Return of the Zemel Choir
The singing began 70 years ago - and continues on Sunday
The Zemel Choir, founded in 1955, celebrates its 70th anniversary on Sunday 18th May at North Western Reform Synagogue in Alyth Gardens. The event brings back its founder, Dudley Cohen, alongside guest musical directors Geoffrey Simon, Malcolm Singer, and Viv Bellos, to lead a performance of favourites spanning the decades.
Dudley, then a music teacher in Willesden, first stepped into Jewish choral music in 1954 after being asked to lead a summer school singing group and he was so popular the group asked him to start a choir. Inspired, and with the Bnei Akiva choir disbanding, he took the baton and never looked back.
By 1960, Zemel became the first choir to perform at the newly opened Queen Elizabeth Hall, earning rave reviews in The Times and The Guardian. The name ‘Zemel’—from the Hebrew initials for North West—was his father’s idea, and the choir officially adopted it in 1961. From Jewish liturgy to Renaissance classics, the Zemel Choir’s sound has only grown richer with time and that will be evident on Sunday when they are joined by guest soloists Cantor Robert Brody, Louise Katin, Sharon Eckman, Marc Finer, Sandra Lee and Ann Sadan who will be guided by musical director Benjamin Wolf and assistant MD Franklyn Gellnick.
For tickets: http://zemelchoir.org
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