About Our Choir

Makhelat HaMercaz, Jewish Choir of Central New Jersey, created in 2003, is the brainchild of two local cantors, Cantor Anna West Ott, Cantor Emerita of Anshe Emeth Memorial  Temple in New Brunswick, and Hazzan Sheldon Levin of Congregation Neve Shalom in Metuchen. Under their direction, the group has attracted singers from Middlesex, Monmouth, Mercer, and Somerset Counties. Dedicated to nurturing appreciation of and building community through Jewish music, Makhelat HaMercaz continues to broaden its musical repertoire spanning centuries and continents – religious, secular, classical, jazz, pop and folk tunes sung in Hebrew, Yiddish, English, and Ladino.

The choir was featured several times at the North American Jewish Choral Festival. In 2013 they sang at the Cantors Assembly convention. In 2006 the choir received a grant from The Karma Foundation of Princeton, New Jersey, whose mission is to support the development and enrichment of Jewish life, in addition to arts and culture. The choir receives annual grants from the Middlesex Cultural and Heritage Commission, a highly competitive process.