Music at FRS
FRS is a community that loves music and encourages participation at every level. You are warmly encouraged to take part, whatever your ability, whether by joining one of our many regular musical groups or simply by singing along during services. Through the vision of Cantor Zöe Jacobs, music enriches many parts of FRS life: on Shabbat and on festivals, in our youth and adult education programmes, and at social events.
Here are some of the musical opportunities and groups at FRS, click on the heading to skip to a section or just scroll down to read more and get to know us and hear our voices.
The FRS Choir
The Small Choir
Friday Night Musicians
Rhythm 'n' Jews
Ruach
Lead Singers
Special Music Projects
FRS Recordings
Sound Files (Blessings etc)
The FRS Choir
Our friendly choir sings beautiful Jewish music throughout the year. Led by our Choir Director, Sam Evans, the FRS Choir sings fantastic two, three, and four-part music on the High Holy Days and for services and events throughout the year. We are a group of singers with a good ear, of all ages and full of enthusiasm. Some of us read music, others don’t, but we’re all supported and have a great time singing together.
We have a strong team ethic and commit to turning up regularly to rehearsals, which are usually on Tuesday or Thursday evenings. If you would like to try it out, please contact Cantor Zöe Jacobs.
The Small Choir
This group sings on Erev Rosh Hashanah and at occasional events and services. We can each sight-read with confidence. If you have a lot of singing or choral experience and would like to join us, please do get in touch.
Friday Night Musicians
We represent song leaders and musicians of all ages and levels of experience! We are guitarists and singers with an occasional drum or flute or almost any other instrument you can think of! This group is extremely informal and requires very little commitment: just a love of being part of the service-leading team on a Friday night from time to time, and the ability to follow chord sheets or play well by ear. Beginner guitarists and young singers are especially welcome to join us! To download our Friday Night chord sheets, please click here.
Rhythm 'n' Jews
The band that leads our family services always welcomes new members! You can join us to sing, or to play if you are confident and relaxed on your instrument. We rehearse and learn new music sporadically, according to the group’s schedule. A subset of the Rhythm ‘n’ Jews band often accompanies our inclusive service, Shabbat B’Yachad.
Ruach
Ruach is our teen band. Ruach help lead services and are planning to be part of a new recording project in the not-too-distant future!
Lead Singers
We are a group of confident singers who help to lead the music on Shabbat morning, either alongside or in place of the cantor. If you come to Shabbat morning services with some degree of frequency and know the music well, we'd be happy to train you on (and off) the job!
If you’d like to join one of our existing groups, have something new to suggest, or simply have a question, please do get in touch with Cantor Zöe.
Special Music Projects
We are incredibly lucky to have had the chance to collaborate with composers and music directors to create some exceptional opportunities for the FRS community.
In 2017 Daniel Cainer and Cantor Zöe Jacobs composed a new version of Ki Hinei Kachomer to respond to a sermon given by Rabbi Miriam. The piece of music is beloved by our community and a recording can be found here:
In 2022, we were working on another commissioned piece for our community, written by Gareth Malone and Cantor Zoe Jacobs. Singers of all ages in the FRS community are welcome to join us for this project. For more information, please e-mail Cantor Zöe.
