Elchonon Majeski is the man behind Kolainu Choir. He’s based in Waterbury, Connecticut
My music background I was in Amudai Shaish and Miami Boys Choir as a child, and a member of A.K.A Pella from 2006 to 2012. I’ve run school and camp choirs at Ahavas Torah, Yeshiva of Crown Heights, Yeshiva Ateres Yisroel, and Yeshiva Ketana of Waterbury, as well as cantatas in Ruach Day Camp.
I run Kolainu Choir, an after-school choir program for boys in different locations all over the US.
Practices are weekly, one hour on a weeknight, and after eight or nine weeks, there’s a final performance for family and friends. Every child has a solo, duet, or trio, and I introduce him by name. Crowds at that main event can get as large as 350 to 400 people. Some larger communities have had Kolainu several times: the Five Towns is on their third go-round, and I’ve done Lakewood, Brooklyn, and Waterbury twice each. The second time it’s been mostly new members, but about 20 percent of the kids have signed up for Kolainu both times we’ve run it.
In 2008, we were living in Brooklyn, and I was running several school choirs. Then, my wife said she thinks I should start an afterschool choir program. But not your typical choir, because in this choir, the goal isn’t to sing for an hour and be the best of the best, but rather, to sing as a group and become a part of something, a place where boys can do something they enjoy in a fun, interactive, and engaging environment. I think my wife realized I have a good rapport with kids, and the school choirs were going well, so she put the two together and came up with the idea. About ten minutes later, I told her I have a great name for it, and Kolainu was born.
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