New Commissioned Passover Song Performed in Concert at Beth El Synagogue’s Shoresh Halev Center

In New Rochelle on March 26, 2023, at 7:00pm, Beth El Synagogue Center’s Shoresh Halev Center for Jewish Music will present guest artist, Galeet Dardashti and her band, Divahn.  Galeet will present a Passover concert including a selection of Sephardi and Mizrachi Pesach songs.  

The Shoresh Halev Center for Jewish Music at Beth El fulfills a central mission of the synagogue to use music as a foundation for ritual and secular communal life. The goal of the Center is to infuse music into every aspect of synagogue life, including all demographics such as nursery and school age students, young families, empty-nesters and elderly.  The Shoresh Halev Center for Jewish Music at Beth El also i) supports emerging Jewish artists; ii) provides opportunities for established artists and composers of new Jewish music to serve as scholars and artists in residence; iii) serves as a venue for concerts, symposia, workshops and conferences; and iv) fosters inter-faith dialogue and events with other religious communities in the region.

This evening is part of Shoresh Halev’s Shirei Neshama project, Songs of Sacred Time, presenting world premiere performances of new music around Jewish holidays. As part of her residency, Galeet will premiere a new song she has composed, inspired by Passover, which will be filmed and recorded and shared widely throughout the community on social media and other video platforms.  

Iranian-descended vocalist, Galeet Dardashti, is the first woman in a long family tradition of distinguished Persian and Jewish musicians. Galeet’s father, Fareed Dardashti, is the first Iranian born international concert artist and Chazan and is Chazan Emeritus at Beth El Synagogue Center.  

Galeet has earned a reputation as one of the most innovative performers of Middle Eastern and Jewish music today. As one of the very few groups performing Mizrahi and Judeo-Arab music in the US today, Divahn has been internationally recognized for its mission to highlight the common ground between diverse Middle Eastern cultures and religions through music. The group includes Eleanor Norton, Elizabeth Pupo Walker, Sejal Kukadia and Megan Gould.

For Galeet, leading the all-women ensemble, Divahn is an opportunity not only to feature the nexus between Arab and Persian and Jewish culture, but also to celebrate the strength of women.  Galeet and Divahn perform religious songs not traditionally sung by women in the Jewish Middle Eastern world. 

For more information about the concert, and for tickets, go to bethelnr.org/galeet.  For more information about Shoresh Halev Center for Jewish Music at Beth El Synagogue Center, New Rochelle, contact Jack KIebanow, Music Director, jklebanow@bethelnr.org.