HaZamir Providence

Remember the old joke about a tourist asking a New Yorker for directions: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” Answer: “Practice, practice, practice!”

Well, there’s a new twist to this old joke. “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” Answer: “Join HaZamir!”

HaZamir, the International Jewish High School Choir, had their 21st Annual HaZamir Festival and Gala Concert on March 30, at Carnegie Hall. HaZamir Providence, our own local chapter underwritten by The Sylvia Zimet Memorial Kol Kesem HaZamir Endowment,  in partnership with the Harry Elkin Midrasha Community High School, participated in the Festival for the 16th year. Thirteen of our teens have been rehearsing two to three and a half hours a week since October, learning 10 pieces of music and committing them to memory. They learned the same music as 300 other teens in 24 HaZamir chapters, 22 in the United States and two in Israel.

HaZamir Providence teens together with 300 other HaZamir teens spent three nights in a Catskills hotel. (Yes, there is still a Kosher hotel left in the Catskills!) These kids practiced, practiced, practiced! Brought together because of music and being Jewish, they had an extraordinary bonding experience. That combination created magical moments during Shabbat, during rehearsals and during their free time.

And then on Sunday morning, we drove from the Catskills to Manhattan. Imagine 300 Jewish teens singing their hearts out on the stage of Carnegie Hall. Thrilling!

BRIAN MAYER has been the cantor at Temple Emanu-El for the past 25 years.