Mia Resnicow and Zoe Bell | Staff Writers
When Beth El Congregation’s Cantor Melanie Blatt Schuster was invited to reunite with her former choir mates and sing together once again after eight years, how could she say no?
Blatt Schuster will be singing with the Zamir Chorale of Boston, a choir she sung for while attending Hebrew College for her ordination, at Ohr Kodesh Congregation in Chevy Chase for a March 22 concert titled “WildPeace.”
“It was important for me to be a part of a Jewish choir, to learn Jewish songs, to sing with Jewish people,” Blatt Schuster said. “I enjoy singing in a choir a lot, and they’re very talented, so it was a pleasure to sing with them while I was there in Boston.”
The concert is being put together by Cantor Hinda Labovitz, who connected with Blatt Schuster when she was applying to Hebrew College. Having attended the school, Labovitz helped her prepare. Since then, they have sung together at conferences and stayed connected through the Cantors Assembly. They will be performing a duet written by Israeli artist Achinoam Nini and Palestinian-Israeli singer-songwriter Mira Awad, “There Must Be Another Way,” during the second half of the concert. It’s sung in three languages: English, Hebrew and Arabic.
“It’s really a prayer and a hope for peace in the world,” said Blatt Schuster.
“[The song is] wanting to call on this moment to say, ‘We believe in humanity, and we believe in a future for peace,’” Labovitz added.
The first half of the concert features just Zamir — sans orchestra — performing songs that Labovitz said “speak to the moment.” They are both Israeli and peace-oriented, she said.
The collection of music being performed is known as “Like Wildflowers, Suddenly,” inspired by the poetry of Yehuda Amichai and premiered in 2008 for Israel’s 60th anniversary. The libretto traces the history of the Jewish people’s relationship with Israel from biblical to modern times, according to a press release.
“I hope that they feel uplifted, and I hope that they enjoy the beautiful musicianship of the Zamir chorale and all the different soloists that are going to be a part of the concert,” Blatt Schuster added. “Everybody is very talented. So it’s exciting to see that that amount of talent all coming together under one roof, and I think the audience is going to really appreciate that.”
Complete with an orchestra of 22 instrumentalists, the concert features Labovitz, Blatt Schuster, and Baltimore native Hazzan Asa Fradkin of Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County, as well as fellow singers from New York and D.C.
“It’s going to be a little reunion,” Blatt Schuster said. “I haven’t seen or sung with them since [living in Boston]. It will be nice to be with them again.”
She added that she is most excited about reconnecting with choir members and the conductor, Josh Jacobson, who she was a conducting intern with.
“Part of it is wanting to bring the whole community together, to unite different parts of the community,” Labovitz said. “People like to see their own cantors on stage. Every cantor is a rock star to his or her own congregation.”
Cantors also don’t often get the opportunity to sing this kind of music, she said.
“We want people to feel like this is a moment of absolute prayer,” Labovitz said. “And I think having it in our sanctuary really gives us that extra ambience.”
The score includes musical tributes to “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem, according to Fradkin.
The song most meaningful to the Baltimore-raised cantor, “Movement IIA,” is based on the narrative that the Redeemer was born on the day the Temple was destroyed. “There’s this idea of redemption, even in destruction,” he said.
Another song, Randall Thompson’s “The Last Words of David,” includes the line, “He that ruleth over men must be just.”
“That calls to governments all over the world, and how do we balance the need for power with the need for justice?” Labovitz asked.
Labovitz spoke to the relevance of the songs’ messages, especially with conflict roiling in the Middle East.
“The concert has been 18 months in the works, and the volatility of the moment in the world scene has changed over that time, but it still feels like it’s an important moment for us to be singing and making music about Israel in a positive way, and tracking the continuous Jewish history of that area of the world,” she said.
“What I’m most looking forward to is to get to see my colleagues, to participate in a celebration of the day, and to be with hundreds of people who share our love of Israel. We need that right now,” Fradkin said. “We need to be in community. We’ve needed it since Oct. 7.”
