Organization Type: מיזמים, עמותות, תוכניות
The Jerusalem Youth Chorus is the ensemble-in-residence at the Jerusalem International YMCA and has been featured on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, as well as in the New York Times, on the BBC and on PBS, in Haaretz, Alhurra and many other news sources. We have recorded with multi-platinum Israeli artist and peace activist David Broza in Jerusalem and in London with Duran Duran. Our music video “Home” has amassed over 400,000 views. We have toured to Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Switzerland, and have performed at venues as celebrated as the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the United Nations in Geneva, and as a
featured ensemble at the Yale International Choral Festival. In 2017, our Founder and Director Micah Hendler was selected as one of the Forbes 30 Under 30, and in 2018, chorus alumna Eden Alene won Israel’s X-Factor singing competition.
The Jerusalem Youth Chorus is unique in its combination of music and dialogue programming, providing a transformative experience for our singers that yields both friendship and understanding on an individual and collective level across lines of religion, nationality , language, and culture. W e go beyond simply singing together , delving deeper into one another’s identities, life experiences, communal narratives, religious traditions, and national histories through dialogue, all within the safe space of the musical ensemble and the strong personal bonds and community it creates.
Musically, the Jerusalem Youth Chorus seeks to reflect the values of equality and inclusiveness upon which we are based, truly making manifest the concept of beauty in diversity. As our members come often from vastly different musical traditions, we draw heavy influences from both East and West in our repertoire and musical style. As such, we seek to innovate and challenge boundaries musically as we do in the non-musical elements of our program.
The Jerusalem Youth Chorus is inspired by and affiliated with Seeds of Peace. For more than 25 years, Seeds of Peace has trained the next generation of leaders to transform conflict, at its International Camp for Coexistence in Maine and locally in the regions of the world in which it operates. Micah Hendler is a graduate of Seeds of Peace and a GATHER Fellow. You can make a tax-deductible donation to the Jerusalem Youth Chorus through Seeds of Peace.
The Jerusalem Youth Chorus is a choral and dialogue program for Israeli and Palestinian youth in Jerusalem. Our mission is to provide a space for these young people from East and West Jerusalem to grow together in song and dialogue. Through the co-creation of music and the sharing of stories, we empower youth in Jerusalem with the responsibility to speak and sing their truths, as they become leaders in their communities and inspire singers and listeners around the world to work for peace, justice, inclusion, and equality.
Creating shared, equalizing spaces for Israeli and Palestinian young people to create music together and learn from one another is the core purpose of our work.
