MAJOR MAZEL TOVS!

First of all, a major, massive, mountainous, mega mazel tov is in order for Makela's president and resident beat-boxing expert Dani, who became a dad last week. 


A second big mazel tov to Emerald who was awarded the upper solo in Aliyah L'Regel, one of the songs in Makela's repertoire.

Emerald is our performance coordinator.  Her versatile voice and powerful breath support enable her sing both soprano and alto voice parts with ease.  Aliyah L'Regel, in which she will be enjoying a solo as well as joining in a duet with music director Joel, explores a first-time visit to Jerusalem.

Aliyah is the Jewish concept of visiting, returning to, or moving to the holy land, not unlike the pilgrimage concepts in Islam and Christianity.  Following Israeli statehood, Aliyah is known to refer to emigration to Israel.  Aliyah l'regel (transliterated many ways throughout the Internet), by contrast, refers to the ancient tradition of visiting Jerusalem during certain important Jewish holidays.

 The song Aliyah l'Regel is a fresh look at a very old concept.  It has a peppy, happy, syncopated
 rhythm and its lyrics recognize Jerusalem as a modern, bustling city, referencing discos and
 highways.  At the same time, they nod subtly to Jerusalem's ancient history and special historical
significance, as though it's something that isn't always obvious but that's always there.  The two characters  react with a sense of youthful wonderment and enthusiasm.  Of all the songs we sing, Aliyah L'Regel may be the one that does the most storytelling.  It involves two excited travelers pointing things out, experiencing amazing sights for the first time, walking through the city as they sing. 

Joel and Emerald's treatment is light and playful, which serves to render the concept of visiting Jerusalem approachable, a rejuvenating approach given the sense of seriousness that can sometimes surround what many consider to be an austere, biblical responsibility.  It reminds us that, hey, getting back to your roots can be fun, too.

Emerald takes music seriously, but she's not afraid to be goofy when it's called for.  It makes her a fun person to sing with and a fun person to watch.  Her high energy approach to music makes her a perfect fit for Aliyah L'Regel.  Emerald will no doubt show the fun side of of this ancient tradition while acting out the song's imagery.  In her own words, "when you hear each piece separately it sounds kind of cheesy but when all the different pieces come together it works.  You'll see."  

Channukah JCC Performance

Makela was pleased to do a Channukah performance for a Hebrew language group at the JCC on 12/12/12 here in Washington, D.C.

Here's a clip of our signature song, Samachti, that one of member Noah Mamber's friends graciously took for us:



It was a lovely evening.  We got to witness the lighting of the candles and we very much enjoyed the opportunity to eat and mingle with our Hebrew speaking audience after our performance.  Very few of our members actually speak Hebrew, and thus hilarity ensued.


We also had the pleasure of making one of those of unexpected discoveries that occur when you explore a big city like Washington.  The JCC is situated in a beautiful, classical old building with a gorgeous checkerboard-floored lobby.  We needed a vacant space in which to rehearse before our performance, but the JCC being the busy hub of Jewish life that it is, all the rooms were in use.  Finally we stumbled into the lobby and discovered AMAZING ACOUSTICS.  Dan articulated what we were all thinking when he asked, "Can we rehearse here every week?"

That experience prompted a spontaneous video recording of our song Zion, which we performed in circle formation to take advantage of that incredible space.  It was filmed on a regular old point-and-shoot camera and the sound is still beautiful.  And Deb's solo work is absolutely brilliant.

Enjoy the full Zion recording here, on our Youtube chanel.

Channukah at the Indian Embassy

Our Dec. 10 performance at the Indian Embassy Channukah party went extremely well, but it was no Channukah miracle - it was hard work paying off!  Our music director, Joel, couldn't be at the performance but nevertheless drilled us on Maoz Tsur, a song we learned just for this event.  Rather than the traditional tune that many Jewish folks know well, we opted for a festive, madrigal style arrangement by an 18th century Venetian composer.  The audience seemed surprised but pleased.  We followed Maoz Tsur with one of our signature pieces, Samachti.  Both have a sweet, harmonious, classical sound that we felt suited an embassy event well.

Ambassador Rao was an incredibly gracious host and her staff was wonderful.  Also in attendance were a representative from the White House, representatives of several Jewish organizations and Israeli Ambassador Oren.  We were thrilled to sing in such a beautiful venue to such a respectful and appreciative audience.

We also got to enjoy a generous feast of popular Indian dishes and latkes.

But perhaps most thrilling was having the opportunity to attend such a unique event commemorating the historical relationship between India and the Jewish people as well as Indian friendship with the United States and Israel.  It made us appreciate how lucky we are to be singing in Washington, D.C., where an event like that is possible.

You can read coverage of last year's event, at which Makela also sang, at washingtonjewishweek.com.

We look forward to our performance tomorrow night, Dec. 12, at the Washington JCC.  Updates to follow!

Meanwhile, check out our group photo outside the Embassy on our Facebook page.