Kol Simcha Choir

The CBHT Choir is led by Sarah Kim Senor. Consisting of an intrepid and very talented group of congregational volunteers, this choir is a delight to experience. Our name in Hebrew means “voice of joy,” and we hope that your time with us will be a joy to you.

Mission
Our mission is to enjoy learning, singing together, and sharing beautiful music with our congregation to enhance the spiritual experience of our services for everyone. 

Vision
The Choir offers choir members and the larger congregation a channel to a more meaningful and engaged Jewish life through the spiritual and emotional power of music. The Choir offers numerous outlets for individual creativity, musical and spiritual growth, and participative leadership.

Repertoire
All repertoire is selected by a music committee in coordination with the Choir Director with the sole intent of serving the interests of the congregation. The repertoire includes a variety of styles, arrangements and accompaniment, and is selected to encourage congregational participation.

Rehearsals
The Choir rehearsals are uplifting and compelling – they are Positive, Planned, and Participatory.

• Positive: Fun, joyful, and meaningful. Building upon strengths, continuous improvement, constructive coaching.
• Prepared: Each rehearsal is planned beforehand to respect the time of each member. Each rehearsal has a pre-planned balance of learning new music, enhancing old music, learning new musical skills, and enjoying singing with each other.
• Participatory: The Choir offers numerous ways to express creativity and leadership, e.g. Assistant/Student Directors, Congregational Advocate, Music Committee, Music Librarian, etc.

The Congregational Choir is open to CBHT congregants.

The first step is to request an audition with the director. The audition will include:

• Basic scales & range test
• Pitch matching
• Music learning – a brief sight-singing and/or learning by ear assessment. Our annual repertoire includes over 100 pieces, so it’s important to feel comfortable learning music fairly quickly.
• Audition piece – please be prepared to sing about a minute of a piece of your choosing by yourself (a cappella) to showcase your voice

If the Choir Director determines that the fit is good for everyone, you can begin attending rehearsals right away. Generally, it takes over a month to become comfortable enough to sing at services, so we ask that you attend a minimum of three rehearsals before you join us for services, but some people may want longer to work on music, and that is perfectly fine. Just have a discussion with the Choir Director about a timeline that is comfortable for you.