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December 15, 2024
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What started out five years ago as a col­laboration between two music teachers has expanded into a well-anticipated and well-attended non-sporting event for the local ele­mentary day-school world.

In 2009, Marsha Greenberg, music di­rector at Yavneh Academy, invited her col­league Naomi Cohen, then music director at SAR, to bring her choir to Yavneh for an evening of choral music. The evening was such a resounding success that the following year, SAR hosted the event, and the choirs of Ramaz, led by Randi Wartelsky and Daniel Henkin were invited to join in.

Now called the “Inter-School Choral Festi­val,” this year’s concert took place on May 28, Yom Yerushalayim, and for the second year in a row was hosted at the magnificent Park East Synagogue, thanks to the participation of the Park East Day School. A capacity crowd enjoyed an evening of choral music by eight choirs from six schools: Park East Day School, under the direction of Esther Radzyner; the two choirs of the Ramaz School; the SAR choir, now under the direction of Shim Cramer; the Heschel School choir led by Naomi Katz Cohen; the Moriah choir under the direction of Sharon Kinstlinger, and the Yavneh Junior Chorus and Concert Choir under the direction of Marsha Greenberg Motzen.

In the grand finale salute to Jerusalem, all of the schools, approximately 150 singers, joined together on the bimah for a medley of Yerush­alayim songs, created from selections chosen by each school, and a communal sing-a-long of “Ye­rushalayim Shel Zahav.”

A lovely reception followed in the Park East ballroom. Everyone who attended was uplifted by the music and spirit of camara­derie that was evident among the students, as it was not a competition, just music for music’s sake.

The music teachers involved are already hard at work trying to coordinate a date for next year’s event.

By Marsha Greenberg Motzen

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