Singing the Songs of Zion: 150 Years of Synagogue Music in the Cape

Gardens Synagogue, Cape Town

Join Cantors Choni Goldman and Ivor Joffe, with the choirs of the Gardens and Marais Road synagogues, for a celebration of 150 years of synagogue music in the Cape. Featuring newly-discovered musical treasures from family archives in Cape Town, alongside more familiar favourites from the two choirs’ traditions.

Since the opening of the first Gardens Synagogue in 1863, Chazzan and Choir have been integral elements of the community's cultural identity. Similarly, a choir and highly skilled Chazzan have been inseparable from the life of the Green and Sea Point Synagogue from the community’s origins in 1926. Both synagogues, and indeed most of the Cape Town synagogues, have hosted the most prestigious Cantors of their day, both as guests and also as employed members of the clergy.

This concert will present music recently discovered by members of the Performing the Jewish Archive team, including music by Cantors Samuel Kibel, Morris Katzin and Froim Spektor, all performed in Cape Town for the first time since its composition.

Entrance: Free