B i o g r a p h y
B i o g r a p h y
B i o g r a p h y
Joshua R. Jacobson holds a Bachelors degree in Music from Harvard College, a Masters in Choral Conducting from the New England Conservatory, a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati, and a Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa from Hebrew College. Before retiring in 2018, Dr. Jacobson served 45 years as Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Northeastern University, including nine years as Music Department Chairman and six years as the Bernard Stotsky Professor of Jewish Cultural Studies. He is also Visiting Professor and Senior Consultant in the School of Jewish Music at Hebrew College. He is also the founder and director of the Zamir Chorale of Boston, a world-renowned ensemble, specializing in Hebrew music. He has conducted workshops on choral music for various groups, including the American Choral Directors Association, and has guest conducted a number of ensembles, including the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Bulgarian National Symphony and Chorus, the New England Conservatory Orchestra and the Boston Lyric Opera Company. He has also written articles on various aspects of choral music, and over one hundred published compositions and arrangements. In 1989 he spent four weeks in Yugoslavia as a Distinguished Professor under the auspices of the Fulbright program. In 1994 Hebrew College awarded him the Benjamin Shevach Award for Distinguished Achievement in Jewish Educational Leadership, in 2004 the Cantors Assembly presented him with its prestigious “Kavod Award,” in 2016 Choral Arts New England presented him the Alfred Nash Patterson Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2018 Chorus America selected him for its Distinguished Service Award. Prof. Jacobson is past President of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. He is the conductor and host of the PBS film, Zamir: Jewish Voices Return to Poland. His book, Chanting the Hebrew Bible: The Art of Cantillation, published by the Jewish Publication Society in 2002, was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. He is co-author of Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire—Volume IV: Hebrew Texts, published by earthsongs in 2009.
Prof. Jacobson’s articles have appeared in The Choral Journal, the American Choral Review, The Journal of Synagogue Music, Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, Encyclopedia Judaica, Studies in Jewish Civilization, Yale University Institute of Sacred Music Colloquium, The Musical Quarterly, and others. His compositions, arrangements and editions have been performed by ACDA honors choirs, by the Boston Pops and Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and by the St. Olaf College Choirs, among others. His music is published by Transcontinental, ECS, Broude Brothers and Earthsongs. He has guest lectured at Harvard, Brandeis, Yale, and many other schools. In addition to his specialization in Jewish music, he has conducted many of the standard choral-orchestral masterworks, including Bach’s Johannespassion, Beethoven’s Mass in C, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Poulenc’s Gloria, Schubert’s Mass in E-flat, Thompson’s A Peaceable Kingdom. He has also prepared Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for Daniel Barenboim and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahler's Second Symphony for Zubin Mehta and the I. P. O., Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms for Gary Bertini and the Jerusalem Symphony, Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw for Piero Bellugi and the New England Conservatory Orchestra. In 2011 Jacobson launched "Middle Eastern Harmonies," a program bringing together on stage Jewish and Arab music and musicians. He has performed the program for diverse audiences throughout New England.
Here are excerpts from some press reviews. Richard Dyer wrote in the Boston Globe (June11, 2002) “Jacobson has a gift for programming that is instructive and entertaining, and more often than not, the Zamir Chorale performs works that music lovers would be unlikely to hear anyplace else.” Philip Greenfield in the American Record Guide (March/April, 2002), “The Zamir Chorale of Boston has become America’s foremost Jewish choral ensemble.” Kevin Gabriel in The Worcester Telegram and Gazette (March 25, 1996), “Jacobson led polished performances that emphasized clarity and balance. And the chorale’s professionalism was everywhere evident, particlularly in its unflagging attention to detail.”
