October 25, 2006

THE ZEMEL CHOIR

51st Annual Concert of the Zemel Choir
Cantors and Choristers
Sunday 12th November 2006, 7.30pm
Belsize Square Synagogue
51 Belsize Square , London NW3 4HX, UK

Now in its 51st year, Britain's leading mixed voice Jewish choir, presents a mixed bag of choral goodies at a concert at Belsize Square Synagogue on November 12th.

The concert follows Benjamin Wolf's appointment as choirmaster at the synagogue, and includes a performance by a new male- voice quartet comprising young soloists Marc Finer, Eliot Alderman and Benjamin Seifert, joined by Benjamin Wolf. Finer, Alderman and Seifert are already well known to Jewish audiences as cantors and cantorial soloists.

With music ranging from Yiddish opera to close-harmony, and including jazzy arrangements of Chanukah tunes, this promises to be a fun concert not to be missed.

The choir will perform extracts from Samuel Alman s 1911 opera, King Ahaz, a choral work that has not been performed in public since 1912! There will also be excerpts from Sullivan s Pirates of Penzance, recently created for a full-scale, off- Broadway performance.

Tickets £14 (concessions £12.50) are available from +44 (0)20 8906 1318 or zemelchoir@hotmail.com

The Zemel Choir, established in the UK by Dudley Cohen in 1955, is proud of its international reputation as one of the world s finest mixed voice Jewish choirs. Our wide ranging repertoire embraces all the traditional Jewish cultures, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Yiddish and Israeli. ZC regularly performs in major venues throughout the U.K. and overseas, and besides singing well known favourites, are particularly proud to present new music, often specially commissioned, from contemporary composers.

TV and Radio appearances in the UK include:

2005- BBC1 TV Songs of Praise Holocaust Day broadcast.
2001- Radio 4 s Holocaust Day edition of Sunday Worship
1990-The Expressions of Reconciliation and Hope service in York Minster.
1986- Live television and radio broadcast of Kaddish for Terezin from Canterbury Cathedral.

Over the years the Zemel Choir have made many recordings, the most recent of which The English Tradition of Jewish Choral Music conducted by Robert Max with Cantor Moshe Haschel was described as a fascinating and beautifully performed selection of synagogue music from the 19th and 20th centuries .

We have travelled extensively to the U.S.A., Canada, Israel, and Eastern and Western Europe, and in 1993 participated in the Polish Holocaust Memorial ceremonies in Warsaw and Treblinka to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. At the 1996 Zimriyah Choral Festival in Jerusalem we were invited to sing at the opening ceremony concert which was broadcast live on Israel Radio. Our latest overseas trip was in October 2001 when we made a most successful tour of The Czech Republic and Hungary.

Plans for the near future include 3 concerts in London before the end of 2006 and beyond that a possible tour of Western Europe in the spring of 2007.

The Choir has maintained its reputation as a result of professional musical direction, and a strong commitment to rehearsals by its members. We come together not only to sing, but to be part of a warm and friendly social group. We are always happy to welcome new members, and to find out more about us, visit our website at www.the-zemel-choir.org or phone our membership secretary on +44 (0)20-8868 8423.

Posted by jmwc at October 25, 2006 06:50 PM