Bringing ruach to Bar/Bat Mitzvah

The Bar/Bat Mitzvah is a significant event in a person’s life.  Incorporating traditional Jewish Music underscores that the role that a Bar/Bat Mitzvah plays in Judaism.

Sabbath Package:

•  For those that allow music at a Sabbath service, we offer a musical accompaniment.

Havdalah Package:

• Background Jewish Music while party guests are arriving
• Musical accompaniment for Havdalah Service (leading the service if required)
• Hora Set

Weddings

A Wedding is a significant event in a couple’s life. Choosing to have a Jewish Wedding shows a strong desire to identify with Judaism. Incorporating traditional Jewish Music sets the tone, deepens the experience, and underscores the couple’s recognition of the importance of Judaism in their lives.

Background Music to set right mood:

• Background for the Wedding Ceremony
• Music while people are assembling in the synagogue Processional music selected from the Song of Songs

Background Music at the Reception:

• Background Jewish Music while party guests are waiting for the newlyweds to arrive
• Increasing the tempo to announce the couple’s arrival culminating in a strong/rousing Hora Set

Workshops for Exploring Jewish Music

There is much more to Jewish music than Klezmer and Gary Cohen knows it all!!! Gary Cohen has been collecting Jewish songs for many years and has amassed an extensive repertoire of both religious and secular music. This includes Yiddish Folk Songs, Israeli Folk, Chassidic melodies, as well as classic Mizrachi songs (sung in Hebrew), Ashkenazi songs (sung in Yiddish and Hebrew), and Sephardi songs (sung in Judeo-Spanish known as Ladino).

Music of the Sephardi
This workshop explores the history and influences that combined to create the rich musical tradition of the Sephardi Jews.  Experience the rhythms and musical flavors that make Sephardi music both exotic and soulful.   Let the music of the Sephardi take you from a synagogue in Istanbul to the market Marrakesh and places in between.

Not Just Klezmer: An Annotated Exploration of Jewish Music
This workshop is a guided tour highlighting songs from the 3 major streams of Jewish Musical Traditions. The workshop tells some of the history and showcases the similarities and differences across different Jewish cultures. Songs from Eastern Europe (Ashkenazi) will be sung in Yiddish and Hebrew. The Sephardi tradition features songs in Judeo-Spanish (Ladino). From around the Eastern Mediterranean Basin (Mizrachi tradition), songs will be sung in Yemenite-Hebrew and Hebrew.

A Jewish Campfire Indoors: A Sing A-Long and Strum A-long to Jewish Songs
Bring whatever instrument you can play, and/or come and sing the songs from the Jewish Tradition. Lyrics and chords will be provided.

 

Victoria Jewish Community Choir’s Journey in Jewish Music Series