Shabbat Shira is a collaborative Jewish music retreat which brings together songwriters, songleaders, and worship leaders to learn new repertoire and share their experiences in building more meaningful singing communities.
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This event is currently on hiatus. We welcome the opportunity to discuss transformative, multi-year funding partnerships that would ensure its sustainability and growth. If you are interested in exploring such a commitment, please contact Rosalie Will, Executive Director.
Everything We Need is Here: Shabbat Shira 2023
Julie Silver is one of the most celebrated and beloved performers in the world of contemporary Jewish music today. She tours throughout the world, and has been engaging audiences with her gorgeous compositions and liturgical settings, her lyrical guitar playing, her dynamic stage presence, and her megawatt smile for over 25 years.
Without backing from a major label, Julie has sold more than 120,000 copies of her CDs. Between 1992 and 2020 she released some of the highest selling, successful albums of original Jewish music (Together, From Strength to Strength, Walk With Me, and Beyond Tomorrow). Her songs have become so tightly woven into the fabric of American Judaism that they have become “standards” in worship, camp, and academic settings.
Silver is focused on painting, offering guitar classes on zoom, being a mother, mentoring up-and-coming singer-songwriters, participating in Social Justice projects and making the Jewish experience more meaningful. www.juliesilver.com
Program Overview
Highlights:
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Daily T'filot (prayer experiences)
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Course learning of about 4 to 6 hours per day: 75-90 minutes in depth explorations of repertoire, new trends, composition with faculty and guests, as well as many hour-long sessions led by participants and teachers alike on diverse topics designed not only to inform, but to create relationships of shared learning and support.
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Evening programs of repertoire, new and old, and full-group sharing of new styles and modalities.
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Participants leading of singing, repertoire, and new skills
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Joyful shabbat worship and free time.
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Late-night 'Open Mic' where participants share amazing talents
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Plenty of free time to rest, sit with a new friend and write a song, troubleshoot a challenging situation in your work, or just take in the beauty of OSRUI's grounds.
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Late fall in Wisconsin, a wonderful time to enjoy crisp and fresh country air, cozy cabins, and time by the lake.
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Hours and hours of singing together!
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View a sample program schedule (subject to change) and a list of some previous courses. This year's content is being built by our expert faculty and will be shared in early October.
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Participants will leave nourished and refreshed, with a fuller toolkit of repertoire, resources, pedagogical ideas for work with children and families, strategies for thinking about leading spiritual moments as well as social justice movements—and, more importantly, relationships with a group of passionate leaders who are driven to build and lead communities of song all over the world.
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Many years we offer a Shabbat Celebration Pass. Those who can't attend the full conference can register to join us Friday evening through Saturday morning.
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The Shabbat Shira community thrives on instant singing. We often engage live in the moment without notation, but notation is sometimes offered during the program, and resources are always shared at the conclusion of the program. We try to model singing with communities whose members often will not have sheet music and model the best in songleading—for worship, school, justice, and camp.
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If you cannot attend, but believe in the power of communal singing and would like to support Shabbat Shira and Sing Unto God through a donation, please click here.