Current Season 2023-24

View Zamir concert programs

Watch.

Tues., Dec. 24; 7:30 pm

Hanukkah Happens – 30th Anniversary Concert

Sponsored by Temple Emanuel, Newton, MA.

Tues., Jan. 5, 2021; 7:30-8:30 pm

Zoominar on

It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing: A Brief History of Jazz

Presented by Andy Friedman. Watch.

Tues., Feb. 2; 7:30-8:30 pm

Zoominar on

The Jews Behind the Sixties Folk Revival

Presented by Cantor Jeff Klepper. Watch.

Tues., March 2; 7:30-8:30 pm

Zoominar featuring Josh Jacobson, filmmaker Rob Cooper, and tour manager Heather Zacker, who will discuss scenes from the film

“Zamir: Jewish Voices Return to Poland,” a PBS documentary about our 1999 trip to Eastern Europe

Purchase the DVD here. Watch.

Sun., March 14, 2021; 7:30 pm-9:00 pm

Louis Lewandowski’s 200th Birthday Party

Watch.

Tues., April 6, Zoominar; 7:30-8:30 pm

Memories and Songs of Prof. Elie Wiesel z”l.

Presented by Zamir alumna Cantor Debbie Katchko-Gray.

Free admission, donation encouraged. Register here.

Tues., May 4, Zoominar; 7:30-8:30 pm

The Jewish Side of Leonard Bernstein

Presented by Josh Jacobson. Free admission. Registration required, donation encouraged. Details to follow.

Tues., May 25; 7:30 pm

Kolot Nashim: Jewish Music by Women Composers, A Concert and Conversation, Part II

Free admission. Registration details to be posted in April. Details here.

Past Season – 2019-20

Sun., July 7, 2019

North American Jewish Choral Festival
Presented by the Zamir Choral Foundation

Stamford, Connecticut

Contact: https://www.zamirchoralfoundation.org/programs/najcf.htm

Sun., Sept.22, 2019, 7-9:30 pm

Zamir Auditions

Temple Reyim, 1860 Washington St., Newton

(Watch your email for details regarding open rehearsals and audition instructions)

Wed., Dec. 4, 8:00 pm

Concert: Back to Berlin: A Tour Prelude Concert

Lindsey Chapel, Emmanuel Church, Boston

Join us for our Berlin Tour Prelude Concert, “Back to Berlin,” at Emmanuel Church’s beautiful Lindsey Chapel in the Back Bay. Co-sponsored by the Central Reform Temple, the concert will feature music that Zamir will perform at the Louis Lewandowski Festival in Berlin later in the month. The focus of the Festival is the music of 19th-century Munich synagogue composers Israel Meyer Japhet, Max Löwenstamm, Meier Kohn, and Emanuel Kirschner. Although lesser known than their peers in Berlin and Vienna, these cantors and conductors created many beautiful works, several of which we will be featuring. Also on the program will be modern American compositions, representing our home country.

Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/BerlinPrelude

Sun., Dec. 15, 4:00 pm

Concert: A Light Through the Ages

Central Reform Temple at Emmanuel Church, Boston

Contact http://www.centralreformtemple.org/

Wed., Dec. 18 – Sun., Dec.22

Louis Lewandowski Festival

Berlin, Germany

Zamir returns to Berlin for the third time. This year’s theme: Synagogue music in the traditions of Southern Germany

Tues., Dec. 24, 7:30 pm

Concert: Hanukkah Happens: Zamir on Lighter Side

Temple Emanuel

Contact https://www.templeemanuel.com/

Sunday, March 15, 2020, 3:00 pm – POSTPONED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS; NEW DATE TBD

Concert in the Round

Temple Reyim

Watch this promotional video: https://youtu.be/AySmysX-gAo 

Contact http://www.reyim.org/

Sunday, March 29, 2020, 3:00 pm – POSTPONED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS; NEW DATE TBD

Fourth Annual Voices of Freedom Concert

Vilna Shul, Boston’s Center for Jewish Culture, 18 Phillips Street, Boston

Contact https://vilnashul.org/events/event/VoF4

Wednesday, May 20, 7:30 pm – POSTPONED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS; NEW DATE TBD

Symposium on Jewish Music by Women Composers

Temple Reyim, 1860 Washington St., Newton, MA 02466

Contact https://zamir.org/

Wednesday, June 10, 7:30 pm, and Thursday, June 11, 7:30 pm- POSTPONED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS; NEW DATE TBD

Kolot Nashim: Jewish Music by Women Composers

Brandeis University, Slosberg Recital Hall, Waltham, MA

Contact https://zamir.org/

Past Season – 2018-19

Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018; 7:15-10:00 pm

Open Rehearsal for those auditioning for Zamir

Hebrew SeniorLife, 1200 Centre St., Roslindale, MA

Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018; 7:15-10:00 pm

Open Rehearsal for those auditioning for Zamir

Hebrew SeniorLife, 1200 Centre St., Roslindale, MA

Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, 7:00-9:00 pm

Zamir auditions

Hebrew College, 160 Herrick Rd., Newton, MA

Preregistration required.
Contact manager@zamir.org

Thursday, October 11, 2018, 7:00-9:00 pm,

Cabaret Reception

War Memorial Auditorium at Newton City Hall

Zamir kicks off its 50th anniversary season with a celebration of music, a preview of the first-ever Halleluyoh Virtual Choir, a slideshow of Zamir through the ages, choral selections, food and more!
Seating is limited. Reserve now!

Sunday, October 21, 7:00 pm

Concert

Temple Reyim, Newton

Contact http://www.reyim.org

Sunday, November 4, 2018, 7:00 pm

Concert

First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, Duxbury, MA

Contact http://www.uudux.org/

Wednesday, November 14, 2018, 8:00 pm

Concert

Amit Women

Not open to the public.

