UPDATED: Collegiate Jewish A Cappella Group Coming to Framingham

Two year ago, Pizmon performed at the White House.

Next month, the collegiate, co-ed Jewish a cappella group will perform in Framingham.

Founded in 1987, Pizmon is comprised of students from Columbia, Barnard, and the Jewish Theological Seminary, including Framingham High graduate Michael Berkson. The group’s name is a Hebrew word for “chorus of a song.”

Pizmon performs a variety of different genres, including liturgical pieces, Israeli rock and pop, English parodies, Yiddish classics, and children’s songs.

Berkson’s mom Staci wrote and received a grant from Combined Jewish Philanthropies to bring the group to Framingham the weekend of Nov. 6-8.

There is a public performance on Nov. 7 at Temple Beth Am in Framingham at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $10 per adult, $5 per student, with a maximum of $25 per family. Email shalom@tempbetham.org to order tickets. Cost includes a dessert reception after the concert.

As part of the grant, Pizmon is holding educational and singing workshops all week in Framingham, explained Staci Berkson. Temple Beth Am, Temple Beth Sholom, along with the MetroWest Jewish Day School, are co-sponsoring the Pizmon weekend in MetroWest.

Before the Saturday night performance, Pizmon is hosting an a cappella workshop for students in grades 6-12 at 1:30 p.m., that is open to all. The students, who participate in the Temple Beth Sholom workshop, will perform a number at the Temple Beth Am concert Saturday night.

After the concert and dessert reception Saturday night, high school students can participate in a Q&A on what life in college is like after dessert, said Berkson.

During their weekend in Framingham, Pizmon will also hold educational workshops at the MetroWest Jewish Day School, now housed at Temple Beth Sholom, as well as an intergenerational musical program at the Morton and Etta Shillman House in the Nobscot section of Framingham.

Community performances and educational programs is the focus of Pizmon.

Group members, share their love of music and their Jewish heritage through song. At the same time, they use their music as a way of teaching youth song and values.

Besides Michael Berkson, a tenor from Framingham, the group has a couple of other members with Massachusetts ties. They are Kobi Goodwin from Sharon and Ilana Sandberg from Cambridge.

Along with the workshops and public concert on Saturday night, Pizmon will also perform at services at Temple Beth Sholom on Friday night at 7:30 and Saturday morning at 9:30.

The weekend represents a collaboration between the entire Jewish community in Framingham, said Berkson, who is a former past president at Temple Beth Am at 300 Pleasant Street.

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Originally posted on Oct. 23.