youth choir
Open to all children in grades 2-7 who love to sing contemporary Jewish music
Our fun, spirited rehearsals are held 2 or 3 Sundays per month at Congregation Olam Tikvah, 3800 Glenbrook Rd, Fairfax from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. and are conducted by Carol, the group’s founding director.
Kol NoVa is a non-audition community youth choir; its members come from all over Northern Virginia. Kol NoVa members are wonderful kids!
This year’s performances include a Chanukah event at the Pentagon, a Chanukah sing-along at the Hebrew Home, an Israeli-themed, Washington-area Jewish choral concert at the Strathmore Concert Hall, a Habitat-for-Humanity "Building on Faith" concert and two Greenspring Village Friday evening services.
Children are welcome to try out a rehearsal before deciding whether to join. They really are fun! Just let Carol know to expect you. Tuition is $82/semester. Pro-rated tuition is possible for those who join late. Most children come back year after year!
Kol NoVa CALENDAR for 2007-008 (updated 3/9/08)
Semester 1:
2007
Oct 14 rehearsal
Oct 21 rehearsal
Oct 28 Sam Glaser concert at Beth Emeth
Nov 4 rehearsal
Nov 11 rehearsal
Nov 18 rehearsal
Nov 25 NO rehearsal – Thanksgiving Weekend
Dec 2 rehearsal
Dec 6 Pentagon Executive Dining Room Chanukah Event
Dec 9 Hebrew Home Chanukah Family Sing-Along.
Dec 16 rehearsal
Dec 23 NO rehearsal – FCPS Winter Break
Dec 30 Annual Family Swim-&-Sing Party at Audrey Moore Rec Center
2008
Jan 6 rehearsal
Jan 11 Friday Evening Service at Greenspring Village
Jan 13 OPT. Regional Strathmore rehearsal at Rodef Shalom 2:00-3:30 p.m.
Jan 13 Kol NoVa rehearsal at OT 4:30 p.m.
Jan 20 NO rehearsal – MLK Weekend
Jan 27 Regional Strathmore rehearsal at Northern Virginia Hebrew Cong
2:00-3:30 p.m. (no rehearsal at OT this day)
Semester 2:
Feb 3 rehearsal
Feb 10 Regional Strathmore rehearsal at Beth El Hebrew 2:00-3:30 p.m.
(no rehearsal at OT this day)
Feb 17 NO rehearsal - Washington’s Birthday Weekend
Feb 24 REQUIRED final Strathmore music rehearsal at Washington Hebrew at 2:00 p.m.
Feb 26 TUESDAY REQUIRED tech rehearsal at STRATHMORE 7:00 p.m.
Mar 2 Sunday Strathmore Concert – performance begins 3:30 p.m.
Mar 9 Sunday rehearsal at Olam Tikvah 4:30-5:30 p.m.
Mar 16 NO rehearsal (Purim activities)
Mar 23 NO rehearsal (FCPS Spring Break)
Mar 30 Sunday rehearsal at Olam Tikvah 4:30-5:30 p.m. for Dayenu!
Apr 5 Saturday Dayenu! Tot Seder at Beth El Hebrew; arrive 10:50 a.m.; attire is Kol NoVa t-shirt, dark pants
Apr 6 Sunday rehearsal at Olam Tikvah 4:00-5:00 p.m. (please note earlier time)
Apr 13 Sunday rehearsal at Olam Tikvah 4:30-5:30
Apr 20 NO rehearsal (1st day of Passover)
Apr 27 Sunday extended rehearsal at Carol's home 4:00-5:45 p.m.
May 4 Sunday "Building on Faith" Habitat for Humanity interfaith concert. Rehearsal 2:00 p.m. at Annandale United Methodist Church. Concert at 3:00 p.m. Attire: white shirt, black skirt/pants, choir vest
May 9 Friday Evening Service at Greenspring Village, Springfield. Arrive 7:00 p.m. for 7:15 p.m. service. Attire: white shirt, black skirt/pants, choir vest
May 11 NO rehearsal (Mother’s Day)
May 18 Sunday. Choir celebration! Time and location TBA.
This year’s performances include a Chanukah event at the Pentagon, a Chanukah sing-along at the Hebrew Home, an Israeli-themed, Washington-area Jewish choral concert at the Strathmore Concert Hall, and two Greenspring Village Friday evening services.
This letter that follows comes from the father of a Kol NoVa member. It helps explain what makes membership in Kol NoVa something that can have both an immediate and a lasting impact on our young singers:
Dear Carol,
We are so pleased that our daughter is in your Kol NoVa Youth Choir.
I was thinking about what you do, as part of our raising a Jewish daughter. In an era of unprecedented peace, freedom and prosperity and at a time of decreasing synagogue memberships and increasing intermarriage, how do we get our children to make Judaism a positive choice? This is one of the problems documented in studies and books such as "Getting Our Groove Back" by Scott Shay.
I believe you have a major part of the answer. Your choir is fun. Our daughter chose to skip a Girl Scout meeting to sing with the choir at your preschool seder which was packed with children and their families and where the enthusiasm, spirit, and fun were obvious.
When I come home from work during the week, our daughter is singing along with the youth choir practice CD while playing in the living room. Another Kol NoVa parent and I were discussing how much her daughter is learning through the choir. When her daughter was asked to name the Hebrew months in order, her daughter's hand went up immediately. She knew, because that's one of Miss Carol's songs.
It's the Mary Poppins theory. "In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. Find the fun, and snap, the job's a game.... A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, in a most delightful way."
I think you may have one of the answers. If children are exposed very early in their lives and learn that Judaism is a lifelong pursuit filled with song, joy, stories, and fun, then these problems will take care of themselves. At that point, people will have to squeeze in time for a soccer game or shopping after their choir and Hebrew school are over rather than the other way around. Judaism is a very positive religion and way of life. And if children learn that early enough, then it's something they will enjoy choosing to do for the rest of their lives.
Keep up your great work.
Stuart (Weiss)
Para-rabbi and Kol NoVa dad