Music
Chazzan. Choir director.
Researcher.
Alongside my engineering career, I have been active in Jewish liturgical music for more than twenty years, as a choir director, as an arranger, and as a chorister. I have also served as a chazzan for many years, and have since undertaken formal study in chazzanut and vocal training to bring further rigour to that practice. More recently, I've begun exploring the musicology and history of synagogue melodies through my Shira v'Zimra project.
I have led services and directed choirs in synagogues across the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.
Synagogue service
I have recently appeared as guest chazzan at the following congregations, among others.
Young Israel of New Hyde Park
New York, USA
The Jewish Center
New York, USA
Congregation Ohab Zedek
New York, USA
Hampton Synagogue
New York, USA
Birmingham Central Synagogue
Birmingham, UK
West Side Institutional Synagogue
New York, USA
Direction & ensembles
Choir direction
- Western Marble Arch SynagogueLondon, UK
I conducted and arranged for the High Holiday services choir for ten years, working with chazzan Lionel Rosenfeld.
- Shabbaton ChoirLondon, UK
A world-renowned, UK-based Jewish choral ensemble that specializes in elevating synagogue services and concerts worldwide through highly distinctive, harmony-driven cantorial arrangements. I was associate conductor, arranger, and accompanist for over ten years, working with musical director Stephen Levey.
- Kol Simcha ChoirMelbourne, Australia
Director of the choir at South Caulfield Synagogue.
- West Side ChoirNew York, USA
Musical director of a small community choir at the Jewish Center.
Ensemble membership
A New York-based Jewish vocal ensemble that excels at elevating communal Shabbatot and headlining cantorial concerts alongside legendary, world-renowned chazzanim.
London's leading male-voice Jewish liturgical choir, known for performing traditional and contemporary synagogue music at major communal and broadcast events.
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra's resident chorus, performing large-scale choral works with the orchestra and guest conductors.
One of New York's leading choral societies, performing large-scale oratorio repertoire under Music Director Kent Tritle.
Shira v'Zimra
Shira v'Zimra (שירה וזמרה — "Song and Music") is a project dedicated to preserving and illuminating synagogue music. At its heart is a book of choral arrangements for male voice choir. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I started to record multitrack performances of these settings, with my own voice layered into four-part harmony as an aural companion to the scores.
The project aims to resurface forgotten melodies, document a rich and sometimes overlooked repertoire, and make it freely accessible to chazzanim, ba'alei t'filah, choirs, and communities worldwide through YouTube and other platforms.
Arrangements
I have written vocal arrangements for a wide range of choirs and ensembles, scoring for mixed voices as well as for male voice choir. For male voice choir, I write in the MATB format (Melody, Alto, Tenor, Bass) rather than the more traditional TTBB. This keeps the melody prominent on the page and to the ear, with a spacious harmonic texture; the Tenor part, which often sits above the melody, is sung lightly (sometimes in falsetto) so that it supports rather than competes with the tune.
All of my published arrangements can be downloaded for free from my Shira v'Zimra project atshiravzimra.com.
I'm also available to write custom arrangements for your choir or ensemble - whether rescoring an existing piece or arranging a new work - always aiming for results that are singable, practical, and musically satisfying.