NEWS
Kol Kinor Choir End of Term Report 2024/2025
We performed 3 times over the last 12 months.
We were proud to be part of the Holocaust Memorial Day event in the Banqueting suite at the Council house, Victoria Square on Monday 26th January 2026 where we played a selection of music including some of our Holocaust pieces. For more information on the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust see https://hmd.org.uk/.
We had a busy Summer with two concerts within a week of each other.
During the period 16th May to 16th June 2026 there was a nationwide Jewish Culture Month. As part of the local set of events, we performed a short set at the CBSO centre during the final event on the 14th of June after performances from the Second City Virtuosi and others from our local community.
The following week we had a tremendous welcome from the Bilston Neighbourhood Church where we played a longer set to a hugely appreciative audience.
The repertoire for the two summer concerts included some of our old favourites as well as some newer pieces from our extensive repertoire
I don’t intend to list all the songs here, but we have selected a few of the videos which give a flavour of our most recent work as listed below with links to them.
Thanks to Alex Taylor for shooting the videos for these concerts.
Thanks as ever to Jake Fifer, our musical Director, for patiently leading us over the year and to our rehearsal accompanist Brian Stearn who also accompanied us for the HMD event and to Toby for accompanying us at the two summer concerts.
If you would like to join us, please contact us through the contact section of this website.
For further videos see https://www.youtube.com/@familyrowe/videos
Daniel Rowe, September 2026
LATEST CONCERT REVIEW
The Dream Passes By The Window – A Concert For Ukraine
Nearly 200 people packed into the Birmingham Progressive Synagogue on Sunday November 27th to hear three talented musical ensembles. The Kol Kinor Choir began the concert. Laurie Taylor, one of their longest serving members introduced them and their conductor and Director of Music - Jake Fifer. Accompanied by Brian Stearn on the keyboards, they sang beautifully with a full range of voices from soprano to bass. They included some lovely arrangements of traditional prayers sung in Hebrew with great precision and emotional sensitivity. Having worked together for many years, they looked and sounded like a confident professional choir.
They were followed by the Knowle Male Voice Choir who were introduced by Denis Barnfield in a cheerful manner as "a bunch of reprobates". Again, expertly conducted by Jake Fifer, who must take a lot of credit for producing two choirs of this standard, they were able to produce that full bodied rich swell of sound that we associate with similar choirs from Wales. Some favourites from Les Miserables were sung with gusto and greeted with pleasure. Perhaps more surprising and impressive was their ability to bring tears to the eyes with a quiet harmonious rendition of Ose Shalom.
The third group, The Kataklezmics, provided contrast to the evening in jaunty hats, and carrying their instruments on stage, they looked like the sort of travelling band that would have played at weddings and festivals in Eastern Europe. Klezmer music, Joyce Rothschild told us, has its roots there. Their standard of playing was excellent and the instruments - accordion, flute, cello, clarinet, violins and viola complemented each other. The repertoire chosen was mostly upbeat and even humorous pieces that invited dance, though for health and safety reasons (and age!) we restricted ourselves to clapping and cheering. Instrumental solos were virtuoso and there was some fine singing in one number.
The evening was punctuated by video footage of on the ground work being conducted in Ukraine. Nick Wormald who instigated this work, gave a short speech explaining what had already been achieved and what our concert proceeds would be used for in funding future projects. He was warmly applauded for the courage and energy he has put into initialising and sustaining this work.
The concert raised over £2,700 which will be shared between this charity and World Jewish Relief Ukraine Appeal.
At the end of the evening, Jake promised us a surprise number. Olga Popova from Ukraine took the stage, and accompanied by the two choirs, sang the solo part of the Ukrainian lullaby (Oy Khodit Son – The Dream Passes By The Window) in a delicate and clear soprano voice. The effect in the beautiful synagogue setting was ethereal and spell-binding. It was a reminder of the bravery of those still in Ukraine, the talents of the refugees and the generosity of those offering help to them. Thanks to Jake Fifer, Elly Stanton and Joyce Rothschild for organising this concert and all those who helped, as well as to the excellent musicians who performed so well for us all.
Mark Pearson
Kol Kinor Joint Concert November 27th at BPS
Just to compliment Mark’s excellent report of the concert here’s some more details of the pieces we performed at the concert. This was under the direction of our Musical Director and Conductor, Jake Fifer, together with our piano accompanist Brian Stearn. The repertoire consisted of songs which reflect hope, peace, and dreams.
First section:
1.Lo Yissa Goy- a folk song in Hebrew.
The words are “Lo yissa goy el goy cherev, lo yilmdu od milchama” – which are taken from the second chapter of the prophet Isiah and are well-known in translation as “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore”.
2.Oseh Shalom, sung in Hebrew.
The text and tune are traditional and well known – “Oseh shalom bimromav, hu yaaseh shalom aleinu v’al kol Yisrael, v’imru amen” - “may he who establishes peace in the heavens, may he grant peace to us and to all Israel, and let us say Amen”.
3.Even when God is Silent, is sung in English.
The words were found scratched on a basement wall in Cologne, Germany. They were written by someone hiding from the Gestapo during the Nazi Holocaust. The song is a powerful and moving testament to faith. “I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining. I believe in love, even when feeling it not. I believe in G-d, even when G-d is silent”.
4.Al Kol Ele – for all these things, sung in Hebrew.
It is a modern Israeli folk song by Naomi Shemer, one of the most famous of contemporary Israeli composers and lyricists. “Every bee that brings the honey, needs a sting to be complete. And we all must learn to taste the bitter with the sweet. For all these things, Lord, let your mercy be complete. Let our dearest wish be granted, bring us peace, oh bring us peace”.
Second session:
1.Sachki, Sachki - sung in Hebrew,
Written by the famous Russian born Israeli poet Saul Tchernikovsky (1875 and 1943). “Laugh, laugh at all my dreams, What I dream shall yet come true, laugh at my belief in man, at my belief in you. Rejoice, rejoice now in the dreams, I the dreamer am he who speaks, Rejoice for I’ll have faith in mankind, for in mankind I believe”.
- Roshinkes mit Mandeln- raisins and almonds, sung in Yiddish.
It was composed by Abraham Goldfaden (1840 and 1906) and arranged for choir by John Clements. The mother rocks her son to sleep telling him “When you become rich my child, a merchant trading in raisins and almonds, remind yourself of this lullaby. Now sleep my little one, sleep". The soloists were Sara Phillips and Laurie Taylor.
Joint Songs
1.Hineh Ma Tov – sung in Hebrew
The music is written by the contemporary American composer Allan Naplan and the words are “Hinneh mah tov umah na'im, Shevet achim gam yachad” meaning “Behold how good and how pleasing, for brothers (people) to sit together in unity”
- Let There Be Peace on Earth - sung in English
Written by Jackson/Miller and arranged for choir by Jack Haigh which includes the sentiment “Let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony”.
- Oy Khodt Son Kolo Vikon – sung in Ukrainian
This version was arranged for choir by Sarah Martinez of a Ukrainian folk song and lullaby first published in 1837. “The dream passes by the window, And sleep by the fence. The Dream asks Sleep, where should we rest tonight?”
Daniel Rowe with thanks to Laurie Taylor for the use of his concert notes
