previous workshops

The Joy of Jewish Dance

Bruce Bierman

Discover the soulful force and diverse beauty of Jewish dance in a creative new way. Accompanied by the rich melodies and rhythms of world Jewish music, Bruce and Gilberto fit the moves of the ancestors to the grooves of your own imagination. All bodies and abilities welcome!

Bruce Bierman is a leading presenter of Jewish dance and theater and co-artistic director of the Yiddish Theatre Ensemble here in Berkeley.

Shabat Piyutim from the Middle Eastern Diaspora

Rachel Valfer

Come sing piyutim for Shabat from the musical traditions of Yemen, Morocco, Iraq and Sepharad Yerushalayim. We will be learning new melodies for parts of the Kabalat Shabat service, including Lecha Dodi and songs from Shir Hashirim (traditionally sung as Shabat enters). We will also learn a table song or two for shabat post-lunch singing. Bring your voices and instruments!

Rachel Valfer is a local singer and oud (Arabic lute) player who loves to share her passion. She studied Maqam and Persian dastgah modal systems in Israel and Palestine for six years at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and sings with several ensembles in the Bay Area.

Celebration Poems in Arab Jewish Music

Nadav Recca

We will explore the chanting styles of the Jews of Arab lands through singing three piyutim. Nadav comes from Algerian and Ashkenazi lineage and grew up in Atlanta in Ashkenazi-dominated communities, while always attending the tiny Sephardic synagogue. He built a strong relationship with the dissonance of those tunes, which don’t sound much like the sounds on the radio.

A Nesiye Durkh Goles: A Tour of the Jewish Diaspora through Yiddish Song

Reyna Shaechter & Isaac Bleaman

This Yiddish song workshop will bring participants on a journey through various areas that Jews in goles (the diaspora) called home over the past thousand years. Participants will learn songs (and their historical/linguistic contexts) that capture Jewish life in a variety of geographical settings. The Yiddish texts, transliterations, and translations will be provided, as well as sheet music where available. Instruments are welcome. The workshop will be co-led by Reyna Schaechter (the elder of Di Shekhter-Tekhter, www.yiddishsisters.com) and Isaac Bleaman (Assistant Professor of Sociolinguistics, UC Berkeley).

Writing a Nigun

Eli Wirtschafter

In this workshop, we will explore the elements that make up a traditional nigun, or wordless melody from the Ashkenazi tradition. Then, we will collectively write our own nigun as a group, using those elements as inspiration. The workshop is designed to be enlightening for beginners, and joyful for musical spirits at all levels of ability. Eli Wirschafter is a string musician and radio producer who formerly led the East Bay Nigun Collective.

An Exploration of Selichot Melodies

Atid Kimelman & Adina Roth

Selichot are penitential poems and prayers, said preceding the high holidays and on fast days. Selichot prayers are designed to help us direct our hearts to the process of teshuvah (return/repentance). As we continue Elul winds on and we approach the high holidays, join Atid Kimelman and Adina Roth for a sampling of Selichot melodies.

Jewish Social Justice Music

Eva Orbuch & Atid Kimelman

Music is a powerful tool that can be used to strengthen people through movement work. Jewish people have been part of social justice and resistance movements for as long as history can tell. Join Kol organizers Eva and Atid to learn songs from a variety of historical and contemporary justice causes.

Eva Orbuch is a percussionist/singer and community organizer. Atid Kimelman is the facilitator of Nigun Collective.

Drumming as Prayer

Debbie Fier

This is a wonderful opportunity to find a meditative grounded place within ourselves - and learn to drum from that relaxed place. We will begin with stretching, play with some body percussion, and then move into learning drum technique and some basic drum patterns that can be used in shabbat songs.

Debbie Fier is a performing vocalist, drummer, pianist, composer, percussionist and teacher. She has performed internationally and throughout the U.S. Over the past 20 years, she has found a home at Kehilla Community Synagogue as a musical prayer leader.

Improvisation and Creation with Tradition

Elan Loeb

In this class, we’ll play improvisational music games and look at some of the texts about music from our tradition. Then we’ll go off to create our own original chants inspired by the texts. This workshop incorporates elements of the Jewish Studio Process and Music For People’s methodology. Perfect for all levels of musicians- from people who don’t know that they’re musicians yet to pros. If you’ve never written a song before and it sounds scary but exciting, this is a great workshop for you.

