[HANASHIR:8042] Re: College A Cappella Music

[Judah Cohen <jcohen...>]

A lot of the resources mentioned up to now are good, but a number
(especially the Dreidel piece) are not generally done "a cappella" in a
college style.  (I.e., there's acocmpaniment.)

However, there are literally *dozens* of Jewish a cappella groups at
colleges around the country, who share arrangements.  Perhaps the most
popular, especially for upbeat, easy-to-sing arrangements is Pizmon, at
Columbia/JTS.  (www.pizmon.com--also a great clearing house for general
information on Jewish a cappella groups). Others are as follows (and there
may be still more I'm forgetting).  Contact these groups through the
college Hillel, or go through the website I mention above (though be
aware that some links may be obsolete right now--I'm pretty sure all
these DO exist in one fashion or another). Some, I'm sure, would be happy
to help out by lending you arrangements.

Meanwhile, for those of you on the list who *don't* know of these
groups--GET TO KNOW THEM.  Jewish a cappella music is perhaps the most
popular form of Jewish musical expression among the college set--literally
thousands of Jewish young adults have been part of these groups since
1990. You don't hear about them in part because they exist on college
campuses, they sing music that fits into a grey area of copyright, and
they change personnel completely every four years or so.  Thus far, these
groups have released over two dozen albums, a couple of which can compete
favorably with professionally produced recordings--though you have to get
them
from the groups themselves (try their websites).

Yale--Magevet
Princeton--Koleinu
Harvard--Mizmor Shir
U Penn--R'nanah
Boston University--Kol Echad
Brown--Kol B'Yachad
MIT--Techiya
Rutgers--Kol HaLayla
Queens College--Tizmoret
SUNY Binghamton--Kaskeset
Brandeis--Manginah
UCLA--Shir Bruin
University of Judaism--Ma Nishma
University of Chicago--Shircago
University of Michigan--Kol HaKavod
U Maryland, College Park--Kol Sasson
Tufts--Shir Appeal
Johns Hopkins--Ketzev
Washington U., St. Louis--
University of Colorado--
U. Mass Amherst--
Cornell--Chai Notes

In any case, good luck!  I hope this helps.  If you have any questions,
please don't hesitate to e-mail me directly.

Judah Cohen
(Who's had a strong hand in Magevet, Mizmor Shir, and Shir Appeal)

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