Spring Concert Review

I

recently attended a concert of the Arbel Chorale, our community's independent Jewish choir, to find out how this ensemble has fared under its new music director, Benjamin Gruder.

Founded in 1973 as a student choir at the University of Pennsylvania by David Braverman -- who has since become the well-known local restauranteur and founding president of Le Bus -- the Arbel emulated the Zamir Chorale of New York in style and choice of repertoire. The choir's name is an acronym of four Hebrew words, ohavei rinah bo-u lashir ("lovers of song, come to sing").

I remember the choir's performance of Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms at the Annenberg Center in 1976. The 50 collegiate singers who comprised the choir at that time more than lived up to the invitation inherent in the group's name.

For the 15 years before Gruder took over, Cantor Sheldon Levin led the choir, and he guided the ensemble through a period of successful maturation. When Levin left our community to accept a new pulpit in northern New Jersey last year, the choir's leaders again looked to the New York Zamir Chorale -- this time, to find a new music director.

A graduate of Memphis State University and Williams College, Gruder brings an eclectic background to his new position in Philadelphia. In addition to his participation in the Zamir, he is an accomplished bass and trumpet player, an arranger and a composer.

All of these talents were in evidence at the recent Arbel concert. Gruder brought to his new choir many of the successful arrangements of Israeli songs that have long been part of the Zamir repertoire, including "Ozi V'Zimrat Yah," "Lech Lamidbar," "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" and "Al Kol Eileh."

The Leonard Bernstein arrangement of "Simchu Na" was especially well performed by the choir and its accompanist, Christopher Bradshaw. Gruder added other short Jewish choral works by Linda Hirschorn and Joshua Jacobson to make a well-rounded program, which was complemented by the energetic instrumental accompaniment provided by the popular Ken Ulansey ensemble.

A different tone

Under Gruder's coaching, the choir's tonal color has significantly changed from previous years. The soprano and alto sections sang beautifully, especially in "Ki Mitzion" by Emanuel Amiran. The choir was almost always in tune, especially in the difficult a capella selections.

Veteran Arbel soprano Sharon Kranzel sang a particularly beautiful solo. "Miriam's Song" by Debbie Friedman, presented in a contemporary arrangement by Gruder and featuring eight members of the choir playing diverse rhythm instruments, really took off!

Although his knowledge and use of traditional conducting gestures and grammar seemed to be limited, Gruder nevertheless elicited spirited and precise ensemble singing from the 25-member choir. However, the concert was somewhat hampered by the conductor's comments between the short pieces. The information he provided really belongs in printed program notes that can be checked for accuracy.

Of greatest importance, the 25 singers truly represented the mission of Arbel as stated in the name of the choir: They love to sing the music of the Jewish people with great joy!

Arbel, like other veteran Jewish choirs, is in need of younger participants. It is to be hoped that the current members, under the direction of their energetic new music director, will be able to attract new singers in order to sustain the choir for another quarter century, at the very least.