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Nashirah
Jonathan Coopersmith, Conductor
Unlike
most major metropolitan areas on the East Coast and around the country,
the Greater Philadelphia area has not had a high-quality community-based
choral organization, such as the Zamir Chorale of New York or Zamir
Boston, that focuses on Jewish repertoire. Given the long and
illustrious history of choral music in Philadelphia, Nashirah: The
Jewish Chorale of Greater Philadelphia was developed to fill this void
in the Philadelphia Jewish and secular communities. Incorporated as a
501(c)3 in 2002, Nashirah began as a 12-voice demonstration choir,
formed to demonstrate to the community the type and quality of
repertoire it had envisioned from its inception. Over the past five
years, through an open audition process, Nashirah has grown to a
23-voice ensemble that has performed in multiple venues in the Greater
Philadelphia area, as well as twice by invitation at the North American
Jewish Choral Festival; has staged four annual self-produced concerts in
2005-2008, each attended by over 250 patrons; and is now the
choir-in-residence at the Gershman Y on the Avenue of the Arts. Under
the artistic direction of Jonathan Coopersmith, Nashirah aims ultimately
to comprise a 40-voice ensemble and to be an integral member of the
Philadelphia Jewish and secular artistic communities.
Nashirah's mission is to bring Jewish choral music of the highest
caliber to the community. Jewish choral music, as defined by Nashirah,
includes:
- Music, either sacred or secular, by composers either born or culturally Jewish;
- Music by composers who are non-Jewish, but whose work draws from Old Testament texts or other Jewish sources.
Come visit us at www.nashirah.org, or email us at nashirah@nashirah.org!
Jonathan Coopersmith, Conductor
A
native of Princeton, Jonathan Coopersmith has been Associate Conductor
for the Philadelphia Singers since 2002 and on the musical studies
faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music since 2004. With the
Philadelphia Singers, he conducted the world premiere of John Duffy's
"Interdependence Day," and has conducted on annual performances of "The
Philadelphia Singers on Logan Square" which are broadcast nationally
over PRI.
At the Curtis Institute of Music, Mr. Coopersmith teaches harmony,
counterpoint, music history, and solfege. In addition, he has a small
studio of private students in composition and conducting.
In past seasons, Mr. Coopersmith has been hired by The Philadelphia
Orchestra as a Guest Chorus Director. He has conducted the Mannes
Orchestra in performance at Symphony Space in New York, the Westminster
Conservatory Orchestra, the Wilmington Orchestra, the University of
Pennsylvania Wind Ensemble, and the Penn's Landing Orchestra. He has
also served as music director for Philadelphia's Opera On The Square,
the Rittenhouse Row Festival, and the Philadelphia Festival of the Arts.
Mr. Coopersmith holds a Masters in Orchestral Conducting from the Mannes
College of Music, where he studied with David Hayes, and a Bachelor of
Arts in music from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied
music theory and composition with George Crumb, Jay Reise, and Richard
Wernick. He also studied at the Pierre Monteux School of Conducting,
where he was a student of Michael Jinbo.
Last revised
June 26, 2010