In NY’s Carnegie Hall, global Jewish teen choir marks Oct. 7 with musical tribute
Songs of resilience, hope, and peace fill legendary venue as 300 teens and alumni take to stage to celebrate Israel with reflections and youth movement’s signature songs
Reporter at The Times of Israel
NEW YORK — The date for the annual gala concert of HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir was set long before October 7. However, all of Sunday’s program at Carnegie Hall was informed by the war that started exactly six months earlier, when Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 Israeli civilians and kidnapped 253 people into the Gaza Strip.
“The music we chose for this concert spans a vast range of emotional intensity post-October 7, from grief to longing — and even to joy as an act of defiance,” said HaZamir director Vivian Lazar before the 90-minute program.
HaZamir — in Hebrew, “the songbird” — holds a three-day festival each year in New York City that attracts hundreds of the global musical youth movement’s members. The festival culminates with the teen chorus performing at venues such as David Geffen Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Metropolitan Opera House, which are the only NYC concert halls that can fit the large chorus.
Sitting in the packed house on Sunday was Dr. Ruth Westheimer, who Lazar said has attended every HaZamir concert for the past 20 years. Also in attendance were officials from several Israeli cities where HaZamir runs chapters based on exploring Jewish identity through music.
“We are celebrating our beloved Jewish state at a time when it feels like so many others are not,” said Zamir Choral Foundation founder and director Matthew Lazar.
Before each selection, teens spoke about their connection to the music and something that took place since October 7.
Some HaZamir chapters in Israel were directly affected by the Hamas massacres, including the Ofakim group. The southern Israel town was invaded by terrorists on October 7 and over 50 residents were murdered. Since the war started, the movement’s 80 Israeli members have performed in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square and Israel’s north, which has been under missile attack by the Hezbollah terror group.
The words, “We are all together, no one is alone,” were intoned by several speakers and built into some of the songs. A rousingly revamped “Am Yisrael Chai,” released in Israel after the attacks, was a concert highlight.
Other selections ranged from a contemplative Sephardic folk song to pieces commissioned by Steve Cohen for HaZamir, like “L’Ma’an Tziyon-For the Sake of Zion.” Several composers of selections performed were in the audience and gave the chorus standing ovations.
The choir, created 31 years ago, performed several long-time signature songs, including “We Came to Sing in Israel,” composed by David Burger, and the iconic “Chai” made famous by Ofra Haza.
The movement had about 500 students before the coronavirus epidemic, said director Vivian Lazar. The past year was about rebuilding, and there are now 300 active teens in the US and Israel.
“Last year was really the reboot,” Lazar said. “We grew by more than one-quarter. There is no other Jewish teen choir in the world that performs at the HaZamir standard.”
‘Working toward expectations’
In Israel, the Ofakim chapter was devastated by the Hamas attacks. Some students joined larger chapters to the north, said Lazar.
Since she joined the movement in 2005, the number of chapters has more than quadrupled from 8 to 36. Chapters in Israel include cities familiar to Americans — like Jerusalem and Ashkelon — as well as smaller municipalities, like Beit She’an and Yeruham.
One student said, “HaZamir has always been our happy place. This year it became our safe place.”
At the only arts-based Zionist youth movement in the US, HaZamir welcomes teens of all denominations as well as students with no affiliation. Some of the US chapters are in big cities, while others draw members from regional counties.
“This is a pluralistic community where everyone is respected but boundaries are valued,” said Lazar.
In a pre-concert interview with The Times of Israel, Lazar spoke about the movement “believing in unapologetic Zionism and in the power of music to hold space,” she said.
A former teacher of advanced English students, Lazar said “setting expectations for youth” is essential.
“They love working toward those expectations and being rewarded for them,” she said.
The annual gala concert each spring draws supporters and alumni from around the world. After 31 years, there are thousands of alumni in the movement. Some of them performed Sunday in the alumni choir, which itself has members whose parents performed with HaZamir before them.
By their own accounts, the movement’s teens on both sides of the Atlantic have been deeply in communication with each other since October 7. HaZamir alumni recruited to the IDF received letters and packages from members, said Lazar.
“Our retreats and events this year have been about emotional recovery for a lot of our students,” said Lazar. “We need to be together but we also need to listen to each other.”
