Marina Nebro: Arts and Culture

To understand the following blog post about my Jewish weekend at the University of Pennsylvania, there are some basic things I must first define:

• KOACH
  Within Judaism, there are many different denominations. These separations go from Re-Constructionist Judaism to ultra-Orthodox. KOACH is the college outreach program of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. In a way, it is an extension of Camp Ramah and USY programs designed for elementary through high school aged students. Problems with funding and organization make it hard to truly define what KOACH is as compared to Ramah and USY both of which are known and well established. As of now, KOACH has only eight college-campus interns throughout the U.S. (I am one of them), and KOACH hosts one yearly convention…
• KALLAH
  It came to my attention that kallah is not specifically related to KOACH in general, but is a term that has been used since the Babylonian captivity (thank you Wikipedia!). Though traditionally referring to a convention of teachers, the word kallah is thought to be derived from the Aramaic word meaning “totality.” My interpretation of this translation means that a kallah is a convention bringing an entirety of a community, of people, together for some higher purpose. In the case of KOACH Kallah, we were all brought together to strengthen the present and future foundations of Conservative Judaism. (more…)

It’s been such a horrific day outside. I woke up this morning seeing snow on the ground, but by the time I first stepped foot out of doors at 9:30, all the snow had been washed away by cold, puddly rain. The sky was gray with no hope of letting the sun peak through. It was a slow day filled with napping, moping, and moaning about the hundreds of pages I needed to read for class. I had no plans for the evening, and was hoping for something interesting to happen.

Who knew there was a concert tonight at LeFrak Concert Hall? I definitely didn’t! Luckily, in calling a friend, I found out that a visiting school was planning on performing with our own Queen’s College Women’s Choir. Due to the inclement weather, however, the concert was pushed to 6:00 instead of 7:30, leaving me in a rush without dinner.

As I approached the Aaron Copland School of Music, I saw young girls in black dresses rushing to the front doors with their camera phones out. Were they excited to see someone coming to their concert? I didn’t realize, though, that they had never seen snow before! These children are from Florida, a place where snow never falls. They were in a winter wonderland!

Now, what is the Gulf Coast Youth Choir?
Founded in 1992 by Dr. Lynne Gackle, the choir is a not-for-profit, choral arts organization for young people in the Tampa Bay and surrounding metropolitan area. This community is dedicated to excellence in the performance of choral music and to the creation of an environment which fosters musical development.

Within this Youth Choir, there were various small groups – the Voce di Vita, Mannchor, Girl Choir, and Le Petit Choeur. They each had their moment to shine, and I shall highlight one song from each group. (more…)