Caroling with Girl Scouts

December 19

On Tuesday night, I followed a group caroling along Ridge Road and Plateau Place in Old Greenbelt. On Wednesday night, I went caroling again, this time with a girl scout troop along Woodland Way and Northway.

Five members of Girl Scout Troop 5859 gather at the Greenbelt Community Church where they meet every Wednesday night.

Greenbelt Combined Choir Rehearsal

September 20

The Greenbelt Combined Choir was formed in 1971 when choirs of Greenbelt Community Church and Mowatt United Methodist Church joined force. In 1972, St. Hugh’s choir, then under the direction of Jean Cook, also joined. In 1974, Cook became the director of the combined choir, and she has led the group ever since. Each year, the choir performs three concerts on Palm Sunday, at the Thanksgiving interfaith service, and at Christmas, all at the Greenbelt Community Church, and it sings on special occasions. This year, as part of the city’s 75th anniversary celebration, the Greenbelt Combined Choir will perform on Saturday, September 22 before an address by James Roosevelt, grandson of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. On Thursday, I visited the group’s last rehearsal in the Community Center gym.

James Roosevelt will speak on Saturday in the Community Center gym, and the combined choir will perform from 2 to 2:30 p.m before his speech. The choir has been rehearsing every Thursday night since late June in the Greenbelt Community Church, with the last two rehearsals held here in the Community Center gym. This is the final practice before their performance.

Sarah Saviet Performs at Mishkan Torah

August 26

Sarah Saviet’s parents are members of Mishkan Torah Synagogue. She studied music at Peabody Preparatory in Baltimore and has just completed her Performance Diploma studies at Indiana University. She has won a number of competitions including Indiana University concerto competition and National Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artists Competition. Recently, she received both a Fulbright Scholarship and a German grant to begin a three year course of study for her masters degree at the University of the Arts in Berlin. Before she leaves for Germany next Wednesday, she gave a recital at Mishkan Torah this past Sunday afternoon.

Jeffrey Rosen, master of ceremonies, opens by saying that for the Jewish culture “the most important of the senses probably is sound.” The prayer Shema Yisrael means “Hear, O Israel,” and the poem Haazinu in the Torah means “Give ear.” “If there is one instrument which really touches the Jewish soul, it’s the violin. I tried to think today but I never, ever heard a musical called French Hornist on the Roof.” He mentions several famous Jewish violinists including Itzhak Perlman, David Oistrakh, Jascha Heifetz, and Nathan Milstein. He then introduces Mishkan Torah’s own prodigy Sarah Saviet.