Concert Kol Ha'Olam Kulo
Jewish Community Belgrade
26. January 2018.
On the second day of the festival, a concert named Kol ha'olam kulo was held in the Concert Hall of the Jewish Community Belgrade. The participants of this concert were three choirs: Adi Youth Choir (Jerusalem), Choir Hashira (Novi Sad), and Barch Brother Choir (Belgrade).
Choir Hashira
The Novi Sad Jewish Community Choir Hashira (the Hebrew word hashira means the song) was founded in 1993 and since then, it has been dedicated to cherishing Jewish synagogal and folklore music heritage. However, the choir performs almost every kind of choral music, singing in several languages (Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, Serbian, Spanish...). It has won numerous awards at local and international festivals. Some of them are: two golden medals won at the choral competition in Ruma, a silver medal and the special award for the conductor Vesna Kesic Krsmanovic achieved in Slovakia, a bronze medal from Ohrid, two silver medals won in Italy and Greece, and the silver plaque earned at the Choir competition in Germany.
The Baruch Brothers Choir
The Baruch Brothers Choir from Belgrade was established as the Serbian-Jewish Singers Society in 1879, to cherish and perform the cultural and artistic heritage and tradition of the Jewish people which lives in these parts. The Society changed its name in 1952 to the current name in commemoration of the three brothers from the progressive revolutionary Jewish family of Baruch, members of the resistance movement who were killed during the pogroms of the Nazi regime during the Second World War.
Joshua Jacobson (Boston, USA), conductor and a renowned researcher in the field of Jewish music, has concluded that this choir is the oldest active Jewish choir in the world. From the year of its foundation until today, the choir has held numerous concerts and participated in many competitions and festivals in the former Yugoslavia (Yugoslav Choral Festivities in Nish, Mokranjac’s Days in Negotin, BEMUS, BELEF, Choirs among the Frescoes in Belgrade and others), as well as abroad (Israel, USA, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, the Netherlands, Hungary, Spain, UK and others).
Among the most important performances of the choir, we would like to mention the concert in Carnegie Hall in 1978, as well as the attendance of our choir on numerous occasions at the most important Jewish choir festival Zimriya in Jerusalem. Our ensemble has gradually perfected its performance under the conductorship of the most eminent conductors and composers of our country (S. S. Mokranjac, J. Marinković, S. Hristić, B. Babić, B. Pašćan, A. S. Vujić, et al.), having gained under their guidance a high level of artistic interpretation and superb discipline in stage performance. The repertory of the choir consists of representative works of musical literature from both Jewish and Serbian composers, as well as all the most important works of the classical choir repertory of all styles and epochs and the works of modern composers.
The Baruch Brothers Choir has been awarded two times for the cultural affirmation of its country by the presidency of Serbia, and in the past five years, the choir won many significant awards.
The choir’s admirable success was largely achieved by the contribution of its conductor, Stefan Zekic, and the president, Branka Cvejic-Mezei.
The Adi Choir
About Adi choir and their concert in Novi Sad, can be read here.