Joshua R. Jacobson holds a Bachelors degree in Music from Harvard College, a Masters in Choral Conducting from the New England Conservatory, a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati, and a Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa from Hebrew College. Before retiring in 2018, Dr. Jacobson served 45 years as Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Northeastern University, including nine years as Music Department Chairman and six years as the Bernard Stotsky Professor of Jewish Cultural Studies. He is also Visiting Professor and Senior Consultant in the School of Jewish Music at Hebrew College. He is also the founder and director of the Zamir Chorale of Boston, a world-renowned ensemble, specializing in Hebrew music. He has conducted workshops on choral music for various groups, including the American Choral Directors Association, and has guest conducted a number of ensembles, including the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Bulgarian National Symphony and Chorus, the New England Conservatory Orchestra and the Boston Lyric Opera Company. He has also written articles on various aspects of choral music, and over one hundred published compositions and arrangements. In 1989 he spent four weeks in Yugoslavia as a Distinguished Professor under the auspices of the Fulbright program. In 1994 Hebrew College awarded him the Benjamin Shevach Award for Distinguished Achievement in Jewish Educational Leadership, in 2004 the Cantors Assembly presented him with its prestigious “Kavod Award,” in 2016 Choral Arts New England presented him the Alfred Nash Patterson Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2018 Chorus America selected him for its Distinguished Service Award. Prof. Jacobson is past President of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. He is the conductor and host of the PBS film, Zamir: Jewish Voices Return to Poland. His book, Chanting the Hebrew Bible: The Art of Cantillation, published by the Jewish Publication Society in 2002, was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. He is co-author of Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire—Volume IV: Hebrew Texts, published by earthsongs in 2009.
Prof. Jacobson’s articles have appeared in The Choral Journal, the American Choral Review, The Journal of Synagogue Music, Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, Encyclopedia Judaica, Studies in Jewish Civilization, Yale University Institute of Sacred Music Colloquium, The Musical Quarterly, and others. His compositions, arrangements and editions have been performed by ACDA honors choirs, by the Boston Pops and Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and by the St. Olaf College Choirs, among others. His music is published by Transcontinental, ECS, Broude Brothers and Earthsongs. He has guest lectured at Harvard, Brandeis, Yale, and many other schools. In addition to his specialization in Jewish music, he has conducted many of the standard choral-orchestral masterworks, including Bach’s Johannespassion, Beethoven’s Mass in C, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Poulenc’s Gloria, Schubert’s Mass in E-flat, Thompson’s A Peaceable Kingdom. He has also prepared Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for Daniel Barenboim and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahler's Second Symphony for Zubin Mehta and the I. P. O., Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms for Gary Bertini and the Jerusalem Symphony, Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw for Piero Bellugi and the New England Conservatory Orchestra. In 2011 Jacobson launched "Middle Eastern Harmonies," a program bringing together on stage Jewish and Arab music and musicians. He has performed the program for diverse audiences throughout New England.
Here are excerpts from some press reviews. Richard Dyer wrote in the Boston Globe (June11, 2002) “Jacobson has a gift for programming that is instructive and entertaining, and more often than not, the Zamir Chorale performs works that music lovers would be unlikely to hear anyplace else.” Philip Greenfield in the American Record Guide (March/April, 2002), “The Zamir Chorale of Boston has become America’s foremost Jewish choral ensemble.” Kevin Gabriel in The Worcester Telegram and Gazette (March 25, 1996), “Jacobson led polished performances that emphasized clarity and balance. And the chorale’s professionalism was everywhere evident, particlularly in its unflagging attention to detail.”
Joshua R. Jacobson holds a Bachelors degree in Music from Harvard College, a Masters in Choral Conducting from the New England Conservatory, a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati, and a Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa from Hebrew College. Before retiring in 2018, Dr. Jacobson served 45 years as Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Northeastern University, including nine years as Music Department Chairman and six years as the Bernard Stotsky Professor of Jewish Cultural Studies. He is also Visiting Professor and Senior Consultant in the School of Jewish Music at Hebrew College. He is also the founder and director of the Zamir Chorale of Boston, a world-renowned ensemble, specializing in Hebrew music. He has conducted workshops on choral music for various groups, including the American Choral Directors Association, and has guest conducted a number of ensembles, including the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Bulgarian National Symphony and Chorus, the New England Conservatory Orchestra and the Boston Lyric Opera Company. He has also written articles on various aspects of choral music, and over one hundred published compositions and arrangements. In 1989 he spent four weeks in Yugoslavia as a Distinguished Professor under the auspices of the Fulbright program. In 1994 Hebrew College awarded him the Benjamin Shevach Award for Distinguished Achievement in Jewish Educational Leadership, in 2004 the Cantors Assembly presented him with its prestigious “Kavod Award,” in 2016 Choral Arts New England presented him the Alfred Nash Patterson Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2018 Chorus America selected him for its Distinguished Service Award. Prof. Jacobson is past President of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. He is the conductor and host of the PBS film, Zamir: Jewish Voices Return to Poland. His book, Chanting the Hebrew Bible: The Art of Cantillation, published by the Jewish Publication Society in 2002, was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. He is co-author of Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire—Volume IV: Hebrew Texts, published by earthsongs in 2009.
