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In This Issue
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Josh Jacobson's Musings
Podcasts in a Time of Corona
Multicultural Outreach
Zamir Alumni Sing-Along
Schiffer Re-elected Board Chair; Miller Re-elected Chorus President
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Musical Messages: Podcasts in a Time of Corona
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We hope you are receiving our weekly Musical Message, with selections that will delight the soul, including some with introductions and program notes by Josh Jacobson. Consider them in-home mini concerts for your viewing and listening pleasure.
Click here!
You can also view our new virtual choir productions of
"
Boker Shel Zahav
" and "Hallelujah Amen
"
featuring members of Zamir who sang
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Ariel Wyner
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their solo part at home, and, through the magic of technology, thanks to 2019-20 conducting intern Ariel Wyner, appear as a real chorus!
Of the project, Ariel, also an arranger, composer, producer, and mandolinist, said, "It was a unique way of interacting with the choir and maintaining a sense of togetherness despite the circumstances."
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On Tuesday, May 5, over 100
Zamirniks and friends from all over the country, joined a Zoom-room alumni gathering hosted by Josh. After introducing the evening, Josh handed the "mic" over to composers and cantors Benjie Ellen Schiller, Charles Osborne, who added their remarks before we sang together, including Schiller's "Halleluhu" and Osborne's "Samachti."
The program began with Zamir's anthem, "Zam'ru, Achim, Zam'ru," and ended with Leonard Bernstein's "Hineh Mah Tov," the final chorale of Chichester Psalms.
So how does a Zoom room sing-along work, since we couldn't sing "live" with one another? All the guests muted their microphones while
Josh
posted the scores. Everyone sang along from their homes, hearing their own voices
mingling with
the choral recording. It wasn't the same as being together but it was special nevertheless! Stay tuned for future
sing-along
events.
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Multicultural Outreach Is Part of Zamir's Mission
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Through the past 50 years, Zamir has been exploring ways in which music can bring communities together. We have done a number of programs with musicians and musics from other cultures, subcultures, races, and religions, including "Voices of Freedom," "Sacred Bridges," "Middle East Harmonies," and last year's multicultural symposium on "Ethnic Identity and Choral Singing." In a time when there are forces trying to split us apart, we will continue these efforts in any way that we can.
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Maestro Jacobson was interviewed for a recent Boston Globe article titled "Voices Carry," about the current challenges to communal singing at houses of worship in the age of COVID, and the efforts to keep music alive. Read all about it here.
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Created as part of Zamir's 50th- anniversary initiatives, JewishChoralMusic.com provides
a wide variety of Jewish traditions and experiences. We invite you to use this website as a resource to find material for your choir.
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Dear Friends of Zamir,
Summertime greetings to you! We hope this finds you and your loved ones safe and well during this most challenging time. As you're undoubtedly aware, most choruses are adapting to the "new normal" and Zamir is no different. Although we're on hiatus from live performances, we intend to continue bringing Jewish choral music to you as best we can, virtually. Read Artistic Director Joshua Jacobson's Musings about our current time--and what to expect for the near future. Catch up on the latest staff and board elections. And be sure to schedule your "in-home mini concert" with Zamir very soon by clicking on our video links.
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JOSH JACOBSON'S MUSINGS
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In each issue of E-Notes, Artistic Director Joshua Jacobson offers his unique insights and experiences as a world-renowned scholar, composer, conductor, and influential teacher of Jewish music.
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(Photo by Andy Weigl) |
Interesting times we're living through. I had no idea that the most dangerous mode of virus transmission would be singing! Choruses across the globe have been shut down since March. That's a lot of people: more than 54 million Americans participate in choral groups today, nearly one fifth of all adults. And not just choruses--churches and synagogues and mosques are now required to forbid communal singing.
More than 54 million Americans participate in choral groups today, nearly one fifth of all adults. And not just choruses--churches and synagogues and mosques are now required to forbid communal singing.
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So, what to do? We can't rehearse and we can't present concerts. Zamir has been meeting weekly by Zoom. But because of a lag in the video-conferencing system we can't actually sing at the same time. Since March we've made two "virtual choir"
videos
, in which each singer performs his/her part from home and then sends a video of that performance to our engineer, who puts all the voices together onto one exciting screen. Furthermore, for our audiences, I've been sending out weekly mini concerts, many of them with interesting back stories about the music and its composer. It's a changing world; the organizations that succeed will be the ones that adapt quickly. So we need to be flexible this year, willing to experiment with new modes of communication.
But, of course, all of this is
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"Boker Shel Zahav" virtual choir created by Ariel Wyner |
no substitute for the real thing: singing harmony together in person. Famed actor and radio personality Garrison Keillor wrote, "To sing like this, in the company of other souls, ... this is transcendence. This is the power that choral singing has that other music can only dream of."
Choral singers attest that singing in a chorus makes them more optimistic, mindful, resilient, with an elevated sense of social well-being. And older choristers credit choral participation with helping keep their mind sharper. How can we possibly give all that up?
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"Hallelujah Amen" virtual choir created by Ariel Wyner |
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As soon as it is safe, we will begin to rehearse again, although we realize that may be many months away. As soon as it is safe, we will perform concerts that we had to postpone. We were so excited about the "Concert in the Round" -- we'll reschedule it as soon as it is possible. We will reconfigure our symposium on "Women in Music" as a webinar and offer it to the public next season. And we'll present the music from that program, if not "live," then on video. In addition, we're planning a concert around the theme of "A Better World," with beautiful and inspiring music by Randall Thompson, Yehezkel Braun, and others.
Sociologist Peter Berger calls hope a "signal of transcendence. ... It is through hope that [we] overcome the difficulties of any given here and now. And it is through hope that [we] find meaning in the face of extreme suffering." We will keep that hope alive until we can be together again in the same room at the same time, making inspiring music.
For an enhanced version of this Musing by Josh Jacobson, click here.
You can also listen to Zamir on
YouTube
or on our
CDs
.
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BOARD AND CHORUS OFFICERS ELECTED
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The following board members were elected for the 2020-21 season:
Gilbert Schiffer, Chair
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Gilbert Schiffer
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Peter Finn, Clerk
Michael Victor, Treasurer
Peter Bronk
Bruce Creditor
Bruce Donoff
Elyse Friedman
Barbara Gaffin, Managing Dir.
Josh Jacobson, Artistic Dir.
Rachel Miller, Chorus Pres.
Dawn Ringel
Jeff Rosenberg
Lawrence E. Sandberg
Robert Snyder
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Josh Jacobson with Rachel Miller |
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The chorus also held elections for next season. Rachel Miller was re-elected as president; Deb Wollner succeeds Anne Levy as vice-president.
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KEEP IN TOUCH!
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As always, let us know what you're up to--we love hearing from our friends near and far. May you and yours be safe and healthy this summer!
Barbara Gaffin Deborah Sosin
Managing Director Editor, E-Notes
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