About Koleinu

Now in our 22nd year!

We are excited to rehearse at our new location: Temple Shalom, 175 Temple St, West Newton, MA 02465

Founded in 2002 by Hazzan Dr. Scott Sokol and local singer Larry Kozinn, Koleinu, Boston’s Jewish Community Chorus, is an eighty-member chorus of adults of all backgrounds that performs Jewish choral music for audiences in Boston and beyond. Its primary mission is to provide its members, regardless of their previous musical experience or religious affiliation, an opportunity to learn, sing and perform Jewish music in a meaningful way. Carol Marton, lauded for her skills as a conductor and teacher, is Koleinu’s founding Artistic Director. Koleinu has been praised for its expressiveness, repertoire, and for the high musical standards it maintains as a non-audition chorus.

Koleinu’s repertoire encompasses a wide range of Jewish choral music, including liturgical, secular, contemporary, and traditional styles. Rehearsals are engaging and emphasize the power of musical expression. Koleinu is a member of the Greater Boston Choral Consortium (GBCC), a cooperative association of diverse choral groups in greater Boston, and rehearses on Thursday nights at Temple Shalom in Newton.

Koleinu brings the richness of Jewish music to audiences through concerts, festivals, and interfaith and multicultural programs.  The chorus has also performed at the North American Jewish Choral Festival in New York, at the Boston Jewish Music Festival, and has collaborated with many local artists, including Ezekiel’s Wheels Klezmer Band, Hankus Netsky, Zamir Chorale of Boston, Boston City Singers, Boston Community Chorus, and the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra.

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Koleinu was able to continue to work together online and cautiously in-person.  With the support of an Arts and Culture grant from Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Koleinu to commissioned a new piece in celebration of its 20th anniversary in 2022.  The world premiere of Osnat Netzer’s A Funkl Gleybik took place on June 9, 2022 featuring Ezekiel’s Wheels and Hankus Netsky at Temple Shalom in West Newton. The chorus also marked its 10th anniversary with a commission, Netzer’s Sound the Great Shofar, which it premiered in Boston in 2012 and reprised that summer at the North American Jewish Choral Festival in New York.

Since spring of 2022, the chorus has benefitted from skills of the accomplished accompanist and fine singer, Terry Halco.  Prior accompanists include pianist and teacher, Victor Cayres from 2005-’18 followed by composer, singer and pianist Asia Meirovich.

What We Sing

Each year, Koleinu explores a wide range of Jewish music, but also focuses its attention on some interesting themes. In fall 2019, Koleinu enjoyed the playful and inventive music of Bonia Shur, the unique and beautiful Sabbath settings of Frederick Piket, and the thrilling music of Leonard Bernstein. Cantor Peter Halpern, from Temple Shalom in Newton, lent his wonderful tenor voice to our concerts.  In 2016–17, the chorus presented “Ruach y Alma–Hebrew and Ladino Songs of the Soul,” with gems of Sephardic repertoire, works of Isadore Freed, and beloved Israeli melodies, and assisted by multi-instrumentalist, Beth Bahia Cohen, percussionist George Lernis, and soloist DJ Fortine. Other concerts have included collaborations with Cantor Randall Schloss and soprano Leah Schloss in the spectacular renovated sanctuary of Temple Ohabei Shalom; works of Shulamit Ran and Eric Whitacre with Cantor Elias Rosemberg of Temple Emanuel (Newton), “Halleluyah for the World: Songs of Praise and a Celebration of Composer Max Janowski,” featuring soloist Cantor Gastón Bogomolni;  and “Under a Carob Tree: A ‘Green’ Choral Concert,” at Temple Emeth (Chestnut Hill), featuring Cantor Michael McCloskey and special guest Rabbi Kay Allen of Ma’yan Tikvah.

Collaborations and Concerts

Koleinu performed for the third time at the North American Jewish Choral Festival in New York in July 2014, and has appeared twice at the Boston Jewish Music Festival. In 2011, Koleinu was honored to perform as part of the 15th Anniversary Commemoration of the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston. Koleinu has also brought Jewish music to numerous interfaith gatherings including most recently Temple Emeth’s celebration of Chiune Sugihara with Japanese chorus “Chorus Boston,” a concert to raise funds for Ebola Relief in Newton, and Boston College’s Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration. Other notable performances include:

  • Performance at a presentation of the film Wagner’s Jews (Hebrew College, Newton, 2014)
  • Featured performer at Temple Beth David’s annual memorial concert (Westwood, 2014)
  • “Play for Japan,” a benefit concert by local musicians for the relief effort in Japan (Temple Emeth, Brookline, 2011)
  • The Boston Jewish Music Festival with Kol B’seder (Jeff Klepper and Dan Freelander) in celebration of its 40th anniversary (Rashi School, Dedham, 2011)
  • Bringing Jewish music to the first annual Greater Boston Community Choral Festival that featured local and international choirs (Sanders Theater, Cambridge, 2010)
  • Representing Boston at an historic concert marking the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht— a sold-out, multimedia production featuring 200 voices, full orchestra, and narration by Leonard Nimoy (Providence, RI, 2009)
  • Spearheading a collaborative concert of Jewish and Gospel music to benefit an anti-violence and leadership development program for Boston’s youth (Boston, 2008)

Featured at several New England Jewish Choral Festivals, Koleinu has collaborated with groups including the Zamir Chorale of Boston, the Boston Community Choir, and the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra. Koleinu has also brought music annually to Hebrew Senior Life facilities in Roslindale and Dedham, MA. Koleinu is a member of the Greater Boston Choral Consortium, a cooperative association of diverse choral groups in Boston and the surrounding areas.