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Annual Jerusalem Choir Festival
August 6, 1952 (acknowledge this year on August XX, 2010) Jerusalem Hosts First Choir Festival. The first Zimriyah (choir festival) opened in Jerusalem with dozens of participating choirs from Israel and abroad.
Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise from the end of the earth, those who go down to the sea and those therein, the islands and their inhabitants. Isaiah 42:10
Some ten countries came to the first Zimriya festivals in 1952 and 1955, and later this grew to 15. One thousand guests from 11 countries attended the 16th Zimriya in 1992, and then settled down to about 500 guest visitors, again from eleven countries, at the 19th Zimriya in 2001, due to the unsettled security situation. The age of participants ranged from 15 to 65. As for professions, they were a mixed bag of tailors and shopkeepers, students and cantors, and many more. This year, the Zimriya celebrated its 50th year of existence.
Entitled originally "Jewish World Choir Festival," the Zimriya was designed at first as a convention of exclusively Jewish choirs. It was intended "to strengthen the ties between the Hebrew youth of the Diaspora (Jews outside of Israel) and of Israel by means of the Hebrew song." Above all, it was meant to realize a revival of the still surviving Jewish music culture after the Holocaust. The first Zimriya's opening concerts on August 6, 1952, appropriately took place in Jerusalem, the country's capital, but then still without a concert hall. They were held at two of the city's largest halls - the now defunct Edison and Zion Cinemas. The opening concert started with Israeli composer Haim Alexander's choral piece "I will Gather you from the People," the winner of the first prize in a competition held at the Zimriya. While the work then sounded daringly modern, its repeat performances at recent Zimriya events now makes an almost romantic impression and evokes nostalgic feelings. The commissioning of new choral works from leading Israeli composers, such as Yeheskel Braun, Josef Tal and Tsvi Avni, for Zimriya openings has since become an established custom.
* The word zimriya comes from the Hebrew word zemer - song.
Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise from the end of the earth, those who go down to the sea and those therein, the islands and their inhabitants. Isaiah 42:10
Some ten countries came to the first Zimriya festivals in 1952 and 1955, and later this grew to 15. One thousand guests from 11 countries attended the 16th Zimriya in 1992, and then settled down to about 500 guest visitors, again from eleven countries, at the 19th Zimriya in 2001, due to the unsettled security situation. The age of participants ranged from 15 to 65. As for professions, they were a mixed bag of tailors and shopkeepers, students and cantors, and many more. This year, the Zimriya celebrated its 50th year of existence.
Entitled originally "Jewish World Choir Festival," the Zimriya was designed at first as a convention of exclusively Jewish choirs. It was intended "to strengthen the ties between the Hebrew youth of the Diaspora (Jews outside of Israel) and of Israel by means of the Hebrew song." Above all, it was meant to realize a revival of the still surviving Jewish music culture after the Holocaust. The first Zimriya's opening concerts on August 6, 1952, appropriately took place in Jerusalem, the country's capital, but then still without a concert hall. They were held at two of the city's largest halls - the now defunct Edison and Zion Cinemas. The opening concert started with Israeli composer Haim Alexander's choral piece "I will Gather you from the People," the winner of the first prize in a competition held at the Zimriya. While the work then sounded daringly modern, its repeat performances at recent Zimriya events now makes an almost romantic impression and evokes nostalgic feelings. The commissioning of new choral works from leading Israeli composers, such as Yeheskel Braun, Josef Tal and Tsvi Avni, for Zimriya openings has since become an established custom.
* The word zimriya comes from the Hebrew word zemer - song.
