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Celebrating with song
Founded in 1955 by Dudley Cohen the Zemel Choir from Britain is arguably one of the world's finest mixed voice Jewish choirs. They perform regularly in the United Kingdom, USA and many parts of Europe. In March 2009 the choir performed three concerts in Israel to enthusiastic audiences
The repertoire of Zemel is vast and covers a broad range of traditional Jewish melodies; Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Yiddish and Israeli. In 2006 the choir revived parts of a Jewish opera which had not been performed since 1912.
The opera, 'King Ahaz' was written in Yiddish by Samuel Alman, probably Britain's foremost composer of Jewish liturgical music. Alman made a major contribution to synagogue music with choral arrangements of traditional tunes.
In 2005 the choir was featured in a Chandos recording of Ernest Bloch's Avodath Hakodesh (Sacred Service) with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Geoffrey Simon.
In recent years the choir has reached out to non-Jewish audiences through appearances on the BBC. Its annual festival of Jewish Choral Music, called 'Celebrate with Song' aims to bring Jewish music to audiences and amateur singers of all denominations.
On Sunday June 14, 2009, the choir will perform 'Celebrate with Song' at St. John's, Smith Square with a program of American Jewish choral music featuring composers Gershwin, Lehrer, Weill and more.
Talented young British conductor Benjamin Wolf has been conductor of the Zemel Choir since 2003.
Living in Harmony Jewish music section
