80 Years part 2

In the autumn of 1969 the choir visited West Berlin to take part in a series of concerts and television spectaculars arranged by the German government to mark the rehabilitation of the Jewish community in Berlin. After passing through Checkpoint Charlie the choir experienced one of its most poignant moments, singing the memorial prayer at a Holocaust memorial service in an old Jewish cemetery in East Berlin.

In 1976, after nearly 20 years at the helm, Fisher retired. He was a hard act to follow and, after a period of caretaking by Lionel Leigh, a young research scientist named Julian Shindler was appointed conductor.

Shindler had been conducting the Edgware Synagogue choir since the age of 17, so was no stranger to Jewish choral music. Impressing his own style on the LJMC, he added to the repertoire his own arrangements of both liturgical and European, Japanese and other world folk music.

In 1980, the choir's controversial decision to tour South Africa led to a 'radical' Jewish socialist movement picketing rehearsals, resulting in a flurry of articles and letters in the local and national press.

Through the 1980s the LJMC remained a dominant force in Anglo-Jewish music. Following Shindler's departure in 1988, the choir went through a transitional phase, being conducted first by Ron Rappaport and then by cantor Shmuel Neuman. until in 1992 Clive Hyman was appointed Musical Director.

2004 - 2006