AMSA is proud to announce that sophomore Mykalah Jacob recently had the honor of performing at Carnegie Hall with a choir of roughly three hundred other students from around the country. Mykalah presented with HaZamir, a Jewish/Hebrew choral association dedicated to the union of religion and music. Derived from Zamir, an organization of the same nature reserved strictly for adults, Vivienne and Matthew Lazar founded HaZamir to provide the opportunity for younger individuals to express and celebrate their Jewish faith through song.
This was a year of many new opportunities for both Mykalah and HaZamir. For the first time, Hazamir offered the chance to organize a Boston chapter and Mykalah immediately signed up. Throughout her life, Mykalah loved to sing and always participated in her school’s choral group. HaZamir’s showcase at Carnegie Hall was the first time she had participated in such a large organization, and the experience did not leave her unaffected. “It was incredible,” she recalled. “This was my first year, and it’s something I want to stick with for all my life.”
The successful production at Carnegie did not come without a price: lots and lots of practice. The Boston chapter, composed of seven students, traveled to New York three days prior to the event in order to rehearse with their fellow choral members from around the country. The next three days were a long period of “very intense practicing.” The group had to quickly master the art of harmonizing their countless voices into one smooth blend of sound. The goal of these performances, according to Mykalah, is to fuse soprano, alto, base, and tenor vocalists to soft piano in order to create an atmosphere of worship and beauty. She was certainly happy with the result: “Standing there and making such an incredible noise was almost unbelievable. It was bouncing off the walls. The sound we produce is incredible; I’ve never been a part of something like that.”
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Mykalah plans to continue working with HaZamir for the rest of her high school career and is certain she will advance to Zamir, the adult organization, when she is of age. She has also been recommended as a potential teen leader of the group, and she will later be interviewed for the position. Her chapter has an upcoming performance in early June, and Mykalah is eager to continue her path with HaZamir.
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