arts&life

music

The Maccabeats
in New York City.
Julian Horowitz is
on the far right.

They’ve Got The Beat

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Maccabeats

bring their golden

voices to the 2018

Walk4Friendship.

details

The Walk4Friendship activi-
ties run 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 2, in West
Bloomfield. To learn more,
register or support a team,
visit walk4friendship.com.

44

August 30 • 2018

J

ulian Horowitz grew up with
a Modern Orthodox outlook
and especially enjoyed sing-
ing holiday songs around the
Shabbat table and participating
in the melodic portions of syna-
gogue prayer. Attending a Jewish
high school in Brooklyn, he
broadened his interest by partici-
pating with choral groups.
When Horowitz enrolled at
Yeshiva University in New York,
he became friendly with students
who shared his enthusiasm for a
cappella singing, and they joined
together for an informal glee
club.
Horowitz, preparing for a
career in finance and real estate
while becoming a founding
member of this club, realized

jn

there was some outside attention
to the vocalists’ approach, and
with his fellow singers, accepted
invitations for two public per-
formances in their first year
together.
That was some 10 years ago,
and since then, group mem-
bers named themselves the
Maccabeats, released recordings
and have been booked for ever-
increasing numbers of appear-
ances, some bringing them to
Michigan. All the while, their
fan base worldwide activated
more than 20 million views on
YouTube.
The Maccabeats’ next local
appearance will be Sunday, Sept.
2, when they will entertain at the
13th annual Walk4Friendship

to support children, teens and
adults with special needs as
served by the Friendship Circle
in West Bloomfield. The rep-
ertoire will include an eclectic
mix of Israeli numbers, contem-
porary Jewish songs and recent
American selections rewritten as
religious parodies.
Hoping to be part of raising
$600,000 in the daylong event,
the Maccabeats will be getting
ready for their segment as walk-
ers come together at 10:30 a.m.
for the opening ceremony at
the West Bloomfield Town Hall.
A 1.4-mile stride along Walnut
Lake Road will wind up at
Friendship Circle’s Farber Center
for the concert, with hot dogs
along with other treats and addi-

tional entertainment.
Activities, scheduled through 3
p.m., feature bounce houses, face
painting and 3-D images created
on the spot by Ann Arbor-based
chalk artist David Zinn, joined
by talented Soul Studio artists
who represent Friendship Circle
guidance. An inflatable and
interactive game, Hippo Chow
Down, also will be offered for
youngsters.
“We always try to gear each
concert to the event and audi-
ence,” says Horowitz, Maccabeats
music director who has firsthand
appreciation for the vocational,
recreational, social and emo-
tional programming offered to
3,000 individuals with special
needs and their families across