Prof. Jacobson’s articles have appeared in The Choral Journal, the American Choral Review, The Journal of Synagogue Music, Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, Encyclopedia Judaica, Studies in Jewish Civilization, Yale University Institute of Sacred Music Colloquium, The Musical Quarterly, and others. His compositions, arrangements and editions have been performed by ACDA honors choirs, by the Boston Pops and Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and by the St. Olaf College Choirs, among others. His music is published by Transcontinental, ECS, Broude Brothers and Earthsongs. He has guest lectured at Harvard, Brandeis, Yale, and many other schools. In addition to his specialization in Jewish music, he has conducted many of the standard choral-orchestral masterworks, including Bach’s Johannespassion, Beethoven’s Mass in C, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Poulenc’s Gloria, Schubert’s Mass in E-flat, Thompson’s A Peaceable Kingdom. He has also prepared Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for Daniel Barenboim and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahler's Second Symphony for Zubin Mehta and the I. P. O., Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms for Gary Bertini and the Jerusalem Symphony, Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw for Piero Bellugi and the New England Conservatory Orchestra. In 2011 Jacobson launched "Middle Eastern Harmonies," a program bringing together on stage Jewish and Arab music and musicians. He has performed the program for diverse audiences throughout New England.
Here are excerpts from some press reviews. Richard Dyer wrote in the Boston Globe (June11, 2002) “Jacobson has a gift for programming that is instructive and entertaining, and more often than not, the Zamir Chorale performs works that music lovers would be unlikely to hear anyplace else.” Philip Greenfield in the American Record Guide (March/April, 2002), “The Zamir Chorale of Boston has become America’s foremost Jewish choral ensemble.” Kevin Gabriel in The Worcester Telegram and Gazette (March 25, 1996), “Jacobson led polished performances that emphasized clarity and balance. And the chorale’s professionalism was everywhere evident, particlularly in its unflagging attention to detail.”
JOSHUA JACOBSON
title: Hashkivenu (Let Us Lie Down in Peace)
composer: Bernstein, Leonard
publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
catalogue number: M051467259
voicing: SATB div, T solo
accompaniment: organ
language: Hebrew
text: Friday evening synagogue liturgy
year of composition: 1945
timing: 6:30
recordings: Naxos (Leonard Bernstein: A Jewish Legacy)
level of difficulty: challenging
service: any evening service
description: This early work by Bernstein is a setting of the evening prayer for peace, commissioned by New York’s Park Avenue Synagogue. In ternary form, the outside sections in the Phrygian mode in flowing triple time, stand in sharp contrast with the highly syncopated Lydian middle section.
title: Kaddish (Sanctification)
composer: Rossi, Salamone
publisher: Transcontinental
catalogue number: 982046
voicing: SSATB
accompaniment: a cappella
language: Aramaic
text: liturgy
year of composition: 1622 (published)
timing: 3:00
recordings: Rossi
level of difficulty: moderate
service: Sabbath musaf service (Separdic or Italian rite)
description: Salamone Rossi, a Jewish composer working in the Gonzaga court in Mantua at the beginning of the seventeenth century, composed the only substantial collection of polyphonic music for the synagogue to appear before the nineteenth century. The “Kaddish” (or “doxology”) is set here in the joyous style of the balletto.
title: Kiddush (Sanctification)
composer: Kurt Weill
publisher: European American
catalogue number: EA 399-7
voicing: SATB div
accompaniment: piano (or organ)
language: Hebrew
text: Sabbath liturgy
year of composition: 1946
timing: 3:15
recordings: Jewish Composers in America
level of difficulty: moderate
service: Sabbath evening service
description: A rare liturgical gem from the pen of the great German-American composer. Like many of his works, “Kiddush” blends elements of jazz (the blues scale) with classical formalism. This setting of the blessing over the wine, commissioned by New York’s Park Avenue Synagogue, is dedicated to the composer’s father, Albert Weill, chief cantor in Dessau, Germany until 1919.
