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One People, Many Melodies

One People, Many Melodies is the theme of Musica Ebraica’s concert May 28 7:30 pm at KBI synagogue 1400 Coldrey Avenue.

Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the modern State of Israel, the music echoes the the many sounds of the Jewish people who returned to the new Land of Israel filled with hope, like its national anthem, Hatikvah.

Favourites in Yiddish, Hebrew, Ladino, and French and a world premiere by Conductor and well known local musician Larry Tarof will enhance the theme of the concert.

So, come with Musica Ebraica on a journey through time and place as the choir sings of warmth, water, unity and hope. Join us as we all salute Israel.

Tickets ($20.00) are available through Eventbrite and Musica Ebraica members and credit, debit, or cash at the door.

Musica Ebraica presents We Rise Again

Musica Ebraica choir sings again!


After a long pause, We Rise Again is the fitting theme of the June 29th concert at 7:30 pm at Temple Israel. 


Come in person (only 100 in person seats) or enjoy the concert at home and on-line.


Open up a musical box of delights and enjoy the songs of the Jewish people from around the world and across the centuries. 

Featuring a World Premier of conductor Larry Tarof’s Yihyu L’ratzon from the liturgy and including rousing choruses in Yiddish and Yiddish musical theatre, a Ladino melody of mismatched love, and ethereal Hebrew songs and Shabbat melodies, the theme of the concert is joy and renewal.Visit 18C Amsterdam to hear the finale of an unusual opera about Queen Esther- a collaboration between a Christian musician and a Rabbi.  Listen to Leo Lightstone’s beautiful Shir L’Yom Hashabbat.  Feel the warmth of Israel’s sun as we sing of Jerusalem.

Reignite your pleasure in Jewish choral music and join us on June 29th at 7:30 at Temple Israel.  Your musical soul will thank you.

Online tickets can be purchased at musicaebraicaweriseagain.eventbrite.ca

Live from Home

Chupat HaTechelet

Musical Director: Saeideh Rajabzadeh
Accompanist: Carol Gurofsky
Video and Audio Editor: Stuart Wershof

Chupat HaTechelet

By: Nurit Hirsh
Lyrics: Rachel Shapira
Arr: Eleanor Epstein
Piano Arr: Natasha Hirshchhorn


Musica Ebraica Presents: “A Chanukah Celebration”

Musical Director: Saeideh Rajabzadeh

Accompanist: Carol Gurofsky

Video and Audio Editor: Stuart Wershof

A Chanukah Celebration

By Benjamin Wolf


Enjoy Musica Ebraica Live from Home

All videos produced by Stuart Wershof

Piano: Carol Gurofsky


Ba’shana ha’ba’ah

By Nurit Hirsh

Arr: John Leavitt

Oseh Shalom

By Nurit Hirsh

Arr: Elaine Broad Ginsberg





Musica Ebraica presents:

Songs That Tell Our Stories Sunday January 19, 2:30 pm

Warm up a cold winter’s afternoon with the songs of the Jewish people- psalms, sagas, folklore and history, all set to beautiful music from around the world and across the centuries.

Visit old 18thC Amsterdam and hear the finale of an unusual opera about the story of Queen Esther; a collaboration between the Rabbi of the city and a Christian librettist. Drop by synagogues in Vienna, Paris and Berlin in mid 1800 to hear the works of the Cantors who influenced Jewish liturgical music to this day, and enjoy Mendelssohn’s He Watching Over Israel. Feel the warmth of Israel as we sing of the city of Jerusalem, praise the water irrigation systems of the new State and the travails of the farmer working the land. There is a new twist on the story of Passover, Yiddish melodies of longing and songs of rejoicing and Gershwin.

The highlight of the afternoon will be solo presentations by our Conductor, Saeideh Rajabzadeh who will sing songs of her homeland in the Persian language; and two Hebrew pieces written by prize winning composer Yehezkel Braun and sung by soprano soloist Lynlee Wolstencroft.

If your pleasure is beautiful choral music, do not miss this fascinating mix of old and new, familiar and exotic.

Order tickets here

Klez 12

On Sunday, March 24 at 3:00 p.m., Klez 12 will brighten the end of winter. Klez 12 is a lively concert of danceable bulgars, shers and freylachs all in support of the Ottawa Kosher Food Bank.  This fun event features Ottawa’s 8-piece klezmer band, A Touch of Klez, with vocalists Rabbi Liz Bolton (an accomplished mezzo-soprano, among her many talents) and Cantor Jason Green of Kehillat Beth Israel.  The Musica Ebraica Choir will be there with some Yiddish tunes, and there will be dancing led by members of the International Folk Dancers of Ottawa, snacks, and more.

This is the twelfth year of this great event.  We hope that you will want to attend.  Tickets can be purchased from some band or choir members and will be available at the door.  Remember: the SJCC Social Hall, Sunday, March 24, at 3:00 in the afternoon.

Musica Ebraica Sings at Klez 11

We hope everyone has their calendar marked for 25 March 2018, this coming Sunday, for an afternoon
filled with good music, dancing, singing and fun, and all for the benefit of the Kosher Food Bank (KFB).
Adath Shalom has organized the eleventh annual klezmer dance event, featuring A Touch Of Klez
(ATOK), Ottawa’s best known klezmer band. Many other shuls in town have joined in sponsoring this
important event.

