arts & entertainment
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Composer/service leader Noah Aronson
kicks off Temple Beth El summer series.
Bill Carroll
Contributing Writer
T
he best way to characterize Noah
Aronson is to call him a "traveling
minstrel," like those musicians or
entertainers of medieval times later called
troubadours.
But Aronson is a more modern minstrel,
a composer/performer who makes a living
putting new music to traditional Jewish
prayers and, in general, sprucing up and
re-energizing Shabbat services around the
country.
Aronson, 28, and single, lives in
Brooklyn, N.Y. He will "wander" into Temple
Beth El in Bloomfield Township over the
weekend of June 15-16 to lead a musical
celebration launching the temple's annual
Irvin and June Yackness Summer Speaker
Series, which will feature 6 p.m. Friday eve-
ning Shabbat services and a variety of guest
artists and speakers through Aug. 24.
Aronson sings and plays the piano,
guitar and percussion instruments —
including an Indian instrument called a
shruti box. He says he may play all of them
before the end of the weekend.
The Friday evening services, which also
will include TBE Cantorial Soloist Rachel
Gottlieb Kalmowitz and the temple's
choirs, will be followed by a Shabbat buffet
supper.
On Saturday, June 16, following 10:30
a.m. Shabbat services, Aronson will speak
at a 12:30 p.m. lunch and learn about the
diversity of music found in today's syna-
gogues.
He also will lead a song session after
Havdalah services that evening, follow-
ing Temple Beth El's annual Summer
Olympics, to be held 4-7 p.m. Saturday on
temple grounds; the family event will fea-
ture games and a barbecue.
"I believe in diversity in the music of
the synagogue today," said Aronson. "I've
composed new, more sophisticated music
for old prayers and try to make the liturgy
relevant. I take the traditional words of
the synagogue, for mostly Reform temples,
and infuse new sounds, new vitality into
them.
"I find it a challenge to do this in a
synagogue and try to accomplish it in a
manner that still makes the congregation
feel comfortable!"
The guiding light of Aronson's career
has been his father, Ted Aronson, who
retires this month after 45 years as
head cantor of Reform Temple Sharey
Tefilo Israel in South Orange, N.J., Noah
Aronson's hometown, where he attended
religious school through high school.
He went on to Muhlenberg College in
Allentown, Pa., and the Berklee College of
Music in Boston, "where I really focused
));
Noah Aronson could have used an ark 15 years ago at a synagogue in South Orange,
N.J., where he celebrated his bar mitzvah. Torrential rains flooded the city's streets,
preventing a number of people from attending synagogue services and the party
that night. And what was the Torah portion that morning? "It was about Noah and
his ark," laughs Aronson.
Noah Aronson: At Temple
Beth El this weekend.
on my musical career': he said.
"Music just comes to me naturally" said
Aronson. "I watched and listened to my
father for years and took some voice lessons
so it all added up to a Jewish musical career.
I'm just pulling from my Jewish roots."
Aronson's Jewish pursuits include work-
ing with theater groups and choirs, help-
ing children and studying the Torah. "I'm
lucky that I'm able to merge all of these
interests into one career': he said.
When he's not performing elsewhere
on weekends, Aronson is artist in resi-
dence at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley,
Mass., and is "visioning partner" for
Congregation B'nai Jehudah in Kansas
City, Mo.
"That's the name they gave me for help-
ing to re-imagine prayer in their com-
munity. I try to put new energy to prayers
wherever I can': said Aronson, who feels it's
important to make repeat visits to congre-
gations to keep "building" their services.
Aronson also is a founding member of
a Jewish artists collective named NuRootz,
an organization of eight-10 young Jewish
professional musicians "who come togeth-
er to embark on similar musical ventures
in a collaborative program rather than
compete with one another," and a member
of Six13, a six-man a cappella band whose
songs range from hip-hop dance tracks to
rock anthems.
Aronson is most excited right now
about the recent release of his latest solo
CD, Am I Awake, a series of new melodies
of Jewish synagogue music. It includes
music for children's choirs and religious
schools as well as solo cantorial pieces and
music perfect for congregational worship.
Its title track, "Am I Awake': is a reminder
to be mindful during prayer.
Temple Beth El Cantorial Soloist Rachel
Gottlieb Kalmowitz met Aronson at a can-
tors' conference in Boston, "and we had a
delightful discussion on Jewish music and
what he's trying to accomplish': she said. "I
then heard his beautiful voice and music
on some CDs, and we invited him here.
"He's an up-and-coming performer who
adds new flavors and modern sensibilities
to Jewish prayers. We need new melodies
in our temples, yet music that is still rec-
ognizable," she said.
"Noah provides music that seems to be
very appealing to a broad array of people,
both the younger and older members of
the congregation."
Noah Aronson's appearances at Temple Beth El are open to the community. The
6 p.m. Friday, June 15, Shabbat service is free; the buffet supper that follows is
$18 for adults/$11 for children ages 4-12/no charge for children under 4 (RSVP
by noon Friday, June 15, to 248-851-1100). The 12:30 p.m. Saturday, June 16,
Shabbat lunch and learn following 10:30 a.m. Shabbat morning services is free
(RSVP by noon Friday, June 15, to 248-851-1100) as are events at the Temple
Beth El Summer Olympics Saturday from 4-7 p.m. and the Aronson-led song
session following Havdalah services. For further information, call (248) 851-
1100 or go to www.tbeonline.org .
June 14 • 2012
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