SONGLEADERS IN THE (JEWISH) NEWS

[joanna selznick <joanna...>]

SONGLEADERS IN THE (JEWISH) NEWS:
Last Friday, this article appeared in the San Francisco (Bay Area) Jewish
Bulletin.  Since then I have received many interested calls and inquiries,
including an offer for free tix. to a concert May 2nd at the Berkeley
Jewish Music Festival for members of the Bay Area Songleaders Collective.
If anyone out there is interested in starting a similar local resource
group, feel free to contact me (Joanna) as to how to pull it off.  It's
amazing what can happen when you figure out there are at least 25 other
people doing what you're doing in the same area, and most of them gather in
the same room...at our meeting, we came up with many ideas, some of which
were compiling a gig referral list, email listserv, holding holiday music
and professional development workshops (sign language, song teaching,
nussach/hazzanut) and one day coordinating a local hava nashira event.  The
most amazing realization we had was that we didn't *have* to go outside of
our group to find the resources to do these things. Our meeting was a long
time coming.  It may be for your community, too.  Read on...

SONGLEADERS SING PRAISES OF  LEARNING THROUGH MUSIC

SARAH HOROWITZ
Bulletin Correspondent

For the first time ever, Bay Area Jewish religious school music educators,
camp songleaders and musicians met to network, shmooze and sing. Sponsored
by La'atid, the S.F.-based Bureau of Jewish Education's teacher enrichment
program, the songleaders' collective kicked off its first meeting late last
month, with 24 people attending.

"The energy [at the meeting] was so intense," said Joanna Selznick, the
collective's coordinator. " It could have gone on all night -- talking,
sharing songs and stories."

Selznick, 23, is a songleader at San Francisco's Congregation Emanu-El and
Palo Alto's Beth Am , where she grew up. She is also music director for
camps Swig and Newman, of the Reform movement.

"Songleading is kind of a lonely trade. Usually there's one songleader per
camp. People tend towork alone," Selznick said.

She opened the meeting by leading everyone in "Shalom Aleichem."

In a brainstorming session, the group discussed holding meetings on the
last Thursday of each month; creating a listing of names, street and e-mail
addresses for group members; and holding workshops to learn different types
of music and teaching techniques.

After creating a list of goals, the group was itching for a musical
interlude, so everyone took a break and sang a Hebrew round about
instruments.

Using music to keep Yiddish alive and hosting a Jewish music conference
were among other ideas that came out of the meeting.

Songleaders came with a variety of experiences and goals. Some, like Gail
Foorman, talked about practical goals like networking.

"I want to know what other people are doing. I want to learn from them,
make connections, learn more music," said Foorman, who leads young adult
services at Congregation Sherith Israel and is recording a CD of Shabbat
songs.

Other participants, like Joel Siegel, songleader at Temple Isaiah in
Lafayette, voiced more idealistic goals.

"Music can undermine our entrenched ideas about others and ourselves," he
said. "It speaks to people on an emotional and head level at the same
time."

Networking among teachers is something the BJE wants to encourage through
its La'atid program, said Debbie Findling, BJE's director of school
services.

La'atid, meaning "to the future," has also created a network for
special-education teachers and has plans to create a network for art
teachers.

"We hope there will be a ripple effect on their ability to teach in
schools. They can be more effective in community than as individuals,"
Findling said. Participants can receive professional development units.
(Teachers who earn 16 units receive a $150 stipend.)

For Selznick, who hopes to become a cantor, music is a way to connect with
God, and community.

"For me, music is prayer. It's the way I connect to my Judaism in the most
primal sense.

"We live in a speaking world. Singing is a very conscious step away from
the mundane, speaking world."

The next meeting of the songleaders' collective will be at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 26 at the BJE library, 601 14th Avenue at Balboa, S.F
Information: Joanna Selznick, (415) 641-7225 or joanna (at) 
alumni(dot)stanford(dot)org

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