title: Kol Nidre (op. 39) ("All Vows" -- Yom Kippur Eve Service)
composer: Arnold Schoenberg
publisher: Boelke-Bomart
catalogue number: 20
voicing: SATB, narrator
accompaniment: large orchestra
language: Aramaic, Hebrew and English
text: Yom Kippur liturgy & Schoenberg
year of composition: 1938
timing: 11:00
recordings: Sony 44571
level of difficulty: moderate
service: Yom Kippur eve
description: This work is much more demanding on the orchestra than the chorus. It is based on the traditional Yom Kippur text and its Ashkenazic melody, but the composer consciously avoided any hint of sentimentality.
title: Ledor Vador (In Every Generaion)
composer: Meir Finkelstein (arranged by Joshua Jacobson)
publisher: Transcontinental
catalogue number: 992074
voicing: SATB (solo S or T)
accompaniment: piano or organ
language: Hebrew (or English)
text: synagogue liturgy
year of composition:
timing: 3:00
recordings: The Songs Live On
level of difficulty: easy to moderate
service: any morning service
description: A very sweet setting of the last paragraph of the Kedushah (Sanctification). The choir supports the cantor and sings the melodious refrain.
title: Mah Tovu (How Good Are Your Dwellings)
composer: Louis Lewandowski
publisher: Broude Brothers
catalogue number: CR-69
voicing: SATB, T (or bar) solo
accompaniment: organ (or piano)
timing: 3:00
language: Hebrew (alternate English)
text: liturgy
year of composition: circa 1882
recording: Majesty of Holiness (HZ-912)
level of difficulty: moderate
service: opening of any service
description: Louis Lewandowski was the first musician to serve the Jewish synagogue as a choirmaster serves a church. In 1864 the building in Berlin of the Oranienburgerstrasse Temple, which was equipped with an organ, offered Lewandowski the opportunity of creating an entire new service with organ accompaniment — a task never before undertaken. The culmination of his career came in 1882 with the publication of his magnum opus, Todah W’Simrah (Thanks and Song), a setting of the entire liturgical cycle for four-part choir, cantor and organ. “Mah Tovu” is the prayer recited upon first entering a synagogue. Its homophonic style, somewhat reminiscent of Mendelssohn, evokes the pomp and formality of worship in nineteenth-century Berlin. An orchestration is available from Transcontinental Publications.
title: Maoz Tsur (Fortress Rock) and Chanukah Candle Blessings
composer: traditional (arranged by Abraham Binder and Joshua Jacobson)
publisher: Transcontinental
catalogue number: 992017
voicing: SATB. Solo (any voice)
accompaniment: piano or organ (optional)
language: Hebrew and English
text: liturgy for Chanukah
year of composition: 1990 (re-arrangement)
timing: 2:05
recordings: Lights
level of difficulty: easy to moderate
service: Chanukah
description: A fairly straightforward setting of the traditional Ashkenazic melody for the three blessings of the Chanukah candles—the choir provides a wordless accompaniment to the soloist. The Maoz Tsur (again in the traditional Ashkenazic melody) is sung in homophony by the full chorus, with some lovely chromatic harmonies.
title: Maoz Tsur/ Fortress Rock
composer: Hugo Weisgall
publisher: Theodore Presser
catalogue number: 342-40014
voicing: SATB
accompaniment: a cappella
language: Hebrew (English alternate available)
text: Modecai Ben Yitzhak (Hanukkah hymn)
year of composition: 1957
timing: 1:05
recordings: Lights
level of difficulty: moderate
service: Chanukah
description: Weisgall’s setting (one of a group of “Three Hebraic Folksongs”) is based on an old Italian Jewish melody. Weisgall’s style is lean, terse, and elegant.
title: May the Words (Yih’yu le’rotzon)
composer: Hugo Weisgall
publisher: T. Presser
catalogue number: 312-40507
voicing: SATB
accompaniment: a cappella
language: Hebrew (English alternative text)
text: Psalm 19:14
year of composition: 1935 (revised 1950)
timing: 2:00
recordings: Naxos 8.559425
level of difficulty: challenging
service: any service
description: A beautifully crafted setting of the verse that ends the silent prayer in the Jewish liturgy. This slow meditation has some difficult but stunning enharmonic key changes.
