OY! – A YIDDISHE CHOIR BY THE SEASIDE?
by Mel Poluck, November 28, 2006

Every Wednesday at Ralli Hall in Hove something unexpected and rather wonderful has been going on. A group of around 20 members of a recently-formed choir have been gathering to sing ancient Jewish songs.
And what’s more, these people – some Jewish, some not, some naturally musical, some not; and spanning a five-decade age range – are beginning to sound rather good.

The fledgling Brighton and Hove Yiddish choir, formed last September, sings solely Yiddish language songs and niggunim, wordless chant-like songs. The group, which meets weekly and already has two performances under its belt, has no religious affiliations and is completely independent. The focus is purely on creating a beautiful sound.

“I am very happy with our development,” says choir founder and leader Polina Shepherd, who hails from Russia where the fall of Communism unearthed her own Jewish heritage. “I like that people take risks and are getting used to singing in a group. Basically, we’ve become a group rather than a number of individuals singing at the same time. Our sound has developed and grown bigger, our vocal range too.”

Polina brings a memory-bank full of emotive and powerful songs from home via Germany, Ukraine and Poland. The journey these ancient songs have travelled before arriving in Hove holds a fascinating story in itself. Until now, these songs have rarely been heard beyond Chassidic communities; the increasingly popular Klezmer music festivals taking place in Central and Eastern Europe; and the handful of current ‘Klezmer fusion’ groups.

With her husband Merlin, a clarinet virtuoso, Polina has played an important role in the Klezmer music revival scene. Together they have helped organise and taught at international Klezmer music festivals and concerts in places where sometimes, all that is left of the originators of this music is a memorial plaque.

Closer to home, she has performed in the Brighton Jewish Music Festival as both The Vocal Quartet Ashkenazim and the Sound and Light Cinematic Duo and has taught and performed at the Jewish-themed conference, Brighton Limmud.

The choir’s blossoming repertoire – songs sometimes joyful, sometimes brimming with sorrow – includes “Moshe Emes,” “Esn Est Zikh,” and “Volt Ikh Gehat Koyekh.” Since the early days of the choir, which began last September, members have been singing in rounds, harmonising and singing in several parts, and embellishing these songs with quirks such as the “kreichtzen” – you’d know them if you heard them – which help to give them their quintessentially Yiddish sound.

And the choir – many of whose members had never sung in public – have performed at a day centre for the elderly in Hove in November and at Kemptown’s Hyman Fine House Chanukah party this month, in front of residents and their families and friends. “Our first performance showed that the choir has a good connection to the audience, and more importantly, enjoys performing,” says Polina. “Some people take individual singing lessons, so there is even greater potential.

“I’d like us to have a bigger repertoire, more short solo performances, an even more developed musical sound, more male singers and more concerts,” says Polina.

The Yiddish music revival wave that has washed over much of Eastern and Central Europe in recent years has finally reached the shores of Brighton and Hove. The city now has a Yiddish music choir to add to its ‘Yiddishe’ treasures. The Brighton and Hove Yiddish Choir is breathing life back into a fascinating, fading language and a rich, beloved musical genre.

Mel Poluck is a journalist living and working in Brighton UK.