2025 Cantor's Concert & Fundraiser
Our beloved Cantor Arthur Giglio is retiring on June 30, 2025, and his last Cantor’s Concert & Fundraiser will be on Sunday afternoon, March 30, 2025 at 3:00 p.m., with a pre-concert FUNdraising and light nosh reception beginning at 2:00 p.m.
Cantor G has invited his most favorite Jewish choirs to fill our halls with music. They are the world-famous Zamir Chorale and Zamir Noded (young adult choir) from New York City. Both choral groups are under the wonderful direction of Matthew Lazar, founder of the Zamir Choral Foundation. As its website states, “Zamir is guided by an expansive vision of vibrant Jewish identity across the generational, denominational, and political continuum through the arts.” This is a concert for all young and old. Families are especially encouraged to attend.
Cantor’s Concert tickets are $72 per adult, with children under age 18 welcome for free. As in the past, sponsor-level giving is necessary to cover the cost of the concert and support CMI’s range of programming. We invite you to engage in the mitzvah of giving as generously as you can to honor Cantor G as he prepares for his retirement! Your gift at any level will also help celebrate CMI’s past and secure its future.
This year, in recognition of Cantor Giglio’s many contributions to our congregation, an anonymous CMI family has made an especially generous offer to celebrate his music and menschlichkeit. This family’s remarkable $100,000 challenge gift will match sponsorships of $5,000 or more. We have already received several generous gifts at this level or higher to honor Cantor G! Shared or group sponsorships at or above that level qualify for the match. For more information on how to register for group sponsorships, please contact the CMI Office at 203.288.3877.
Our Cantor’s Concert is CMI’s major annual fundraising event and a very special one for Cantor G. Be sure to be there to share the joy with him! Please register, donate, or become sponsor. Alternatively, you can return the enclosed Registration/Donation form to CMI directly.
We look forward to celebrating with you on Sunday afternoon, March 30, 2025,
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
MATTHEW LAZAR is the leading force of the Jewish choral movement in North America. His visionary leadership in service of the Jewish community led to the creation of the Zamir Choral Foundation, which continues to nurture the growth of Jewish choral singing in North America and Israel. In addition to directing the Zamir Chorale and Zamir Noded, he has created the Mantua Singers, the SELAH Vocal Ensemble, Shirah: The Community Chorus of the Kaplan JCC on the Palisades, and has inspired the creation of many choral ensembles in cities across the United States and Israel. His superior talents as a conductor and interpreter of Jewish and Israeli music have elevated the standards of Jewish musical performance and educated audiences across North America.
Maestro Lazar has appeared as guest conductor with the American Symphony Orchestra, the El Paso Symphony, the Milwaukee Chamber Symphony, the Ra'anana Symphony, and at the Ravinia Music Festival. He has prepared choirs for Zubin Mehta and Leonard Bernstein, among others, has collaborated with a wide variety of personalities including Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, Theodore Bikel, Shoshana Damari, Naomi Shemer, Yehoram Gaon, Nurit Hirsh, and Dr. Ruth Westheimer, and has performed with most of the great Cantors of the past generation.
Lazar's current projects include celebrating the musical legacy of Elie Wiesel, the life and music of Salamone Rossi, and the creation of the first Jewish Choral Conducting Institute for the training of a new generation of conductors of Jewish and Israeli choral music.
The Zamir Chorale is the leading voice of the Jewish choral movement and sets the standard for choirs in North America. Conducted by Matthew Lazar, the Zamir Chorale has thrilled tens of thousands of audience members across the United States and Israel and has commissioned and premiered works by contemporary American and Israeli composers. Zamir has performed with conductors Leonard Bernstein, Daniel Barenboim, Lukas Foss, Carlo Maria Giulini, Zubin Mehta and others, and has appeared with a diverse array of personalities, including Herschel Bernardi, Theodore Bikel, Tom Chapin, Shoshana Damari, Debbie Friedman, Richie Havens, Danny Kaye, Naomi Shemer, Ruth Westheimer and Elie Wiesel. The Zamir Chorale appears regularly throughout the Tri-State region.
Zamir Noded was established by the Zamir Choral Foundation to provide a high-level musical opportunity for young adults to sing in a Jewish choir with like-minded peers. Zamir Noded is conducted by renowned Maestro Matthew Lazar and has drawn singers from throughout the Tri-State area and beyond, including alumni of HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir and others who are attracted to this unique ensemble. Established in September 2013, the group received an enthusiastic reception to its debut on this stage in December of that year and has since won standing ovations at its performances throughout the New York Metropolitan area and at the annual North American Jewish Choral Festival.