Steven Leas comes back to thrill

SUZANNE BELLING

He gave up a career as a chartered accountant and turned his world upside down in pursuing a life of song. There was always a passion for singing as evidenced by his early childhood roles in “The King and I “and “The Sound of Music”. He officiated as chazzan of The Linksfield-Senderwood Hebrew Congregation in Johannesburg and started a successful wedding and barmitzvah band called Moodswing, as well as forming a recording studio and music company, “Stone Music” together with Michael Hankinson.

Leas performed in many concerts in South Africa including, “Russian Exodus”, “Millennium Magic” and “Three Chazzans and a Cousin”, as well as appearing on numerous television shows and performing musical theatre favourites with all the major South African orchestras.

He sang with the KwaZulu-Natal Orchestra prior to his departure to London, to a crowd of 7 000 in a concert called “The Musicals”.

Leas moved to London in 2002 and was accepted to the English National Opera “The Knack” programme. He soon landed the part-time job of chazzan of the Central Synagogue in the West End of London and appeared on his first of many Jewish CDs as resident chazzan of the London Jewish Male Choir. He is known for his Helden (Heroic) tenor voice and for his renditions of Wagner, Verdi and Puccini arias.

The JJMC, said to be the longest-serving Jewish male choir in the international Jewish choral arena, first performed at Johannesburg’s Linder Auditorium in August 1996 to pay tribute to the late Cantor Johnny Gluck, who died at a young age shortly before then.

Over the years the JJMC has entertained audiences in the US, Canada, Israel, Australia and the UK. In December 2011 it was one of eight international choirs participating at the first international Louis Lewandowski Choral Festival in Berlin in honour of one of the greatest Jewish liturgical composers, whose 150-year-old music is still heard frequently today.

The choir is an acknowledged part of the Jewish musical scene of Johannesburg; its work is not confined to the Jewish community and it has served as an ambassador for the community and the country as a whole. The choristers are all volunteers.

As part of its outreach programme, the JJMC has performed on a number of occasions with the internationally known Imilonji Kantu Choral Society of Soweto, under the baton of George Mxadana.

This year the JJMC participated in a number of communal events, including Yom Hashoah and the 70^th anniversary memorial service of the SA Jewish Ex-Service League. It will also perform at the “Poppy Day” commemoration concert for the First World War at the Military History Museum, Johannesburg.

Evelyn Green, one of the foremost accompanists and repetiteurs in South Africa, is a founder member of the choir and has been its accompanist and secretary since its establishment.

The highlight of her career was leading the JJMC as its musical director to the Lewandowski Festival in Berlin.

Professor Russel Lurie, who has sung in the choir since its second year, has been the JJMC chairman for the past 15 years. He started singing in a shul choir a few years before his barmitzvah. He has acted as choirmaster to a number of shuls in Johannesburg and currently sings with the Sandton Synagogue Choir.

He and Green have produced CDs entitled “Timeless Pearls, and Sim Shalom…Songs of our People, a compendium of Jewish and related songs.