For the past 22 years, Kol Rayus Productions has produced Harmony concerts that have enabled talented women and girls from across our community to express their artistic abilities. This year’s performance was the most successful ever. The three performances at Lawrence High School’s beautiful auditorium were sold out weeks in advance. Some 2,400 women attended the shows to watch the over 400 talented performers shine onstage. DVDs of the performance are selling like hotcakes, with over 300 sold to date.
What made Harmony X such a success? On the production side, each performance was the result of six months of hard work and practice by each performing group led by incredibly dedicated coordinators, choreographers, and concert heads. Organizationally, Kol Rayus’s partnership with the TOVA Mentoring Network, its mentors, and volunteer lay leaders, worked seamlessly because of the deep mutual respect and cooperation between the two groups. Harmony also succeeded because of the backing of so many sponsors who made certain to provide the necessary funding to enable the production to run smoothly with all of the accessories and costumes necessary for a professionally run performance. In short, Harmony succeeded because the hundreds of people from our community came together to support a worthy community cause like TOVA in a true spirit of achdus and harmony.
Kudos to the leadership team of Harmony: musical director Karen Daitchman and orchestral director Kayli Joseph for producing the musical arrangements for the evening, Shelley Winkler and Ricki Molinsky, who were the producers of the show, and Mrs. Batya Travis, whose artistic direction and leadership inspired all of the performers to reach for the stars.
Harmony thanks the staff of the Torah Academy for Girls for opening its doors to rehearsals over the past six months and to the various locations that provided space for the individual rehearsals of some of the acts: Young Israel of Far Rockaway; Congregation Beth Sholom; Studio Inna; and the Black, Elefant, Guttman, Reich, Pluchenik, Sudwerts, and Wolfson families.
A debt of gratitude also goes to Lawrence School District 15, its superintendent, Dr. Gary Schall, and its director of facilities Mrs. Sara Weis, who provided immeasurable assistance to the Harmony crew. They also want to thank the members of the Rockaway Community Safety Patrol, who did a great job of directing traffic and ensuring the safety of the attendees under difficult weather conditions.
Sam Belsky of SamBelsky.com deserves accolades for his technological guidance in developing an online ticket sales system that enabled attendees to purchase and print their tickets at home and for his artistic design of this year’s Harmony poster and logos.
Gourmet Glatt was more than a sponsor for Harmony. They embraced the show and helped to build the excitement in our community. Each night, Gourmet Glatt surprised members of the audience with surprise gifts as random seat numbers were called out. Winners of the raffles were:
Fruit Platter: Mrs. Lizzy Ross, Mrs. Rachel Salzberg and Mrs. Lani Zoldan; Bakery Platter: Ms. Daniella Halpern, Mrs. Lily Kreindler, Mrs. Esther Glick, and Mrs. Daphne Stern; and Sushi Platter: Mrs. Gila Henisch, Mrs. Riki Feintuch, and Mrs. Faigy Bokow.
Gourmet Glatt also sponsored a photo booth at each concert. Pictures can be picked up at the customer-service counter in Gourmet Glatt.
The TOVA mentoring network produced a new video that gave the attendees a new appreciation for the work of the TOVA mentors in our community. After 17 years in operation, TOVA mentors still provide a safe listening ear to over 100 children and adolescents. As Rabbi Reisman said so beautifully in the video: “Brothers helping brothers, sisters helping sisters—isn’t this the dream of every parent? I suspect that it is also the dream of Hashem!” His statement underscored the theme of the evening, harmony, and achdus in the service of guiding our children.
Harmony DVDs can be ordered at www.tovamentoring.org for $25. For more information about the TOVA program, call 516-295-0550. v