The annual North American Jewish Choral Festival brings hundreds of singers together to enjoy a musical experience of Jewish identity and community. This year\u2019s festival takes place Aug. 2-6 in Stamford, Conn. <\/i>(photo by Jennifer Weisbord)<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/i>The annual North American Jewish Choral Festival (NAJCF) brings hundreds of singers together to enjoy a musical experience of Jewish identity and community. The five-day event, led by world-class conductors, takes place this year in Stamford, Conn., from Aug. 2 to 6. Registration to attend is now open, and all singers are welcome, from beginners to professionals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe festival is for anyone who wants to celebrate the joy of Jewish music,\u201d said Maestro Matthew Lazar, festival founder and director. \u201cThis summer, we are highlighting American Jewish music, which beautifully intertwines US history, Jewish history and a range of genres. It is important to note that America is the first place where Jews had the freedom to be composers as Jews, opening up unlimited musical opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
NAJCF \u2013 which is a program of Zamir Choral Foundation \u2013 works to provide an environment of creativity and camaraderie, as well as a feeling of hope, unity and Jewish identity, to encourage singers to share a bonding experience and forge new friendships.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe North American Jewish Choral Festival is my happy place,\u201d said Cantor Mira Davis of New York City. \u201cIt\u2019s a community of people who are like-minded, love each other, love Israel and love Jewish music \u2013 a place where you can be yourself.\u00a0 <\/span>The friends I\u2019ve made at NAJCF will last a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n NAJCF participants include amateur singers, professionals, cantors, conductors and lovers of Jewish music of all ages. Attendees have the unique opportunity to interact with and learn from top experts in Jewish choral music in a supportive setting. There are a variety of uplifting musical\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n activities, including daily community sings; workshops and seminars on a wide range of topics; and evening concerts featuring guest choirs and notable performers.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing able to connect to this type of music and this type of text is something you can\u2019t get anywhere else,\u201d said NAJCF participant Dor Kaminka, an Israeli-American composer and conductor now residing in Los Angeles, Calif.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether you\u2019re a novice or a pro, you\u2019ll leave with new skills, new music and new friends to cherish from this transformative choral festival,\u201d concluded Lazar.<\/p>\n For more information and to register for NAJCF 2026, go to go to zamirchoralfoundation.org\/north-american-jewish-choral-festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Applications are now open for another Zamir Choral Federation program: the Jewish Choral Conducting Institute (JCCI). The institute \u2013 a long-held vision of Lazar \u2013 is the first in the world to professionally train the next generation of conductors of Jewish choral music. Its creation was helped in large measure by a major gift donated by Cantor Robert Lieberman and Rabbi Vicki Lieberman, who will be honoured at this year\u2019s HaZamir Gala Concert on March 15 at Lincoln Centre.<\/p>\n \u201cChoral music lies at the intersection of text, music and community. It implants cultural identity, history, memory and catharsis,\u201d said Lazar. \u201cThe conductor integrates music and text with mastery, precision and excellence, creating inspiring and transformative musical moments. The institute provides the specialized, intensive training needed to make all this possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Each cohort is composed of 12 to 15 conducting students from around the world. Fellows gather at in-person retreats and workshops, and monthly online meetings, and receive one-on-one mentoring sessions with Lazar, as well as\u00a0guest presenters. Upon completion of the program, fellows receive a certificate in Jewish choral conducting.<\/p>\n Lazar brings his knowledge of Jewish and Western music and an understanding of the text\/music relationship that defines choral music. He has worked with maestros Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, Carlo Maria Giulini, Daniel Barenboim and others. Through his expertise, he models, encourages and nurtures the talents of future conductors of Jewish music.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Jewish Choral Conducting Institute provides a pipeline of talent to ensure strong Jewish choral leadership for the Jewish future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The JCCI\u2019s international Lazar Fellows deepen their development through ongoing mentoring and critique. These mentoring meetings foster ongoing growth within a supportive international community of Jewish choral conductors.<\/p>\n Applications for the fall 2026 cohort of the JCCI\u2019s Lazar Fellowship are now open and due by 5 p.m. EST on April 30. For more information, visit zamirchoralfoundation.org\/conducting-institute-2<\/a>,\u00a0 or email conducting@zamirchoralfoundation.org<\/a> to request the application details.<\/p>\n \u2013 Courtesy Zamir Choral Foundation<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The annual North American Jewish Choral Festival brings hundreds of singers together to enjoy a musical experience of Jewish identity and community. This year\u2019s festival takes place Aug. 2-6 in Stamford, Conn. (photo by Jennifer Weisbord) The annual North American Jewish Choral Festival (NAJCF) brings hundreds of singers together to enjoy a musical experience of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48666,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[24754,22780,24755,3028,24757,24756],"class_list":["post-48665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-choral-conducting","tag-choral-music","tag-jewish-choral-conducting-institute","tag-jewish-music","tag-najcf","tag-north-american-jewish-choral-festival"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}