The Vancouver Jewish Folk Choir

Conductor: David Millard (since 1996)

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The Vancouver Jewish Folk Choir was founded at the Peretz Institute (now the Peretz Centre) in 1979 by Searle Friedman. We are an eclectic and friendly choir of about 25 members. Our ages range from 20s to late 70s, and we have Jewish and non-Jewish members. The choir has a long history of overlapping with the LGBTQ+ community, and has many queer/trans members. We also aim to be a neurodivergent friendly and anti-ableist space. We stand with the long revolutionary Yiddish history of advocating for peace. ​

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We are committed to three core missions:​

• Providing an open, welcoming place to sing for all levels of ability;

• Maintaining Yiddish and other Jewish languages;

• Contributing to a progressive vision of what Jewish culture can be.

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​Today, the Choir sings mostly Yiddish pieces ranging from traditional folk and Yiddish theatre songs to newly-composed and arranged pieces of greater complexity, plus Hanukkah and Pesach repertoires in Yiddish, Hebrew, Ladino and English.​​

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We have performed at numerous venues in the Vancouver area, including the Peretz Centre, South Granville Lodge, Louis Brier home, Cityfest Vancouver, Vancouver Public Library, VanDusen Gardens, Cavell Gardens, Orpheum Theatre’s Parade of Choirs, the Vancouver Planetarium, Victoria’s Emanu-El synagogue, the Israeli Street Festival, and more.

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You can read more about the history of the Choir, and its predecessors, here (written by Victor Neuman).​​