ATOK will be performing over 20 lively klezmer tunes, many of them never before played
at the Kosher Food Bank dances. Shaina Lipsey, well known in the Ottawa community for her beautiful
rendition of Yiddish music, will be part of the band, presenting a number of songs. Susan Barker and
Seymour Schlein from the International Folk Dancers of Ottawa will again be leading the dances and, in
the second half, will be teaching some great klezmer dance steps. Musica Ebraica, Ottawa’s premier
choir specializing in Jewish music, will be performing a small selection of Yiddish and Hebrew songs. For
the first time, Rubin Friedman will be joining the event with Jewish humourous stories, some developed
in collaboration with Shirley Steinberg.

The event will take place from 3:00 – 5:30 p.m. in the Social Hall of the Soloway Jewish Community
Centre. There will be light snacks and drinks provided. Admission is a minimum donation of $10 to the
KFB. A silent auction of some awesome items will also take place. It will be a great day, and we hope to
see many of you joining in the fun… and all for such a good cause.

Our Canada 150 Celebration Concert

SING! CHANTEZ! SHIRU!
Canadian Jewish Music: a 150th Celebration
performed by the Musica Ebraica choir
Kehillat Beth Israel
May 14, 2017, 7:30 PM

1. Nigun Atik Israeli arranged by Sid Robinovitch*
2. Meypl Blat Reg Scott Joplin arr. David Greenberg*
3. Second Choral Rag Sid Robinovitch*
4. Niggun Hasidic arr. Charles Heller*
5. Modim Srul Irving Glick* Soloist: Aditi Magdalena, soprano
( Lisanne Hendelman, clarinet; Eric Elkin, flute)
6. Lemivtza al Rifta Moroccan, arr. Eyal Bitton*
( Lisanne Hendelman, clarinet; Eric Elkin, flute)
7. Esa Einai (Psalm 121) Ben Steinberg* Soloist: Samara Garfinkle, soprano
8. Kaddish, Deux mélodies hébraïques,Maurice Ravel Soloist: Samara Garfinkle, soprano
9. Modim anachnu lach Larry Tarof*
10. Ani L’Dodi Kathryn Palmer* Soloists: Patsy Royer, alto; Mark Silver, baritone
11. Halleluyah Leonard Cohen*

INTERMISSION

12. Simple Song for Shabbat Leonard Lightstone* Première
13. Psalm 150 Leonard Lightstone* Première
14. Oseh Shalom from Kol Shalom Ben Steinberg* Flute: Eric Elkin
15. Zeh Hayom Ben Steinberg* Soloist: Samara Garfinkle, soprano
16. Une Perdriole, Folksong, arr. Anne Dubrofsky*
17. Ma Mere chantait Toujours (ladies chorus) Luc Plamondon/ Francois Cousineau*
18. O Praise Him Psalm Cyklus Leonard Enns*
19. Od’cha Stephen Glass*
20. We Rise Again Leon Dubinsky* arr. Lydia Adams* Soloist: Samara Garfinkle, soprano

O CANADA Calixa Lavallée*
HATIKVAH S. Cohen arr. B Bessner

*Canadian composer or arranger

May 2017 miniposter

Musica Ebraïca presents Mavins of the Musical


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Musica Ebraïca Gives Broadway a Run for Its Gelt

In June, Ottawa’s preeminent mixed-voice Jewish choir, Musica Ebraica, explores the unique role of Jewish composers and lyricists in the creation of the Broadway musical in a concert called Mavins of the Musical: From Yiddish Theatre to Broadway.
We’re talking about the Gershwin brothers, Oscar Hammerstein, Richard Rogers, Lorenz Hart, Kurt Weill, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, John Kander and Fred Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago), Jerome Kern, Lorenz Hart, Alan Lerner and Frederick Loewe, not to mention Irving Berlin. Between them, they wrote the songs for practically all the great musicals, leading to the assertion that the musical is almost an exclusively Jewish creation. Indeed, could it not be said that the Jews actually ‘invented’ Broadway?
In answer, the choir begins with a look at the vibrant musical theatre culture that was popular in the shtetls and cities of Russia and Eastern Europe, beginning with works by Abraham Goldfaden, the “father of modern Yiddish theater”. Goldfaden wrote some 40 Yiddish plays between 1869 and 1908 as well as hundreds of songs, including, most famously, “Rozhinkes Mit Mandlen” (Raisins and Almonds).

This concert will continue with favourites such as Dona Dona, A Yiddishe Mommeh, Alexander’s Ragtime Band, and Beltz, a poignant lament to old world life. And who doesn’t remember the Andrews Sisters’ 1930’s swing tune Bei Mir Bist Tu Shein and The Barry Sisters’ Sheyn Vi Di Levone ? Other selections will include Fiddler on the Roof excerpts and a Les Miz medley.

Musica Ebraica’s up-coming concert will be fun and entertaining as well as educational. Look for some fantastic solos, featuring soprano Mirren Lithwick and tenor Evan Weiner, guest musicians and a special appearance as Master of Ceremonies by Laurence Wall. Okay, the secret is out: Laurence is bringing (and playing) his cello!
The concert will take place on Weds, June 1 , 7:30 pm (note the new time), at Agudath Israel 1400 Coldrey Avenue (ample parking). Tickets are $20, students $10.

For information, please contact Patsy Royer @ 613 233-3099