Mak’hela, whose name means “chorus” in Hebrew, is a Jewish choral group dedicated to performing works from all facets of the Jewish world. Founded in 2003, the chorus has performed in many New England venues, and in 2010 participated in the Zimriya international choral festival in Israel. An integral part of Mak’hela’s mandate is to break down the artificial barriers among the Jewish and secular communities, and differences within Jewish communities. The chorus plays an educational role in promoting Jewish music of all types and eras, as well as Jewish values, building sacred bridges to understanding and respect, using the most universal of languages: music.

Music Director

Dr. Elaine “Lainee” Broad Ginsberg holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory (Music and Judaic Studies), Ball State University (Composition), and a Doctorate from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (Composition). Dr. Ginsberg has been teaching at Keene State College since 2004. She served as the Choral Director at Hampshire College in Massachusetts from 2000 to 2017. She also taught at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan for eight years, where she conducted the Academy’s Chamber Singers and ran the Theory and Composition program. She spent her senior year in college living on Kibbutz Tzora, as well as studying at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem.

Lainee headshot

Dr. Ginsberg is a published composer of choral music, her most well-known work being the arrangement of the Hebrew song “Oseh Shalom”. She has received numerous honors for her compositions, including awards from the Guild of Synagogue Musicians and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. She has also been commissioned to write many pieces for synagogue and community choirs, including several works performed at the Five College Choral Festival in Northampton, MA.

Board of Directors

Diane Kontoff, President
Judith Gutlerner, Vice President
Lisa Kessler, Secretary
Robert Mikesh, Treasurer
Helena Donovan
Gordon Freed
Miriam Grunfeld
Ginny Levi
Marci Linker
Bonnie Mikesh
Elaine Broad Ginsberg, ex-officio