A Chanukah Celebration – The Zemel Choir at Belsize Square Synagogue -December 9^th 2012

Time flies, and the Zemel Choir’s annual concert at Belsize Square Synagogue will soon be with us. The choir has been particularly busy since the last concert, performing at the inaugural Louis Lewandowski Festival in Berlin and hosting its own International Jewish Choral Festival in London in June. Following such energetic internationalism we are now returning to one of our favourite musical homes. This year we will be ringing the changes Jewish-style, with a Chanukah concert instead of our usual performance for Kristallnacht. Come and join us for festive fun and a programme of beautiful and contrasting music. We will be performing Five Hebrew Love Songs by Eric Whitacre, a grammy-award-winning composer/conductor who wrote these gentle and thought-provoking pieces to words written by his Israeli wife, soprano Hila Plitmann. We will also be performing one of the classics of British choral music, the humorous and riotously catchy Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo, written by Michael Flanders (of Flanders and Swann) and émigré composer Joseph Horovitz. In addition there will be a new melody for Maoz Tsur, a cheekily irreverent medley of Chanukah songs, an evocative piece by Cecilia McDowell that was warmly received by audiences at the Zemel Choir’s International Jewish Choral Festival in June, and the unusual sound of Jewish gospel music.

For this concert the Zemel Choir is joined by the acclaimed Jewish barbershop quartet, bOYbershop, which regularly entertains audiences with its eclectic mix of Jewish music, classic close harmony and new arrangements. We are also joined by the enthusiastic singers of the Youth Choir of Belsize Square Synagogue. Expect humorous close harmony and enthusiastic singing, with new arrangements and something for everyone. And if you don’t like music, you can always come to eat doughnuts. So join us on December  9^th and help us to usher in Chanukah with song.

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The Zemel Choir’s International Jewish Choral Festival
Gala Concert – Sunday June 17^th 2012

It is 2012, and London is looking forward to the impending Olympics. First, though, Londoners had the opportunity to savour another cultural milestone: the first Zemel Choir International Jewish Choral Festival. While some Londoners are worrying about impending travel chaos, and others are saddened by their failure to procure athletics tickets, many more embraced the spirit of international cooperation and extended a welcome to visitors from overseas. On Sunday 17th June some 500 people enjoyed a unique opportunity to hear choirs from across Europe singing their favourite music in harmony. Also in attendance was the Lord Mayor of Westminster and the Mayor of Barnet.

The Zemel Choir’s International Jewish Choral Festival was officially linked to the Olympics through the Cultural Olympiad and the Inspire programme, and featured performances by choirs from France, Italy and Austria, alongside Britain’s very own Zemel Choir. Four days of activities culminated in a gala concert at West London Synagogue, one of Central London’s most beautiful venues. The concert included music never before heard in Great Britain, as well as favourite songs performed by a choir of over 120 singers. This event was unique in the history of British Jewish choral music, and was attended by both long-term fans and new audience members.

The Zemel Choir is proud of its international reputation as one of the world’s finest mixed-voice Jewish choirs. Under the Musical Direction of Benjamin Wolf, Zemel’s wide ranging repertoire embraces all the traditional Jewish cultures, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Yiddish and Israeli. It has recently performed in Strasbourg and Berlin, and plans to visit the USA in 2013. It has forged links with other Jewish choirs from three different continents, while its performances in the UK have included the Mayor of London’s Holocaust Memorial Service and the BBC’s Songs of Praise. For its 2012 Festival it was joined by the Vienna Jewish Choir, the Coro Hakol of Rome and the Zamir Choir of Paris. Whether you are bored by the Olympics or thrilled at the thought of watching Usain Bolt, this was an opportunity to get into the spirit of 2012 and experience the rich cultural fabric of contemporary London, without the travel chaos!

