Jewish Voices A New Group is auditioning singers to explore Jewish culture through song. SUZANNE CHESSLER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS (Above) Minutes from a Zamir Chorale Board of Directors meeting. (Left) Various members of the Zamir Chorale of Metropolitan Detroit. IT wenty-one singers are just not enough for the Zamir Chorale of Metropol- itan Detroit. Thirty- five would do for this season, but members are reaching out for more. Zamir, formed in January with a $10,000 grant from the Max M. Fisher Jewish Community Foun- dation of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, will be holding auditions Sept. 18 and 25. The group wants additional quality vocalists to be part of con- certs featuring traditional and new Jewish music. "A chorus is supposed to make a big sound, and the more singers that we have the more versatili- ty we will have," said Lawrence Katkowsky, president of the group that he founded with first vice president Ilaine Packman. "There's no limit," Ms. Pack- man said. "If we have 40, 50 or 60 singers, that would be won- derful." The chorale, scouting members ages 16 and up, had its premier performance in May, presenting selections in Hebrew, Yiddish and English at the Agency for Jewish Education. "We are trying to put together a choral organization that would cater to the Jewish community and be good enough to go through the entire repertoire of Jewish music whether from the 16th century or avant garde," said Mr. Katkowsky, an attorney who has performed with synagog-tie cho- ruses and the Wayne State Uni- versity Men's Glee Club. "I am told that maybe 15 years ago a similar organization exist- ed, but there hasn't been anoth- er in Michigan since then." Zamir, which means "nightin- gale," is both setting up inde- pendent concerts with minimal admission fees and making mem- bers available to entertain as part of other events. Planners want audiences to feel they have listened to fine mu- sical performances while experi- encing a link to their heritage. It was an interest in experiencing that kind of ancestral link that gave Mr. Katkowsky and Ms. Packman the idea to start the chorale. "Baine and I were singing with the Langsford Singers, a non-de- nominational group, and we were touring England and Wales in the summer of 1992," Mr. Katkowsky recalled. "We were the only Jewish members of the touring group, and after we had done a concert at one of the chapels, there was a feeling of cultural isolation." Ms. Packman, a health edu- cation specialist who has per- formed with the Temple Kol Ami choir and the Madrigal Singers, said, "Larry and I looked at each other and said we'd like to do something that's more indicative of our own roots. "We went through a long peri- od of research and began by try- JEWISH VOICES page 82 CT) 0, CC LLJ 2 LtJ 0 LU CC) 73