title: Min Hametsar (From out of the Straits)
composer: Jacques Halévy
publisher: Transcontinental
catalogue number: 982073
voicing: SATB (TBB soli)
accompaniment: a cappella or organ
language: Hebrew
text: Psalm 118
year of composition: ca. 1818
timing: 7:11
recordings: The Majesty of Holiness
level of difficulty: moderate
service: Hallel (Festival Psalms)
description: The great opera composer wrote this setting when he was 18 years old for his father. It is a dramatic setting of the “Hallel” Psalm from the Festival liturgy.
title: Silent Devotion and Response (from "Sacred Service")
composer: Ernest Bloch
publisher: Broude Brothers
catalogue number: BB 179
voicing: SATB
accompaniment: a cappella (optional prelude for organ)
timing: 2:15
language: Hebrew (alternate English)
text: Psalm 19:14
year of composition: 1933
recordings: The entire Sacred Service can be heard on SONY SM2K47533.
level of difficulty: moderate
service: any
description: This octavo is a brief excerpt from Bloch’s magnum opus, “Sacred Service” (“Avodat Hakodesh”), one of the only truly great choral-orchestral settings of the Jewish liturgy. The brief prelude (“silent devotion”) for keyboard (actually a reduction of the orchestration) may easily be omitted. This neo-romantic work gives the chorus the opportunity to show off its blend and its ability to phrase expressively. The tempo is slow, the mood is contemplative and the mode is Dorian.
title: Sim Shalom (Grant Peace)
composer: Max Janowski
publisher: Transcontinental
catalogue number: 986022
voicing: SATB, T solo
accompaniment: organ or piano
language: Hebrew
text: liturgy
year of composition: 1968
timing: 5:00
recordings: The Songs Live On
level of difficulty: moderate
service: any morning service
description: Janowski had a rare gift for melody, and his melodies were modal, invoking the strains of traditional Eastern European synagogue music. The chorus must be able to sustain a long phrase and to sing comfortably in the upper range of their voices. A powerful and dramatic tenor soloist is called for.
title: Song of Praise
composer: Robert Starer
publisher: MMB
catalogue number: MMB 89001
voicing: mostly unison (some two-part), any combination of voices
accompaniment: piano (or harp, violin and cello)
timing: 4:40
language: Hebrew and English
text: from Psalm 92
year of composition: 1988
recordings: Jewish Composers in America
level of difficulty: easy
service: Friday evening
description: Robert Starer belongs to the generation of young Jewish musicians who fled Austria in the 1930s. After spending a decade in Jerusalem, Starer eventually settled in the United States. “Song of Praise” is one of Starer’s many works in which he alternates Hebrew and English lyrics. The writing is basically tonal (or modal), but frequent and unexpected modulations are common. The voicing is flexible enough so that this piece works equally well with all-male, all-female or mixed choirs, large or small. This is the first of four choruses in the Psalm suite, Mizmor L’David.
title: Tefillah (Prayer for the State of Israel)
composer: Burger, David
publisher: Transcontinental
catalogue number: 992018
voicing: SATB div
accompaniment: piano
language: Hebrew
text: liturgy, prayer for the State of Israel
year of composition: 1975
timing: 4:40
recordings: The Songs of Israel
level of difficulty: moderate, somewhat challenging
service: Sabbath morning, Israel Idependence Day
description: Burger’s music reflects his strongly emotion ties to the Jewish people. This prayer for peace in the State of Israel is lyrical, yet powerful. Not too difficult.
title: Tov Lehodos (It Is Good to Give Thanks)
composer: Franz Schubert
publisher: Broude Brothers
catalogue number: CR 43
voicing: SATB, baritone solo and SATB quartet
accompaniment: a cappella (optional organ)
language: Hebrew (alternate English)
text: Psalm 92
year of composition: 1828
timing: 4:15
recordings: Majesty of Holiness
level of difficulty: moderate
service: Friday evening
description: In 1828 Cantor Salomon Sulzer commissioned Schubert to compose a setting in Hebrew of the Sabbath Psalm for his renowned choir. The work, in ABA form, is in the style of the part songs of the early Romantic period.