Notes of Deception
How a Quartet of American Musicians Outwitted the KGB
Will be published approx. on 25. August 2026
320 pages
E-Book
978-0-3697-6245-0 (ISBN)
Description
How a Quartet of American Musicians Outwitted the KGB - The Untold History of a Daring Cold War Spy Mission
In 1985, while the United States engaged in a battle of nuclear brinkmanship, four Americans landed in Moscow on a mission to smuggle secret information in and out using music as their cipher. Under the watchful eye of the KGB, the group faced countless challenges and risks-because they weren't trained in espionage. In fact, they were musicians with the New England-based Yiddish-music focused Klezmer Conservatory Band (KCB).
Now, the quartet's saxophonist, Merryl Goldberg, together with Vince Houghton, the Director of the National Security Agency's National Cryptologic Museum, tell the harrowing story of how Goldberg devised an ingenious plan to encode the intelligence within the group's sheet music.
In 1985, while the United States engaged in a battle of nuclear brinkmanship, four Americans landed in Moscow on a mission to smuggle secret information in and out using music as their cipher. Under the watchful eye of the KGB, the group faced countless challenges and risks-because they weren't trained in espionage. In fact, they were musicians with the New England-based Yiddish-music focused Klezmer Conservatory Band (KCB).
Now, the quartet's saxophonist, Merryl Goldberg, together with Vince Houghton, the Director of the National Security Agency's National Cryptologic Museum, tell the harrowing story of how Goldberg devised an ingenious plan to encode the intelligence within the group's sheet music.
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Other editions
Additional editions
Merryl Goldberg | Vince Houghton
Notes of Deception
How a Quartet of American Musicians Outwitted the KGB
Book
approx. 10/2026
Hanover Square Press
€31.50
Not yet published
Persons
Dr. Merryl Goldberg was the saxophonist and cipher-creator for the KCB quartet that entered the Soviet Union in 1985. She is currently a Professor in the School of Arts at California State University San Marcos and Executive Director of Center ARTES (a university center dedicated to restoring arts to education). She toured internationally for 13 years with the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and has recorded over a dozen CDs with major labels. Dr. Goldberg received her undergraduate degree from New England Conservatory of Music and her Doctorate in Teaching, Curriculum and Learning Environments, from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In 2018 she was awarded the Wang Family Excellence Award for Outstanding Faculty Teaching in the California State University (23 campus) systemwide. Merryl serves on the Board of CREATE CA and is Trustee for the California State Summer School for the Arts. She regularly speaks at national, statewide, and local conferences on the need and benefits of arts in education.
