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.
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