Would you like to sing contemporary choral arrangements of songs in Yiddish?
If you can
– learn a vocal line by reading music or working with a recording
– sing in harmony with others
– attend Monday evening rehearsals
we invite you to audition for NYC’s all-Yiddish chorus.
Although we sing only in Yiddish, no Yiddish knowledge is required. With the help of recordings, translations, and lively rehearsals, we all sound like native speakers by concert time – at least while we’re singing!
The Chorus rehearses weekly on Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. in Midtown Manhattan, a few blocks from Penn Station. This season’s rehearsals run from September 16, 2024 through June 9, 2025 – with days off on Jewish holidays and most national holidays.
All rehearsals are recorded, so if you need to miss an occasional in-person rehearsal, you can work with the recording before the next rehearsal.
There are several additional non-Monday rehearsals for each voice section. Dates for these sectional rehearsals are determined by consensus and usually take place between January and March.
We give two full concerts a year and one or more additional shorter performances.
At your five-minute audition, we listen for musicianship, ability to learn pronunciation, and ability to convey the meaning of a text. We also determine your vocal part (soprano, alto, tenor, or bass) and range within that part.
You’ll be asked to sing a brief song or part of a song you choose (in any language), repeat pitches and rhythms, and repeat a sentence or two of Yiddish text.
We schedule appointments from 7 to 9 p.m. on two late-summer evenings. In 2024, they were:
– Tuesday, August 27
– Wednesday, September 4
To schedule an audition and for more information, write to us at info@YiddishChorus.org.
When possible, please attend one of our concerts before you audition – visit our CONCERTS page. And watch some of our YouTube videos, like our jazzy Dayenu and our intense Partisans’ Hymn.