Jewish A Cappella Group
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Jewish A Cappella Group |
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Kol Rina is a Jewish a cappella performance group. It was started by a small group of enthusiasts in Cambridge University in 1996. We have since grown to a group of 10 - a mixture of men and women from a range of Jewish backgrounds.
We feel we are a breath of fresh air for Jewish music in the UK. Not only because we are the only Jewish mixed a cappella group in the country, but because of our unique repertoire. Almost all of our songs are original compositions by members of the group. These new works draw on our varied sources of inspiration - including traditional, classical, Chassidic, gospel, minimalist and popular music. Staying true to our roots, we sing predominantly in Hebrew, as many of the lyrics are excerpts from the liturgy.
Our name "Kol Rina" is Hebrew for "Voice of Joy" - chosen
because we sing for enjoyment - from creating our music and sharing it with
others. As a non-profit group we have relied on the support of organisations
like Yakar for practice space. In turn we contribute to the community through
free performances, workshops, recitals at local Jewish care homes, and fund-raising
concerts for charity.
We started in 1996 in Cambridge (our student days!), inspired after hearing an American Jewish a cappella group on tour. In our first few years we performed at Cambridge J-soc events and joined in on a recording with Krazy Klezmer, another student group.
In 1999 we moved the group to London where we aquired new members and began weekly practices. In January 2002 and 2003 we featured on Shalom FM. We did our first full concert in June 2002 at Yakar in London which was quite a hit! In November 2002 we perfomed at Spirit Matters conference and at Yom Masorti. We have performed and run workshops at the annual Limmud Conference from 1999-2003. We have also performed at Leeds One Day Limmud in 2001 and 2003.
We won a grant from the European Association for Jewish Culture in January 2003 to record our first album "Ashira".
In 2004 we performed alongside a gospel choir at an event organised by the
Council for Christians and Jews. "One Night ~ Three Choirs", a charity
concert with Alyth Choral Society and the Topaz Singers, was held in May 2004.
Top row: Daniel Eilon, Dan Myers, Julian Gilbey, Andrew Stitcher
Bottom row: Alicia Ambrose (Director), Anna Silver, Susannah Christie, Sargam
Picker, Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz, Miki Grahame
We enjoy sharing our music with the people around us. One way in which we do this is by giving small concerts at local care homes. As well as performing, we run a cappella singing workshops to varied audiences. We are also available for private functions. If you would like Kol Rina to perform or run a workshop for your own event/organisation do get in touch.
Occasionally we hold auditions for new members.
If you're interested, contact us and we will notify
you of any future audition dates.
We're also looking for people who can help out with publicity, bookings, art/design
and choreography.
These organisations are our friends:
Limmud
Yakar UK
J-colo
Website maintained by Miki Grahame