Magevet
Magevet is a collegiate Jewish a cappella singing group at Yale University. The group's repertoire includes liturgical, traditional, and modern arrangements of Jewish, Hebrew, and Israeli songs. Each year, Magevet conducts two major domestic or international tours and numerous weekend-length tours throughout New England and the mid-Atlantic states. The group has also performed special concerts for Israeli statesman Shimon Peres and Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.
Magevet | |
|---|---|
 Magevet in November 2006 after a performance for Shimon Peres, former President of Israel. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Yale University |
| Genres | A cappella |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Website | http://www.magevet.com |
| Members | Josh Czaczkes Ed Gelernt Jake Kalodner Ella Lubell Clara Montgomery Saul Roselaar, Business Manager Miriam Ross Shalhevet Schwartz, Musical Director Miriam Koypto Akiva Weinberger Daniel Edison Gloria Lyu Julia Kahn Madison Hahamy Eric Risch |
Name
The group's name is the Hebrew word for "towel." The group was allegedly founded in a sauna in the basement of Calhoun College, one of the undergraduate residential colleges at Yale, in the spring of 1993 by four Orthodox Jewish men who enjoyed the acoustics of the sauna and decided to form a singing group. "Magevet" was chosen as the group's name to remind its members of their early experiences together.
Membership
Members join the group through the a cappella rush process at Yale University. This process begins when freshmen arrive on campus in late August and culminates in mid- to late-September with tap night. Members audition and are selected for membership based on their singing ability and the musical needs of the group. Students typically join during their freshman year and sing in the group for their four years as undergraduates at Yale.
Tours
Each year, the group embarks on two major tours. Internationally, the Magevet has visited Germany,[1] the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Canada, Israel, South Africa, Argentina, and Chile. In the United States, the group has traveled to California,[2] Florida, Illinois, Nevada, Arizona, Louisiana, Georgia (U.S. state), Michigan, Tennessee, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Throughout the Yale academic year, the group also embarks on weekend tours of the Northeast, including to New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and communities throughout Connecticut and New Jersey.
On May 25, 2014, Magevet joined in solidarity with the Belgian Jewish community in the wake of the tragic shootings at the Brussels Jewish Museum.[3]
Repertoire
The group's repertoire is selected by the group's musical director (affectionately known as the "pitch"). Each new musical director chooses songs to add or remove from the previous year's repertoire. Many pieces in the group's repertoire were arranged by members of the group. The repertoire includes music from Jewish communities around the world, from the Israeli song "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" to a version of "L'cha Dodi" based on a Jewish melody from Calcutta.[4] The group sings in many languages, including Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, Hindi, Luganda and English.
Discography
Magevet has released eight albums to date:
- Mem's the Word (1995)
- Ekh Hu Shar (1997)
- Amen, Selah (2002)
- K'mei Nahar: A Shabbat with Magevet (2003)
- Mik'tze Olam (2004)
- Divrei Shir (2008)
- Aranen (2011)
- Naveh Katan (2016)
External links
References
- "Jewish Museum Berlin - Event on 16 March 2010". www.jmberlin.de. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2015-08-18.
- "'Glee'-ful Magevet bringing sound of (Jewish) music to L.A. | Community". Retrieved 2015-08-18.
- "Belgian Jews touched by a cappella group's impromptu set". Retrieved 2015-08-18.
- pine, dan. "Yale's Magevet is one OK chorale | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California". www.jweekly.com. Retrieved 2015-08-18.