The Los Angeles Jewish Symphony was thrilled to be honored with the 2023 American Prize in Virtual Performance for Karen Hart‘s “Shake My Faith” in the community category! The Jewish Community Chorale‘s performance – featuring Hart on vocals and drums with piano by Gary Stockdale – took 1st place in the competition.
A Passover gospel number, “Shake My Faith” playfully tells the story of Moses and his conflict with the Pharoah, narrating the coming of the Ten Plagues and culminating in the Exodus of the Israelites.
“Shake My Faith” was first released as part of our virtual Passover concert Shake My Faith: Music to set us free in 2021. Presented in collaboration with Jewish Life Foundation, Rabbi Mark Blazer and JLTV, the show additionally featured an interview with Karen Hart, Jewish Community Chorale performances of music by William Sharlin, Michael Isaacson, and John Leavitt, and a pair chamber performances featuring LAJS musicians.
The American Prize National Nonprofit Competition in the Performing Arts is the nation’s most comprehensive series of contests in the performing arts. The American Prize is unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, directors, ensembles, and composers in the United States at professional, collegiate, community, and high school levels.
This isn’t Karen Hart’s first award from the American Prize; the first was awarded to Karen for “Judah and His Maccabees: A Hanukkah Gospel Story,” a similarly unique choral work that premiered at the Los Angeles Music Center. The piece has since been performed by Stevie Wonder, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, and the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony for our concert A Night of Miracles at Wilshire Boulevard Temple. The LAJS will return to Wilshire Boulevard Temple – this time to the Reznick Family Campus, on Sunday, April 14, 2024 for our 30th Anniversary Celebration.
Watch the American Prize winning video!