Great success for the first European Jewish Choir Festival

On May 8th, 2013, 400 Jewish and non-Jewish singers from across Europe gathered in the Austrian capital for the first edition of the European Jewish Choir Festival, a 4-day event which drew some 1,500 spectators over the weekend.

The festival which was organized at the initiative of Roman Grinberg, head of the Vienna Jewish Choir and Austrian Member of the European Jewish Parliament, culminated on May 12 in a gala concert titled “Shir LaShalom – A Song for Peace”.

The European Jewish Choir Festival, under the patronage of Austria’s Federal President, Heinz Fischer, was sponsored by the European Jewish Union, the European Jewish Parliament and the Jewish Community of Vienna.

Co-Chairman of the European Jewish Parliament, Joël Rubinfeld, declared at the opening ceremony how symbolic and moving it was to see Vienna, 75 years after the Anschluss, becoming for 4-day the Jewish cultural capital of Europe. During his stay in Vienna, Rubinfeld met the President of the Jewish Community in Austria, Oskar Deutsch, other Jewish officials and Austrian media.

The event is to become an annual festival. Next year’s gathering is scheduled to take place in Rome and, the following year, in Paris.