(26s4) To Sing, To Remember: Jewish Choral Music Across Time

May 20th, 2026, 7:00 pm - 8:15 pm

This class will be an exploration of the Jew as musician in Western society through a brief survey of five centuries of Jewish composers and their choral music.  It will discuss the pyscho-emotional and educational benefits of choral singing reflected through the programs of the Zamir Choral Foundation, including its latest program – the first Jewish Choral Conducting Institute.

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Matthew Lazar is the leading force of the Jewish choral movement in North America.  His visionary leadership in service of the Jewish community led to the creation of the Zamir Choral Foundation, which continues to nurture the growth of Jewish choral singing in North America and Israel, the North American Jewish Choral Festival and HaZamir: the International Jewish Teen Choir.  In addition to directing the Zamir Chorale and Zamir Noded, he created the Mantua Singers and inspired the creation of many choral ensembles in cities across the United States and Israel.  His talents as a conductor and interpreter of Jewish and Israeli music have elevated the standards of Jewish musical performance and educated audiences across North America.

Maestro Lazar has appeared as guest conductor with the American Symphony Orchestra, the El Paso Symphony, the Milwaukee Chamber Symphony and other ensembles.  He has prepared choirs for Zubin Mehta and Leonard Bernstein, among others and has collaborated with a wide variety of personalities including Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, Theodore Bikel, Shoshana Damari, Naomi Shemer, Yehoram Gaon, Nurit Hirsh, and Dr. Ruth Westheimer.  He has also performed with most of the great cantors of the past generation.

Lazar’s current projects include celebrating the musical legacy of Elie Wiesel, the life and music of Salamone Rossi, and the creation of the first Jewish Choral Conducting Institute for the training of a new generation of conductors of Jewish and Israeli choral music.

                                                                          Frontispiece from Salamone Rossi’s Songs of Solomon (1623)