Willkommen – Welcome – ברוכים הבאים

The Leipziger Synagogalchor was founded in 1962 and since then has devoted itself exclusively to Jewish choral music ‒ from synagogue compositions from the 17th to the 20th century to Yiddish songs in new arrangements. The choir works with well-known soloists and musicians. Since September 2022, Philipp Goldmann has been the artistic director.

The choir has received an Obermayer German Jewish History Award and has initiated the entry of the "revitalization of synagogue choral music of the 19th and 20th centuries in Central and Eastern Europe" as a good practice example in the Nationwide Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The ensemble is a member of the Association of German Concert Choirs and the Tolerant Saxony Network.

FOREVER – A BENCH FOR SINA (née GOLDFEIN) AND HERMAN BERLINSKI

The project ‘A Bench for Leipzig’ run by the Bürgerstiftung Leipzig made it possible: on 26 September 2026, we unveiled a bench, for which we are the patrons, in Johannapark. The occasion marked the 25th anniversary of the death of the composer and organist Herman Berlinski (18 October 1910, Leipzig – 27 September 2001, Washington). The bench is dedicated to him and his wife, the pianist Sina Berlinski (née Goldfein) (27 August 1910, Warsaw – 21 February 2011, Washington). The story behind the personal motto ‘Forever’ can be discovered in Thomas Schinköth’s *Jüdische Miniatur* (Jewish Miniature) about the life of the Berlinski couple (No. 354, published by Hentrich & Hentrich in 2026). Their son, David Berlinski, was present at the unveiling of the ‘Berlinski Bench’.

OUR NEXT EVENTS

Tue, November 17, 2026 | 7:30 p.m.

Leipzig | Ariowitsch-Haus

(Un)forgotten: The composer, teacher and cantor 

Samuel Lampel in Leipzig. His life and music 

in the Year of Jewish Culture in Saxony Read more

Lecture: Dr. Thomas Schinköth
Music: Leipziger Synagogalchor | Direction: Philipp Goldmann

What remains of Samuel Lampel, who worked in Leipzig for almost 30 years as a music teacher at the Höhere Israelitische Schule, as a cantor at Leipzig’s Great Synagogue, and as a radio pioneer for synagogue music? 

His radio programmes have been lost, his newspaper articles lie gathering dust in archives, and the synagogue was destroyed on Kristallnacht. Lampel himself was deported in 1942 and murdered. He lived on in the memories of his pupils; his extraordinary compositions have stood the test of time; and there are people who cherish his memory in the musical city of Leipzig.
 

The musicologist Thomas Schinköth and the Leipziger Synagogalchor pay tribute to Samuel Lampel, both the man and the musician.

Tickets: € 12/10 online, € 15/12 at the box office 

An event as part of the 2026 European Notenspur Festival
Organiser: Leipziger Notenspur e. V. Visit the website

SAMUEL LAMPEL ON CD

Since June 2023, our CD "SAMUEL LAMPEL: Evening Prayer for Shabbat (Leipzig 1928)" has been available in stores worldwide, and it can also be ordered from us!

The CD was recorded in St. Thomas Leipzig by us and Assaf Levitin, Chazzan of the Reform Synagogue Hamburg, and Ivo Mrvelj, assistant organist at St. Thomas, under the direction of Philipp Goldmann. 

For the first time, the compositions of the Leipzig chazzan Samuel Lampel (1884‒1942), which were once sung at the Friday evening service in the liberal Community Synagogue on Gottschedstrasse, can be heard in their entirety on CD.

The program is also available as a live concert ‒ previously performed in St. Thomas in Leipzig, Stiftskirche in Stuttgart, St. Michael in Schwäbisch Hall and the Concert Hall Ulrichskirche in Halle (Saale). We would also be happy to come to your city!

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