Israeli Students Bring Music to Berman

April 8, 2025

By Ayelet Solomon ’25 and BZ Openden ’26

Walking into the blue band room during electives on Jan. 23, students were greeted by a sound they had rarely heard at Berman: jazz music. Based on the quality of the music, students might have presumed that the producers of the sound were seasoned professionals, but no: they were high-school students from Thelma Yellin.

Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts “is like Duke Ellington School of the Arts here,” according to Mrs. Claudia Rosales Waters, referring to the competitive Washington, D.C. performing arts school. Located in Giv’atayim, Israel, Thelma Yellin provides students with the unique opportunity to engage in both typical studies and an art major of their choice. These particular visitors evidently pursue music, in this case the jazz major. As I learned from Ilai Bojmel, a 17-year-old singer, students in this course “study music for 15 hours a week,” whether it be history, theory, or arrangement. 

All of the musicians have been practicing since childhood. Shaked Pearlman, a 17-year-old drummer, began playing the drums at the age of seven; 16-year-old Alon Cedar has been playing piano since the age of four. Each student joined Thelma Yellin for a special chance to do what they love. 

Yahel Fryd, a 17-year-old singer, talked about why she came to Thelma Yellin. “I was in [a] school … an open school where you don’t have to enter any classes … since I was five. And then when I was 13 I started to get tired, but I thought I could never be in a regular school where they make me go to classes and it’s boring.” 

Ironically, Fryd mentioned that her current school is very difficult, with high expectations for grades. Fryd had to work hard to gain skills that other students took for granted, including when she was 14 years old and was assigned to “make an arrangement for four horns” without actually being taught how. “But I grew a lot and now I know,” she finished.

Typically, a band such as this one would tour Europe to play music, but that was not the case this year due to antisemitism. Fortunately, this turned out to be a windfall for D.C. community members like Josh Stevens, a Jewish communal professional of 10 years who works at the Anti-Defamation League. “My mentor Robert [Burman] learned that Thelma Yellin jazz ensemble was supposed to go to Germany and there was too much antisemitism in Germany, so they had to cancel the trip,” Stevens said. Stevens and Burman, realizing how they could redirect this obstacle into an opportunity, planned and funded a trip to the D.C. area.

This visit certainly was an opportunity, not just to meet students from a unique school but also to hear sounds that — especially over the past several years — have rarely been heard in the Berman building because of a recent lack of music programming. Each student displayed undeniable passion and style as they played. The musicians listened to and played off each other, the result being a performance that you could not have guessed was probably half-improvised. 

Berman students can learn something from the band’s teamwork, especially in the arts area. “The nature of jazz is that you learn the basics to be able to improvise,” said Mrs. Rosales Waters, Berman’s director of performing arts. “There’s a level of listening [among the musicians] that is just beautiful … but HADAS [Hebrew Academy Dramatic Arts Society] is getting there more and more. It’s the listening [that helps you] pick up on cues.”

Amy Hollander ’26 and Tahel Atlas ’27 enjoy the open mic

Shaked Pearlman on the drums

The open jam session allows for some collaboration between Torah MiTzion Kollel Bachur Shaked Ben Dor and Alon Cedar.