Founded in 1994 by Dr. Noreen Green, Artistic Director and Conductor, the LAJS has performed throughout the Southland at such venues as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Ford Theatres, the Saban Theatre, Wadsworth Theatre, UCLA’s Royce Hall, the University of La Verne, Chapman University, and the Gindi Auditorium at American Jewish University. The LAJS serves the community with free family-oriented events, such as KlezFest, a klezmer music and dance JAM Session at the Ford, and a public concert to conclude the LAJS’s outreach education program, A Patchwork of Cultures: Exploring the Sephardic-Latino Connection. Each year, this program takes hundreds of Los Angeles County grade-school students on a thrilling musical journey of discovery.

The LAJS collaborates with artists from communities throughout Southern California. We’ve performed with such groups as the Faithful Central Bible Church Choir, the Agape International Choir, the Mariachi Divas, the Yuval Ron Ensemble, and many others. The LAJS has showcased great artists such as Hershey Felder and the late Theodore Bikel, as well as many up-and-coming young musicians as concerto soloists. Young composers are nurtured by the LAJS as well; we actively commission new works and our concerts often feature world, US or West Coast premieres. Performance partnerships with the internationally acclaimed dance company BodyTRAFFIC and years of humanitarian aid concerts with KindredSPIRITS are emblematic of the LAJS’s collaborative mission.

Our Mission

The mission of the LAJS is to perform orchestral works of well-known as well as not widely recognized Jewish composers; establish opportunities for the presentation of new compositions by Jewish artists; serve as a professional resource for aspiring Jewish and non-Jewish musicians; act as an educational medium for Jewish music and composers; and provide educational opportunities for diverse populations of school-age children.