Suzi Digby-Guest Workshop at Zemel Choir's Celebrate With Song
In May 2009, the Zemel Choir – the UK’s leading mixed-voice Jewish choir will host Celebrate With Song, now in its third year, bringing mixed-voice Jewish choral music to a wide range of amateur singers and music-lovers. Do you enjoy singing? Do you want to experience music that you may not have sung (or even heard) before? You could join Zemel for workshops and a concert at St John’s, Smith Square on June 14th 2009.
The Zemel Choir is well known to London concert-goers, both within and outside the Jewish community, performing regularly in both Jewish venues and London’s major concert halls. In recent years it has reached out to non-Jewish audiences through appearances on the BBC, and in the last few months released its latest CD of Jewish choral music. Its annual festival of Jewish Choral Music – entitled Celebrate with Song – aims to bring Jewish music to audiences and amateur singers of all denominations.
This year they are doing something a little bit different, celebrating the output of Jewish music from a single country: the United States of America. While the USA’s contribution to world culture is acknowledged in many areas – from literature to cinema – for the past century it has been one of the world’s two major centres for Jewish culture, producing many great composers of Jewish music both before and after the creation of the State of Israel. This is your chance to learn more about this aspect of American culture, and to sing some beautiful music, both liturgical and light. In order to facilitate group music-learning they will be having one large workshop group, with sessions on May 31st and June 14th. The workshops are open to both intermediate and advanced singers, and will include works by Gershwin, Kurt Weill and Tom Lehrer, plus one or two others.
As in previous years, they will also be including a guest workshop, focussing on voice technique and other aspects of choral singing. This year the guest workshop leader will be the BBC’s Suzi Digby, who is an experienced voice coach and conductor, and well known to television audiences from her appearances on Last Choir Standing and the BBC’s Choir of the Year.
Music lovers are also welcome to join Zemel for their concert, which will include performances by the Zemel Choir and the choir of Yavneh College, and will culminate in a mass performance of Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, for which the Zemel Choir will be joined by musicians from the Wallace Ensemble and by members of other London choirs. This is a unique celebration of music from a unique country. Credit may be crunched, sterling may not be sterling, but we can all remember that music gives us a cause to celebrate. Join the Zemel Choir end enjoy singing or listening to music that will make Uncle Samuel proud.
Notes to Editor
The Zemel Choir, established in 1955, is proud of its international reputation as one of the world's finest Jewish choirs. Under the Musical Direction of Benjamin Wolf (www.benjaminwolf.co.uk)
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
