Central Synagogue

The Choir will next be in Synagogue on the 4th February and 24th March 2012.

The current choir was formed by Steven Leas in 2004, but choral music has been integral to Great Portland Street's services from the very beginning.

Even before its consecration on 29 March 1855, authority had been given for the fledgling shul -- which was being created as the West End branch of the Great Synagogue, in Duke's Place in the City -- to appoint a small choir.

When he arrived, Steven was keen to bring the choral tradition back to the Central Synagogue and from early in 2004 the new choir has been contributing to the Shabbat services about once a month, as well as being in action over Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Our musical director, Michael Etherton, joined in December 2004 and just a month later directed the choir in a televised performance on Holocaust Memorial Day of the memorial prayer El Maleh Rachamim, in a moving setting by Meir Finkelstein, arranged by Stephen Glass, at Westminster Hall. Those in attendance at the Service included the Queen, then-Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Chief Rabbi.

Steven's objective in forming the new choir was that it should augment -- but certainly not hijack -- the services by introducing new melodies which would enhance the congregation's spiritual experience and encourage congregational participation. We are frequently asked to sing when there is a barmitzvah, aufruf or other simcha and the Central Synagogue Choir has rapidly become the wedding choir of choice for many in the wider community as well as for members of the Great Portland Street community.

Our first CD, recorded in Summer 2008, includes eight songs, which we hope you will find representative of the distinctive Central Synagogue sound. Several of them feature arrangements of traditional melodies by Stephen Glass, who is the Music Director of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Montreal.

You will hear us sing his arrangement of the Dunajewski "Ein Kamocha" (the first number on the CD) before the Reading of the Law at every Shabbat and Yamim Norayim Morning Service. "Kel Melech Yosheiv" is recited several times during Yom Kippur -- on Kol Nidre night and during Neilah. The Lewandowski "Uv'nucho Yomar" is a favourite rendering which we sometimes sing when the Sifrei Torah are being replaced in the Ark after the Reading of the Law. The "Sh'ma" and "Hu Elokeinu", from the Shabbat Musaph Kedushah, uses a melody originally written by Benjamin Britten. The modern setting of Meghnagi's "Mi Adir" is from the wedding service, while we often sing the beautiful Finkelstein "V'al kulam" at weddings, as well as in the Musaph Service on Shabbat. "Ein Kelokeinu" and our own version of the South African "Township Adon Olam" complete the CD and you will often hear us singing these versions at the conclusion of the Shabbat Service.

(Adapted from an article written by Antony Craig, Production Editor of Gramophone magazine.)

To read about Chazan Steven Leas click here and to find out more about having your wedding at Central click here.

To hear the tracks from the Central in Song CD, please click on the links below.