The Music of Composer and Singer Norma Brooks

  

Reviews :    Media    Audience    Community Leaders

 

 

"Your Bountiful Light is the best CD of Jewish music I have heard in many years. The rhythms and interpretation of the texts are wonderful as well as the marvelous accompaniment by Hazzan Ramón Tasat. This music is easy to sing and would fit well with a synagogue service, sing-a-long or concert."

Cantor Edwin Gerber,

Ohr Kodesh Congregation,

Chevy Chase, MD

 

 

"It's weeks after the concert, and I can't stop humming the tunes! I'm looking forward to incorporating a number of the melodies into our regular Shabbat services."

Rabbi Ethan Seidel,

Tifereth Israel Congregation,

Washington, DC

 

 

"Norma Brooks and Ramón Tasat have excelled themselves with this collection of new compositions for sacred text. The melodies have such modernity in structure and arrangement but would not feel out of place in any religious service. Norma has blended such diverse styles of music, for example in 'Shira Hadasha' she uses South American, Klezmer, Nigun, and the Popular Song all in the same piece of music. 'Etz Hayyim Hi' uses Blues and South American traditions in its introduction that move swiftly into such a flowing polyphonic texture with a melody that would rival any popular pieces sung in congregations throughout the world. Such passion invoked from these pieces would provide an atmospheric and uplifting experience for any congregation."

Michael Marks,

BA (Hons) Music PGCE,

Music TeacherThe King David High School,

Manchester, UK

 

 

"Norma Brooks has done a beautiful job in composing melodies which help bridge the gap from the ancient to modern. The tunes are delightful, singable, and flow flawlessly. They are indeed a welcome addition to the repertoire!"

Cantor Jeffrey Nadel,
Beth Shalom Congregation,

Washington, DC

 

 

"In these original liturgical works, Norma Brooks has created a bridge that weaves the ancient words of Jewish liturgy with compelling melodies in a variety of musical styles. The result is both unique and unerringly right. Brooks' music, along with the stunning arrangements of cantors Ramón Tasat and Natasha J. Hirschhorn, helps us to see possibilities in Jewish liturgy that we didn't know were there."

Dr. Everett Fox,

Professor of Judaic and Biblical StudiesClark University,

Worcester, MA

 

 

"I heard the most extraordinary concert in Washington, DC, this weekend. I do not have words to describe how deeply moving it was. The concert premiered the works of a new composer—Norma Brooks. It is liturgical music with Cantors and choir—and yet, nothing like any similar music or performance I have ever heard in my life. This is truly new music for Jewish liturgy that brings all of us to new spiritual heights."

Rabbi Cherie Koller-Fox,

Newton, Massachusetts

 

 

"The music is very uplifting and joyous, and there is a feeling of lightness throughout the congregation and the Choir when the songs are performed. We have truly enjoyed using the Your Bountiful Light companion book in our Adult Choir since the High Holidays. The books are wonderful because the texts are laid out clearly in Hebrew and in English and the melodies are separate from the arrangements. I begin by teaching the Choir the melody and then we put it together with the text. After they absorb the basic song and really feel the music, we move on to the choral version."

Cantor Janet Roth Krupnick,

Summit Jewish Community Center,

Summit, New Jersey

 

 

"This summer a colleague shared with me this wonderful rendition of our liturgy. I was very much taken by the music and the sense of kavanah communicated by the singers. This composer, the director, and the music are pointing us in an important direction—toward the continued revitalization of Jewish music."

Rabbi Neal Rose, Senior Scholar

Dept. of Religion, University of Manitoba

 

 

"I truly had no sense of the collective power of Norma's contribution to Jewish liturgy until the CD came out and I could listent to the repertoire time and again. "

Rabbi Debra Koldny,

Portland, Oregon