The inspiring festival generated by the European Cantors Association, celebrating the Music of Jewish Prayer, is back! January 31st - June 27th 2026
 

The inspiring festival generated by the European Cantors Association, celebrating the Music of Jewish Prayer, is back from January to June 2026 

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The Festival begins.....

…… at Belsize Square Synagogue on Shabbat Shirah 30/31 January honouring their three glorious choirs and in memory of Henry Kuttner z"l,

Friday 30 January 6.45pm - Service led by Cantor Paul Heller with the Belsize Square Synagogue Synagogue Youth Choir and Professional Choir conducted by Sofia Wright, (organ Michael Cayton).

Saturday 31 January 10.00am service led by Cantor Paul Heller with the Community Choir and Professional Choir conducted by Benjamin Wolf, (organ Michael Cayton).
 

Expect lots of Lewandowski and Sulzer which will be introduced by Ben Wolf at the service.  Rabbi is Gabriel Botnick.  

51 Belsize Square London NW3 4HX 
To attend Telephone 020 7794 3949 or Emailoffice@synagogue.org.uk

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Central Synagogue will be celebrating the Shabbat of Song with Cantor Steven Leas and their regular monthly choir conducted by Harry Style.   And in northwest London, the Ark Synagogue (the Northwood and Pinner Liberal) Synagogue are sporting an augmented choir specially as it also as it includes the 60th Wedding Anniversary blessing of long time Rabbi Andrew Goldstein and his wife Sharon.

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Other Synagogues in London, Leeds and Birmingham invite their members and guests to enjoy a glorious musical Shabbat.

 

The full list of services organised so far is:

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To be part of the six-month ECA ‘From Our Lips …’ National Festival of synagogue music (end-January to June 2026) just choose a date and book your shul in for your own festival service or even a concert by emailing Geraldine@cantors.eu .
 

There are no special requirements other than that you present what your community loves best for its music of Jewish prayer.  Every shul can take part, large or small, to show you care about the music for your community.

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1. All participating synagogues made sure their congregants knew that there would be a musical service and which composition or traditional tunes they would be singing for which prayers. It was surprising how similar the repertoire was in all strands of Jewish worship.
    

2. The music in Orthodox, Masorti, Independent and Reform synagogues all embraced the big-name 19th century liturgical composers of Lewandowsky (Berlin), Sulzer (Vienna) Mombach (London). The influence of the ubiquitous ‘Blue Book’ a compendium of choral and cantorial music from 1899, was still paramount in all strands, creating a strong sense of belonging and satisfaction. 
    

3. There was also some popular innovation in each synagogue service with particular favourites of more modern music (some composed in-house by their resident choirmasters or composers) that are also enjoyed by the communities.
    

4. It was striking how a good strong and confident voice from the bimah galvanised the congregation and created a real buzz in the synagogue.
    

5. A sensitive choir and choirmaster lea the congregation in song creating a rich atmosphere.
    

6. I was surprised at how attentive the congregation of Mill Hill United Synagogue was – and then realised that they had all been asked to request what their guest cantor and resident choir would sing. There had been many suggestions. They were sitting on the edge of their seats hoping that their choice had made the cut! 
    

7. What was a revelation to congregants, was that often for the very first time, synagogue managements and prayer leaders told their members which tunes were being sung, either in emails in advance, or with a helpful handout for each congregant on the day, or actually telling them from the bimah who composed the music for a particular prayer and when. They had been ignorant before that, and they found this information engaging. 
    

8. Often the prayer leader was invited to the bimah to talk about music and the Rabbi also engaged with the music of Jewish prayer in his sermon, informing the congregation about the music they were singing.  
    

9. I was most surprised that many synagogues seem to think that this is an annual event and are already planning what they will do next year for music in their synagogue, to build on this years’ experience.

Read the full report here

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