A Children's Choir for your Synagogue

CHILDREN'S CHOIRS IN THE SHABBAT SERVICE

Tips from Viv Bellos who has a 27 year history of running a
children's synagogue choir

1 Decide which is the most appropriate service on Shabbat for children.

At Alyth it is the Erev Shabbat service. It starts at 6:30 and is over by 7:15 so not too long for their attention span. Also the Bar/bat mitzvah classes are held before the service and so there are always children in the service. I hold a rehearsal at 5:30 and then they have 20 minutes play before the service.

2 Ensure there are small solos for children to aspire to.

I ensure there are 3 or 4 short solos in the course of the service and each week I choose who will sing them. This keeps them keen and also gives great pleasure to the families who all come to listen.

3 Include repertoire that is simple and catchy amongst the more traditional pieces.

There are a lot of wonderful settings of the liturgy by contemporary American and Israeli composers that the children love to sing. Debbie Friedman, Craig Taubman, Jeff Klepper, Sol Zim, and many more.

4. Try to organise a concert each term (residential homes always love children's choirs) so that they have something to work towards other than services.

This could be the carrot that attracts them to choir in the first place. The Alyth Kids Choir began 27 years ago with a large scale performance of 'Joseph and his Amazing Technicoloured Dreamcoat'. The rehearsals for learning the music were on Friday afternoons and to be in it they had to stay for service. The Alyth Kids Choir was born.

5. Once established give them an identity; a name, logo, tshirts, folders anything that makes them feel special.

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