Sunday, June 2, 2024 • 4pm EDT

Ohr Kodesh Congregation
Chevy Chase, MD

A TIME TO EMBRACE

Songs of Comfort and Hope

A time for weeping and a time for laughing,

A time for wailing and a time for dancing; […]

A time for embracing (Ecclesiastes 3)

‘How can we determine the hour of dawn when the night ends and the day begins?’
‘When you can look into the face of another human being, and you have enough light in you to recognize your brother or your sister.

From FINDING MY WAY HOME by Henri Nouwen

Music that brings us together from the past and the here and now, choral melodies that will reach your heart from the four corners of the earth.

Welcome to Kolot HaLev

Kolot HaLev – Voices of the Heart – is Greater Washington, DC's independent community choir focusing on Jewish choral music.

Our Mission

Kolot HaLev is a community choir that finds joy in learning, studying, and performing rarely heard Jewish choral music – ancient to contemporary, from around the world. We educate and delight audiences through our performances.

Our Values:

Openness – As a non-audition choir, we welcome anyone who wishes to sing with us
Knowledge – We develop musical skills under a master teacher
Dedication – We commit time to reach a high standard of learning and performance
Inclusion – We reach out to diverse constituencies to benefit the community

Love of Music and Community

Kolot haLev is actively looking for singers of all voice parts interested in singing with us and sharing a love of Jewish music. No audition — just your love of learning and singing Jewish choral music, plus a strong commitment. Experience the exhilaration of blending your voice with others!

Join us

Meet our musical director, Hazzan Dr. Ramón Tasat

Meet Our Director

Enjoy a selection from our recent event “Choral Music for the Jewish New Year” held in October.

RECENT EVENTS

Olney-Dec10-2023_1000x1000_KOLOT-HALEV_forWebsiteHoriz-b

KolotEmail-IsraelReliefConcert-Oct2023-HomePage

Silence the Violence (STV) Concert

October 14, 2023 | 7:30pm

Kolot HaLev sang at the 8th annual concert as a benefit for The TraRon Center, a non-profit in DC that uses art therapies for healing kids and their families traumatized by gun violence.

The

Kolot HaLev
Annual Concert 2023

took place on

Sunday, June 11, 2023
at
Ohr Kodesh Congregation
Chevy Chase, Maryland

Buena Semana/ A New Week

Jewish Music Across the Americas

The concert traced Jewish immigration to the Americas in song, showing how melodies encountered on new shores found their way into music composed for texts essential to Jewish life. Here are some examples from our concert:

Adon Olam

Yamin Usmol

Video Selections from the Annual Concert

The 3rd Maryland
Jewish Choral Festival
was held
February 5, 2023

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED AND HELPED MAKE OUR CHORAL FESTIVAL A SUCCESS!

The 2nd Maryland Jewish Choral Festival

In case you missed the 2nd Maryland Jewish Choral Festival, we offer you the chance to view the professionally-produced video of the performance of Azkara, Simon Sargon’s beautiful and moving piece.

May His Memory Be for a Blessing

A Tribute to Simon Sargon

A celebrated composer, pianist, conductor and educator, Simon Sargon passed away on December 25th. His hauntingly beautiful work, Azkara – A Jewish Requiem – is the first Jewish Requiem ever written, expressing the Jewish approach to mourning. In the video, Mr. Sargon talks about the meaning of his work.

Choral Music for the New Year

It was an afternoon of singing together in the spirit of the High Holidays. Choral compositions were by Emil Jonas, Naomi Shemer, Abba Joseph Weisgal, Emanuel Abraham Aguilar – remarkable composers whose works have the power to shape our insight. Here is one selection, or you may see the whole playlist by clicking the button below.

New Year Playlist