The Zamir Choir, Paris

Conductor-Albert Benzaquen; President-Arlette Ghidalia

The Zamir Choir is a non-profit-making association founded in 1980.  It consists of 40 amateur choristers from various Jewish but mainly sephardi communities. The Musical Director, Albert Benzaquen, is a qualified teacher of piano and studied at “L’ecole normale de musique de Paris”, under the well-known music professor, Cesar Geoffroy. Our repertoire principally consists of Israeli songs as well as Yiddish, Ladino and Jewish melodies including extracts from psalms and religious songs. The choir has given concerts in some of the famous concert halls of Paris, such as: le Casino de Paris, auditorium de la Sorbonne, le Palais des Congres, le theatre de la Bruyre ou l’Olympia as well as in some French cities: Nimes, Chablis, Bayonne, Troyes  Pau,  Biarritz. The Zamir Choir has also participated in 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2007 in the Zimrya, (the Annual International Jewish Choral Festival) in Jerusalem. For further information please contact: Albert Benzaquen, tel. +33 147937261,  Arlette Ghidalia +33 672795292 (mobile).

Associazione Coro Ha-Kol
Musical Director-Andrea Orlando; Piano-Antonio Cama

The Coro Ha-Kol (meaning “The Voice”) was founded in December 1993 on the initiative of singers at the Great Synagogue of Rome, alongside other lovers of Jewish music. They recognised the need to rediscover and publicise the beauty of Jewish music to audiences both within and beyond the synagogue. At the same time they wished to preserve and conserve the musical and liturgical heritage of the Community of Rome, one of the oldest in Europe, which has had an uninterrupted presence in the city of Rome for more than two thousand years. Over the years, the choir’s repertoire has been gradually enriched by the works of composers who lived between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as by music of the Sephardi (Spanish-Portuguese) and Ashkenazi (East European) traditions. Recently, the choir has also performed contemporary music, and this has included not only liturgical music but also music inspired by Jewish life. The choir is formed of amateur singers (Soprano,Contralto, Tenor and Bass) and is directed by Maestro Andrea Orlando. In addition to performing in its entirety, the choir has also recently formed a Chamber Choir which performs the music of Salamone Rossi.

The choir has performed at many events, including public concerts, alongside members of other faiths, believing in the free interchange of different cultures. Among these we remember in particular:

-A concert held in October 1999 in the Aula Nervi of the Vatican under the auspices of the Interfaith Assembly, and entitled ‘The collaboration of many religions at the cusp of the third millennium’, and a subsequent ceremony held in St Peter’s Square in the presence of Pope John-Paul II and broadcast worldwide by RAI 2.

-Concerts held in December 2002 at the Music Conservatory of Tel Aviv and the YMCA Concert Hall of Jerusalem under the auspices of the International Festival of Liturgical Music 2003.

-Participation at the ‘Two Worlds Festival’ of Spoleto on the 13th July 2004 in a concert entitled ‘Mystical Time’;

-Participation at the International Holy Music Festival for prayer 2007 [Castel di Lama (Ascoli Piceno)]

- A concert at the Great Synagogue of Rome with Emil Zrihan, cantor of the Ashkelon Synagogue of Tel Aviv (2008)

-Participation at Tehillim, ‘Homage to Steve Reich’ (Auditorium Parco della Musica 2008)

-A Latin concert as part of the festival entitled ‘Peace, Shalom, Salam - three religions together’ (April 2008)

-A concert at the Tempio Valdese (Rome) entitled ‘One voice - Jews and Blacks remember the Holocaust’, together with the gospel choir The Session Voices on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance (27th January 2011)

-A concert at the Auditorium Parco della Musica (Sala Petrassi) organised by Keren Kayemet le Israel (the Jewish National Fund) for the reforestation of Mount Carmel in Israel following a devastating fire (May 2011). In addition, between September 2002 and January 2006, the Coro Ha-Kol appeared several times on the RAI programme “Uno mattina”, commemorating important events such as the first anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center, the sixtieth anniversary of the deporation of the Jews from the Ghetto of Rome, the Jewish Passover, the celebrations of the centenary of the construction of the Synagogue of Rome and the European Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust. In the course of its existence, the Associazione Coro Ha-Kol has released three CDs, respectively ‘Canti Liturgici Ebraici’ [Jewish Liturgy] (2001) , ‘Canti di Scola Tempio’ (2006) and ‘Chatan ve Kallah - il matrimonio ebraico a Roma [The Jewish Wedding in Rome] in February 2010.

