As Rachelle Unreich told The AJN, “What the Australian Jewish community is drawn to, more than ever, is a way to feel connected to one another, and a way to feel joyful and inspired. Music is such a good way into that feeling.”
And she’s right.
The acclaimed journalist and author will be MC-ing this year’s SHIR concert, Songs of Strength, in Sydney and Melbourne.
Following on from last year’s incredible success – marking the one year anniversary of the October 7 massacre – this year’s SHIR is an evening to uplift, inspire and unite.
The concerts will be headlined by Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier, which SHIR festival director Ben Adler said is apt considering the pair brought Shir Madness to Melbourne a decade ago.
“Shir is an event very close to our hearts,” Conway told The AJN. “Willy Zygier and I established this festival in Melbourne for two outings as the Shir Madness Melbourne Jewish Music Festival after experiencing what Gary Holzman cultivated with the profound Jewish connection of Shir Madness in Sydney.
“Playing Shir in Sydney and Melbourne is like coming to visit the grandparents, a beautiful warm homecoming.”
This year’s line-up includes Ben Goldstein, Danielle Bavli, Brett Kaye, Montana Sharp, Amit Benita, Sasha Fisher, Chutney Band and Daniel Weltlinger, all of whom are thrilled to be involved in something that brings such joy to the Australian Jewish community.
For Kaye, it’s an honour to be taking part, in the hope of sending “a powerful message to the haters that we will not let hate remove the joy from our lives”.
It’s a sentiment shared by all of the performers.
“I firmly believe that music transcends political and social divides,” Sharp said. “Even within our community, there’s such a vast range of political opinions and stances, but music provides a shared space to put those differences aside and unite in our own connections to our Jewishness. Music allows us to kvetch harmoniously.”
For Goldstein, music has the power to heal and reach places that mere words cannot. “Our community is already strong, but music – and prayer through song – brings us even closer to something greater. Some say it brings us closer to God, a kind of collective manifestation that can shift the universe itself. What could be more powerful than that?” he asked.
According to Lara Goodridge from the SHIR team, songs chosen for this year’s concert are representative of the Jewish community.
“We have chosen a repertoire that is contemporaneous with the past 22 months, as well as pieces that represent the current climate for Jews in Israel and in the Diaspora,” Goodridge explained. “Each song has been chosen carefully and lovingly, the arrangements pored over, with the hope of bringing pure beauty and emotion to the audience.”
Conway believes it’s exactly what the community needs right now.
“I hope audiences feel a profound sense of community at this very strange and perilous time,” the musician, who has been doxxed and cancelled herself, said. “To be a Jew in Australia right now is to be walking on eggshells, to be hyper aware of being othered, of being found guilty of incontrovertible facts about the core of our being. So to be at a concert where Jews, Jewish artists and Jewish music, cultural and spiritual values are celebrated will be a warm bath after some very bracing icy showers.”
Goldstein hopes audiences are given the opportunity to pause.
“Not to escape, but to dream, to reflect, to feel,” he said. “Music and performance have the power to transport us, even just for a moment. And if we, as performers, can take someone to another place then we’ve already done something meaningful.”
Sharp said being part of SHIR means she has a space to celebrate being Jewish.
“Nowadays, it might feel like there are not many spaces in the arts that we can truly be ourselves, so I’m glad to be a part of a concert that not only tolerates, but celebrates our community,” she explained. “There’s nothing shameful about being proud to be Jewish, and we should never be made to feel that way.”
Conway agreed, saying, “I am a Jew. I have no choice in the matter, it lies at the heart of how I define my existence. In a group of Jews I have no need to explain things that in another group of people I would need to explain; the shortcuts, hacks, humour, insults, references, childhood rituals, ways of communicating, the directness, the elevation of argument, the inherent understanding of why certain things make us choke up. We are a people.”
Adler described the 2024 SHIR concert as a breakaway success, saying he hopes this year evokes the same emotions in the audience, long after the instruments are put away.
“The power of our music, performed with ruach and neshama by some of the best Jewish talent in the country, was precisely the salve that our community needed,” he said. “People have told us that they continued to draw strength and resolve from the cathartic experience of that night for many months.”
It’s particularly special for Melbourne audiences who are yet to experience the magic that is SHIR, and who have dealt with an unbelievable amount of antisemitism over recent months.
“The main thrust of SHIR this year is our expansion from Sydney to Melbourne, not only to assume the mantle of a national Jewish Music Festival, but, mainly, to give the gift of mass empowerment to the Melbourne Jewish community,” Adler explained. “We know how much of a difference Songs of Hope made to the spines of Sydney Jews – even those who weren’t there heard about it in a very effective ripple effect. Melbourne desperately needs the cathartic night of loud and proud Jewish and Zionist culture that Sydney had last year.”
Unreich said she knows that the music will provide audiences with a deep spiritual and moving experience.
“Just by being in a space with Jewish musicians, Jewish community members and Jewish allies, I imagine everyone will feel a burden lifted. No threat or hate – just a group of people who want the same thing: to feel and hold happiness in their hearts.”
SHIR will be in Sydney on September 28 and Melbourne on September 30. For more and tickets, visit shir.com.au
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