Elan Loeb (they/them) is a musician and educator. They are the Music Specialist and Songleader for the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto. They are the creator of Tzedakah Songs, and an organizer of Kol.

What's up with all that sad Ashkenazi singing? Songs and stories from my Orthodox youth

Shaina Kaye

Shaina is a third generation Ashkenazi New Yorker, who grew up immersed in an emotive and soulful Orthodox song culture. They will be teaching a workshop on the music of her youth. You will be invited to consider the emotional qualities of these particular songs, the histories from which they emerged, and the practical function that emotive singing has served and can continue to serve in our individual and communal lives.

The Art of the Cantor

Rabbi David Cooper

Rabbi David Cooper of Kehilla Synagogue will be leading a workshop on the art of the cantor. Our generations (Boomers and beyond) have moved away from the art of cantorial music. Maybe this liturgical form may fade away in many non-traditional circles, but the art is simply sublime and should be appreciated as a classic Jewish musical form. We will learn the meaning of a few selections and then listen to them understanding both their meaning and pathos. Although this short survey will be limited to the Ashkenazic form, we will hear both men and women cantors of the classical period.

What Makes it Klezmer?

Josh Wirtshafter

Josh Wirtschafter will lead an exploration of the sounds that make Klezmer recognizable as the instrumental music of the Yiddish-speaking Jews. We’ll learn about common modes and ornaments that give Klezmer its distinctive sound. And we’ll sing and play a couple tunes. No instruments or prior experience are necessary. Josh is an amateur Klezmer fiddler and mandolinist, who has studied at Klezcamp in the Catskills with Alicia Svigals and Jeff Warschauer.

Singing the Ancestors

Eva Lyons

Eva Lyons is a multilingual devotional soul singer, song-catcher, and founder of Becoming the Instrument (BTI). In "Singing the Ancestors" we will utilize the principles of BTI to open the voice of the soul, connect with our ancestors, and invite them to sing through and with us. We will learn one of Eva's original Hebrew songs, and practice becoming open vessels for songs both ancient and emergent to flow through us with freedom and joy.

Jewish Chants

Bon Singer

Chanting is a wonderful form of meditation. It can be used to heal, to rise, and to connect with others. Chant and simple dance together are a beautiful way to strongly connect and further take that blessing out into the world. I will be teaching original Jewish chants. The text comes from Torah and poetry by Marcia Falk, for example. No musical experience is necessary to participate in the workshop and no participation in the dance portion is expected.

Bon Singer served as artistic director, composer, arranger, and a singer for 14 years with the internationally acclaimed vocal ensemble, Kitka. Ms. Singer also formed the Ensemble Ya Elah. Bon has taught workshops in eastern European music for schools, symphony choruses and folk ensembles nationally, and has led chant workshops at National Jewish Meditation conferences, as well as for the local community in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Tips on Song Leading and How to Form an Instant Chorus

Achi Ben Shalom

As we know, making music can bring people of all ages, cultures and political opinions together, and foster unity. Making music can help break the ice during group forming, and can be used as a teaching tool and a memory exercise. It’s also just pure fun! During this class you will be introduced to methods and tips on generating and leading musical moments with any age and background through singing, drumming and music appreciation, including a crash course on ukulele basic chords (we have 14 ukuleles) Achi Ben Shalom is an event organizer, the leader of the band Adama and the conductor of Nigunim Chorus.

Instrumental Nigun Accompaniment

Matt Takiff

There's an art to instrumental nigun accompaniment. To weave in and around the melody in a way that lifts the voices of the singers takes listening and patience. In this workshop with Matt Takiff we'll discuss and practice how to create music that connects and converses with prayers in a meaningful way. Some (but not a lot!) of musical experience is recommended as the workshop will focus on using instruments to accompany niguns.

Matt Takiff is a bay area based musician and educator. A regular at Urban Adamah Shabbats and Wilderness Torah events supporting prayers with his sax and violin, he also teaches high school guitar classes and performs with a wide variety of local acts.