Coro da Camera Ha-Kol

The Ha-Kol Chamber Choir was created in 2010 explicitly for the performance of music by Salamone Rossi, a seven-teenth-century Jewish composer who wrote in the characteristic style of the Italian Renaissance.  Salamone Rossi is important because he composed Jewish liturgical music in contrapuntal style which can sit side by side with the works of famous Church composers such as Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Orlando di Lasso, Andrea Gabrieli and Claudio Monteverdi. The Ha-Kol Chamber Choir wishes to preserve and disseminate the music of this great composer of Renaissance Jewish music. The group is formed of ten singers, all amateurs, who sing in four-part harmony.

The Vienna Jewish Choir
Musical Director-Roman Grinberg

The Vienna Jewish Choir has been an important contributor to Jewish music and cultural exchange in Vienna since 1989. With a growing repertoire of Yiddish, Hebrew, and Ladino songs, arranged by the renowned musician and conductor Roman Grinberg, it plays a vital part in the aim to make Jewish culture an integral part of life in Vienna again. With members from more than ten countries - men and women, Jewish and non-Jewish, amateur and professional - it is also a symbol for openness, tolerance, and a shared vision of mutual respect. Over twenty years ago, the Vienna Jewish Choir, founded by Dr. Timothy Smolka, started with only eight members. Today, it unites 50 active singers and a history of numerous international appearances, such as Germany, Britain, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, The Ukraine, and Japan.

Every year, we sing several concerts in Vienna, Austria, but we also bring the spirit of Yiddish music to other cities, countries, and continents. Our travels brought us as far as Florida in 2008, where an audience of over 1000 people enjoyed the songs from “the old world”. As part of a tour through the Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania

in 2005, we sang a series of concerts in towns formerly famous for their Jewish populations, such as Czernovits, Beltz, and Kluj. In 2011, we participated in competitions in a lively exchange with other choirs from around the world in Krakow and Barcelona. Our Fourth CD will be produced in 2012. The concerts of the Vienna Jewish Choir have also become an anchor for the cultural life of the city in our home town, Vienna. Each year, our gala concert in the famous “Wiener Konzerthaus” is sold out, as well as other concerts that we sing for “Jiddischer Kulturherbst” and “J.dische Kulturwoche”. Additionally, we spread the joy of Jewish music with our three CDs (10 Jahre Wiener J.discher Chor, Ose Shalom (with ORF), and A Bisele Mazl); one of them was produced by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF), which also made two documentaries about the choir and its members. A fourth CD is currently being planned.  Our conductor/director Roman Grinberg is committed to Jewish music. Born into a family of musicians in Beltz, Moldova, he grew up with Yiddish as his mother tongue.  After a few years in Israel, the family moved to Vienna, where Grinberg studied at the conservatory. With his band “Frejlech”, he’s a very well booked musician for Jewish festivities. As a soloist, he successfully writes and performs music for the many theatres in Vienna and abroad and is also an active member in, the international Klezmer music scene, participating at festivals. Grinberg transposes all the music into contemporary arrangements for the Vienna Jewish Choir and leads us through all our rehearsals and concerts.  

Recent 2010 Celebrate With Song Concert At JFS

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The ever-popular Celebrate With Song event that took place on the 6th June was a sellout, bringing mixed-voice choral music with a Jewish connection to new singers and new audiences. In the past four years Zemel have sung plainchant, Baroque cantatas, swinging American tunes and some of the best in British Jewish music. This year-it was Showtime. We sang music by Jewish composers written for the stage – from opera to operetta, Yiddish theatre to musicals. We performed music by some of the classics – Gerhswin, Weill and friends – and Yiddish theatre numbers such as Rozhinkes Mit Mandlen.  We were joined in concert by Celebrate With Song workshop attendees and by the Alyth Youth Choir.  With nearly 400 people in the audience, we were delighted to be supported by Jacs and Bnei Brith who used this event to raise money for Charity