Sunday, December 2, 2018, 4:00 PM

Concert: “A Light through the Ages”

Central Reform Temple at Emmanuel Church, Boston.

Contact http://www.centralreformtemple.org/

Monday, December 24, 2018, 7:30 PM

Hanukah Happens – Liturgical Masterworks of the last 100 years

Contact https://www.templeemanuel.com/

Sunday, February 24, 2019, 4:00 PM

Concert

Charter Oak Cultural Center, Hartford, CT

Sunday, March 24, 2019, 2:00 PM

Concert: Voices of Freedom

Museum of African American History, Boston.

Contact Vilna Shul, Boston’s Center for Jewish Culture https://vilnashul.org

Wednesday, May 15, 2019, 7:30 PM

Symposium: Ethnic Identity and Choral Singing

Hebrew College, Newton

Zamir Chorale of Boston and Hebrew College’s School of Jewish Music will present an informal round-table panel discussion exploring issues related to ethnic identity and choral singing. Visitors are welcome to listen in to the conversations and will have the opportunity to ask questions and interact with the participants.

Participants include Richard Barrett, Cantor at the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church André de Quadros, Director of Voices 21C, and American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Eastern Division Equity and Diversity Chair; Joshua Jacobson, Director of the Zamir Chorale of Boston; Fr. Romanos Karanos, Director of the Melodist Byzantine Choir; Nick Page, Director of The Mystic Chorale; José Rivera, Director of the University of North Carolina Chorus and ACDA National Ethnic and Multicultural Chair; Amy Lieberman and Lynn Torgove, Co-Directors of Kol Arev; Carol Marton, Director of Koleinu, Boston’s Jewish Community Chorus; Brother Dennis Slaughter, Director of The Boston Community Choir.

The participants will discuss a number of challenges as well as benefits for a chorus that specializes in music from a single ethnic tradition. Does our chorus have an enhanced sense of quasi-family unity because we have a shared interest/background? Do we welcome singers who are not members of our ethnicity? How do we define our repertoire? Do we include repertoire that’s outside of our traditions? To what extent is ethnic material decontextualized, assimilated and acculturated by being arranged for a “Western” chorus and performed in a “Western” concert experience? To what extent is the chorus’s mission the revival a repertoire that is largely lost or ignored? Do we want our repertoire to be more widely known? When is it inappropriate to perform music from another culture’s tradition?

Free admission, pre-registration requested: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ethnic-identity-and-choral-singing-a-conversation-tickets-54149098411

Tuesday, June 4, 2019, 7:30 PM

A Gala Golden Anniversary Concert
Honoring Founder and Artistic Director Joshua Jacobson

Sanders Theatre, Cambridge

In celebration of Zamir’s golden anniversary, the chorale will honor its founder and artistic director Josh Jacobson and showcase the best of Zamir’s repertoire. The premiere performances of commissioned works from composers Jeremiah Klarman, Ken Lampl, Jonathan Leshnoff, Charles Osborne, Nick Page, and Benjie Ellen Schiller will dazzle and delight. Plus you will hear some of Zamir’s all-time favorite pieces from the past 50 years performed by the 60 voices of the award-winning chorale, assisted by dozens of Zamir alumni. 

Purchase tickets through the Harvard Box Office, 617-496-2222,  https://www.boxoffice.harvard.edu

Be a sponsor! Click here. Add your tribute to Josh Jacobson here.

Feature articles 

JewishBoston.com
Newton Tab Boston
Music Intelligencer

Past Season – 2017-18

July 16-20, 2017

North American Jewish Choral Festival
Presented by the Zamir Choral Foundation

Hudson Valley Resort and Spa, Kerhonkson, NY

Josh Jacobson to be honored.

Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017; 7:15-10:00 pm

Open Rehearsal for those auditioning for Zamir

Hebrew College, 160 Herrick Rd., Newton, MA

Contact manager@zamir.org

Tuesday, Sept. 19, 7:15-10:00 pm

Open Rehearsal for those auditioning for Zamir

Hebrew College, 160 Herrick Rd., Newton, MA

Contact manager@zamir.org

Sunday, Sept. 24, 7:00-9:00 pm

Zamir auditions

Hebrew College, 160 Herrick Rd., Newton, MA

Preregistration required.
Contact manager@zamir.org

Sunday, October 29, 2017; 4:00 pm

Presented by: Temple Ohabei Shalom

Temple Ohabei Shalom, 1187 Beacon St., Brookline, MA

Tickets: https://www.ohabei.org/

Monday, November 6, 2017; 7:30 pm

Divine Majesty Series – Masterworks of Majesty
Presented by the Zamir Chorale of Boston

Temple Beth Elohim, 10 Bethel Rd., Wellesley, MA

Free admission, preregistration required.
The Divine Majesty Series is made possible by an anonymous underwriter in memory of Mary Wolfman Epstein and Cantor Barney Mould.

Sunday, December 3, 2017; 4:00 pm

Concert Presented by Temple Isaiah

55 Lincoln St., Lexington, MA

Tickets: http://www.templeisaiah.net/

Sunday, Dec 10, 2017; 4:00 pm

A Light Through the Ages
Presented by the Central Reform Temple Boston

15 Newbury St., Boston, MA

Tickets: Central Reform Temple

Sunday, December 24, 2017; 7:30 pm

Hanukkah Happens
Presented by Temple Emanuel

385 Ward St., Newton, MA

Tickets: Temple Emanuel

Wednesday, May 23, and Thursday, May 24, 2018; 7:30 pm

Zamir Spring Concert

Slosberg Recital Hall, Brandeis University
South Street, Waltham, MA