Ocho Kandelikas (Eight Candles)...

...Ladino Song for Chanukah by Flory Jagoda
arranged by Joshua Jacobson
Performed by the Singing Sergeants (U.S. Air Force)
Click on this link for an audio recording, then click the "play" button:

www.last.fm/music/US+Air+Force+Concert+Band+and+Singing+Sergeants/_/Ocho+Kandelikas+%28The+Joy+of+Chanukah%29

This song relives the memories of Flory Jagoda, born in 1925 in Sarajevo, Bosnia as her family celebrated the eight-day Jewish Holiday Chanukah, known as the “Festival of Lights;” each night another candle of the eight-branched Menorah is lit. Flory learned the songs her grandmother sang as a member of the Jewish Sephardic community, a group exiled from Spain in the15th Century. The language of this exiled Sephardim people was Ladino or Judeo-Español, which is a form of Medieval Spanish; Ladino is in serious danger of extinction but it is experiencing a minor revival among Sephardic communities, especially in music. Flory Jagoda is a leader in this revival.
During WW II she lost 42 members of her family to the Holocaust. She and her surviving relatives were imprisoned on the island of Korcula (modern day Croatia). They escaped to Italy where she met “the most handsome [U.S. Army] master sergeant.” They married in 1945, moved to the United States and settled in Falls Church, Virginia to raise their children.
Among her many awards in preserving her Sephardic songs for future generations, she received the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2002.
Another recording:
www.last.fm/music/Rebeca%2BShrimpton%252C%2BENC%2BJewish%2BMusic%2BEnsemble%2B%2526%2BMarisa%2BSteingold/_/Ocho+Kandelikas

Aleih Neiri (Rise Up, My Light)

Chaim Parchi/arr. Joshua Jacobson

new.music.yahoo.com/chicago-a-cappella/tracks/aleih-neiri--207597083

Born in Yemen (b. 1947), Chaim Parchi is a composer, choreographer, teacher and performer (baritone). In 1979, Parchi brought his family to the Boston, Massachusetts area to continue graduate studies at Boston University. He relocated to Boca Raton, Florida, in 1995 to teach music and art at Broward Jewish High School, B'nai Torah High School and Hillel Community Day School. He has been strongly influenced by family artisans, a love for Israel, and the history of the Jewish people. His music and art are a reflection of his deep passion for Judaism.
Joshua Jacobson (arranger) is Chairman of the Department of Music at Northeastern University and director of the university's choral program. He is also founder and director of the Zamir Chorale of Boston. Professor Jacobson is regarded as one of the foremost authorities on Jewish choral music.

A Musicological Journey...

...Through the Twelve Days of Christmas
Craig Courtney takes the 'The 12 Days of Christmas' through a classical musical history lesson, enhancing it with Renaissance, Baroque and 19th-century motifs from compositions you’ll recognize.
Click on the following link for an audio recording of this popular tongue-in-cheek Christmas standard:

www.imeem.com/secluzs/music/hYSzlBuO/mormon-tabernacle-choir-the-musicological-journey-through-th/

Experience an audience reaction with this video of Lewis & Clark college choir's performance:

Handel's MESSIAH - Part I

The centerpiece of our December 5 concert will be Part I of Handel's Messiah. We will perform a slightly abridged version to correspond to the portions we will perform at the Kennedy Center on December 23. In addition to recitatives and arias sung by soloists, we will perform four choruses from Part I plus the Hallelujah Chorus from Part II.

Again, Cyber Bass has teaching aids at:
www.cyberbass.com/Major_Works/Handel_GF/Handel_Messiah.htm
Click on the above web link and scroll down until you see your part.

************************************************************

Video learning aids:

And the glory of the Lord



O Thou that tellest good tidings to Zion
note: choir entrance at 3:45



For unto us a child is born


Glory to God


His yoke is easy, and his burthen is light


Hallelujah (Part II)


Audio rehearsal aid (your part sung with text):
click on this link
www.rehearsalarts.com/hear_samples.htm


****************************************************

On December 23 at the Kennedy Center, we will sing these additional six choruses:

Behold the Lamb of God (Part II)



Surely he hath borne our griefs (Part II)


And with his stripes we are healed (Part II)


All we like sheep have gone astray (Part II)


Since by man came death (Part III)


Worthy is the Lamb; Amen (Part III)