! Doni’s first album, I Love Herring (& Other Fish Shticks for Kids), was released to immediate acclaim in May 2008. A 4-song EP for Chanukah, I Love Chanukah!, and I Love Purim! followed. November 2009 brought a new, full-length album, Chanukah Fever which received rave reviews! The Mama Doni Band is now working on their next album to be released in November 2010.
Quirky, funny, and always unpredictable, Doni’s music brings a fun new twist to Chanukah in this CD, as it ventures through dance beats, Latin pop, "Jewgrass" hoe-downs, and dazzling disco ditties to make latkes, dreidels and Yiddish expressions cooler than ever. Recognized in The New York Times, LA Times, The Jewish Daily Forward, New York Post, The Star-Ledger, The Record, Time Out New York Kids, New Jersey Jewish News, The Jewish Week, Jewish Woman International Magazine, and more, The Mama Doni Band delights families throughout the country. In addition to producing funky, family-friendly CDs and videos, Mama Doni and her team present an array of live concerts and workshops.
The band embarked on their first national tour that began in the fall 2009, with stops planned in Houston, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Washington, DC. At the special invitation of The International Jewish Music Festival, The Mama Doni Band returned to Amsterdam for performances and workshops in October 2009.
Band members, in addition to Doni Zasloff Thomas, include: Eric Lindberg, guitar; Alexander Tyshkov, bass; and Cliff Ramsay, drums.
