This year, the third- and fourth-grade choir worked hard on their singing, their choral skills, blending their voices in beautiful harmony while listening to each other, playing many different instruments, dancing together, choreographing their dances, and more.
Through the Orff approach, the students made decisions about orchestration – which instruments we should use on which song, how to build a progression within a song, and they made musical decisions according to the text and the context of each piece.
The choir sang in English and Hebrew, and went through a long process of saying the words, learning what they mean, what is their history, giving them meaning, and finally expressing it through singing, music and movement.
The program consisted of many different musical genres – from Middle Eastern melodies to American folk songs through J. S. Bach, to Noam Katz. From freedom songs to fables to Torah stories. The last piece was an original piece that was written especially for The Rashi Choir – a new and exciting version for “V’Shamru B’nei Yisrael” by Ben P. Special guests were our very own middle school ShaBand!
Our End-of-Year Concert Our concert included the following songs:
“I Like the Flowers”/ “הפרח נועם” (No’am Haperach): American Folk Song
“Debka Rafiach”/ “רפיחדבקה” (Debka Rafiach): Traditional Middle Eastern melody
“Light a Candle for Peace”: Montessori Hymn
“To the Jewish People” ליהודים (LaYehudim): A modern Jewish American song
“The Tortoise and the Hare”: Based on Aesop’s fables
“The Magical Nights” הקסומים הלילות (“Ha’leilot Haksumim”)
“Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho”: African-American Spiritual
“Do Not Walk Away From Me” תלך נא אל (Al Na Telech): Israeli song – based on Johann Sebastian Bach’s first prelude in C major BWV 846
And the Children of Israel Shall Observe the Shabbat השבת״ את ישראל בני ושמרו״ (V’Shamru B’nei Yisrael et HaShabat”)
Visit our website for more information about our music program.