Music at the 2022 Boulder Jewish Festival Will Keep You Dancing All Day Long

The Boulder Jewish Festival will be held in front of the Courthouse on the Pearl Street Mall on Sunday, June 12.  The music lineup is always a big draw for this event that highlights Jewish culture through art, food, music, and our dedicated community organizations. This year the festival is working with Boulder musician and producer, Sheldon Sands, to offer an engaging lineup of the best Colorado has to offer. All the performances are free and open to the public.  Participants are encouraged to bring blankets or camping chairs for seating. 

After performing on stage since the 1990s at the Boulder Jewish Festival, Sheldon was the right person to bring on as music curator for this full-day event, along with a volunteer committee of Jewish music experts including Ellen Kort and Linda Salvay. 

“I was guided by a feeling of this being a joyous celebration of our local community coming back together on the courthouse lawn after a several years COVID pause, reflecting both our unity and our diversity, and have put together a fantastic line-up in this spirit”, said Sands. 

The schedule for the day is packed with extraordinary talent, beginning at 11 am with every family’s favorite performers Jeff & Paige.  They will be followed by a special presentation of the JCC Hip Pop Dancers; under the direction of Shari Polis.  

The Colorado Hebrew Chorale will perform with their treble choir, Kol Nashim. This will be the 5th appearance at the Boulder Jewish Festival for the group. 

Colorado College Professors Ofer Ben Amots and Jacob Clewell will be performing an original program “From Debka to Doyna”. This short program of contemporary art music is based on Jewish folkloristic themes, echoing sounds from the Israeli desert, Negev, to the narrow Shtetl allies of Eastern Europe.   

Southern Journey & The Boulder Klezmer Consort will perform “Unbounded: Songs of Freedom”.  This performance brings together African American and Jewish musicians and vocalists in telling our shared historic narratives of bondage to freedom through spirituals, klezmer music, and modern genres.  

Or Zimrah (Radiant Song), the band of Congregation Har HaShem led by Holli Berman, will hit the stage at 2:30 pm. The energy and dancing continue at 3:20 with Hadgaba & Friends who will be joined by members of the Balkan brass band Gora Gora Orkestar.  The Festival will close with a 4:20 performance by The Cultural Caravan. Founded last summer in response to COVID by local favorite, and international cello sensation, Josh Halpern, The Cultural Caravan features a rotation of 30 performing artists from a wide range of backgrounds to help connect and revitalize the community. 

Boulder Jewish Festival 2022 Entertainment Schedule:

11:00 am Jeff & Paige (Children/Family Musical Theater) 

11:55 am  JCC Hip Pop Dancers  

12:20 pm   Colorado Hebrew Chorale and Kol Nashim. 

1:00 pm   Ofer Ben Amots and Jacob Clewell perform “From Debka to Doyna”

1:45 pm Southern Journey & The Boulder Klezmer Consort perform “Unbounded: Songs of Freedom” 

2:30 pm  Or Zimrah

3:20 pm  Hadgaba & Friends 

4:20 pm  The Cultural Caravan