Zamir Choral Foundation

08/21/2026

In this week's fifth "Haftarah of Consolation," Isaiah prophesizes that the city of Jerusalem, left desolate and destroyed, will be restored and repopulated. We are privileged in our times to see the fulfillment of that prophesy - and to have Paul Ben-Haim's stirring setting of this text.

Shabbat Shalom!

רני עקרה מאת פאול בן חיים Roni Akara by Paul Ben Haimהמקהלה הק...

08/14/2026

In this new month of Elul, thoughts begin to turn to the coming New Year. For many, it is a time for "cleaning the slate" and aspiring to greater spiritual heights. As always, we can draw inspiration from our sacred texts, including Psalm 34, which teaches "Who is eager for life and desires years of good fortune? Turn from evil, and do good, seek peace and pursue it."

Shabbat Shalom!

HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir sings "Mi HaIsh" by Baruch Chait, arranged by E.Z.Levine, with Conductor Hadas Sturman (HaZamir Beit She'an) and Cantor Josh Breitzer (HaZamir Brooklyn) at the piano.

08/11/2026

Jewish Theological Seminary’s talented faculty, staff, alumni and students at the Zamir Choral Foundation’s North American Jewish Choral Festival! 🎶💙

08/07/2026

A high point of each North American Jewish Choral Festival is the annual “Staircase Sing,” where Matthew Lazar conducts all of the Festival participants as they gather to sing the powerful Halleluyah (Psalm 150) by Louis Lewandowski (1821–1894).

This “blast from the past” captures all the excitement that this year’s NAJCF attendees also experienced. Plan to join us next year, July 11–15, and see your face appear in the next video!

Shabbat Shalom!

07/31/2026

Yesterday's minor festival of Tu B'Av was a celebration of love. Our tradition looks to Shir HaShirim (the Song of Songs) for the ultimate love poetry (though understood allegorically as the love between God and Israel) and our friend Yehezkel Braun (1922-2014) took his inspiration from that text, setting all of Chapter 3 in several movements, including these final verses which HaZamir performed in 2022.

Have a LOVELY Shabbat!

HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir performs Apiryon and Tzena Ur'ena from Cantici Canticorum Caput III by Yehezkel Braun, with conductor Roi Azoulay (HaZamir Dimona) and soloists Saydie Grossman (HaZamir Long Island) and Avi Kahn (HaZamir Silicon Valley).

07/17/2026

On this final Shabbat before Tisha B'Av, it is customary to set aside the many joyful melodies for Lecha Dodi (come my beloved to greet the [Sabbath] bride) and instead use the melody that will be used on Tisha B'Av itself for the chanting of one of the most famous of the lamentations for that day, Eli Tziyon. This setting by Louis Lewandowski (1821 - 1894) conveys all of the pathos of that moment.

Shabbat shalom!

The HaZamir Chamber Choir performs Eli Tziyon at the North American Jewish Choral Festival with Matthew Lazar, conductor and Alexandra Van der Hulst, (HaZamir Hartford), soloist.

07/10/2026

The Fast of the 17th of Tammuz, observed last week, began a period of mourning for the Temple that was destroyed, not once, but twice, on the 9th of Av. The second calamity, in 70 CE, initiated nearly 2,000 years of exile, but we never stopped praying towards, and yearning for Jerusalem.

Shabbat Shalom!

The HaZamir Chamber Choir sings Bob Applebaum's "Yerushalayim" at the North American Jewish Choral Festival in 2012, with Matthew Lazar, conductor

07/03/2026

As we prepare to celebrate America's 250th birthday, we can be proud that the Founders chose a text from the Hebrew bible (Lev. 25:10) to inscribe on the Liberty Bell that has played such an iconic role in American history. Benjie Ellen Schiller's thrilling setting makes this a model of the American Jewish experience as well.

Shabbat Shalom and Happy 4th!

The Zamir Chorale sings "Uk'ratem Dror" by Benjie Ellen Schiller, with Matthew Lazar, conductor, Beth Robin at the piano, and Cantor Shayna Postman, soloist, at the 2019 North American Jewish Choral Festival.

07/01/2026

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