Wisconsin cantors to hold virtual Chanukah concert on Dec. 13 | Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle

Wisconsin cantors to hold virtual Chanukah concert on Dec. 13

 

The Cantors of Wisconsin, a local cantors association that has become more active during the pandemic, will hold a free Zoom event on Sunday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m. 

Cantors & Friends Celebrate Hanukkah will be an online collaboration of cantors and other singers from Madison and the Milwaukee area. The group includes cantorial soloists.  

Cantors of Wisconsin has been intermittently active at least since the 1980s, said Cantor David Barash, of Congregation Emanu- El B’ne Jeshurun. Over the summer, Cantors of Wisconsin started holding a monthly meeting, something that was harder to organize before Zoom a silver lining to the clouds of the pandemic, according to Barash.  

The Dec. 13 concert is slated to run for about an hour. Some of the singers will perform live independently. There will also be two jointly recorded songs, using technology that allows physically separated people to sing together. One of the recorded songs will be a lighter, Sephardic rendition of the Chanukah standard, Ma’oz Tzur. 

“Boruch Ato” will be the other joint song. Its just a beautiful Yiddish song that we all wanted to sing together,” Barash said. The idea, he said, is, lets present these two songs that show another side of Chanukah that people arent used to. 

Members of Cantors of Wisconsin – made up of cantors and others deeply involved in Jewish music – include David Barash, Jerry Berkowitz, Karen Berman, David Blumberg, Enid Bootzin Berkovits, Marsha Fensin, Nancy Gorens Edelman, Deborah Martin, Jacob Neimi, Richard Newman, David Perper, Michele Rozansky, Jeremy Stein and Faith Steinsnyder.  

To attend the Dec. 13 concert, visit Bit.ly/CantorsFriends.