“Come and sing with strangers” – that’s part of Koolulam’s mission of spreading joy through music and bringing together diverse groups within Israel. Hear Michal Shahaf Schneiderman, one of the founders of the latest and hottest musical social initiatives’ Koolulam, in our interview on BITE SIZE with Yoni Pollak.
Listen to the Interview –
Here are some of the “Interview Highlights”
What is Koolulam?
- The main goal of Koolulam is to gather strangers, who have no background in singing, in one place to join together to create a musical sensation.
- Koolulam plans a singing event, promotes the event and allows followers to purchase tickets (which sell out in less than 10 minutes) to join thousands of strangers to sing a special song together. The cost of a ticket is usually around 40 NIS.
- What makes it unique? Koolulam is able to teach thousands of people a new song with harmonies in under 45 minutes. The new arrangement divides the participants into 3 vocal groups. Together they all sing – producing a powerful unified musical creation. The production is videoed and then shared to the masses via Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp.
- The founders believe that bringing diverse members of Israeli society together thru this event, can bridge their differences and help create a more unified experience in Israel. They have even hosted an event that included a song sung in harmony using English, Hebrew & Arabic.
Who started Koolulam?
- Or Taicher, one of the founders, directs the singing events and video productions.
- Ben Yefet is the third founder who creates the musical composition, is the front man on the stage and the leading conductor (the one with the long curly hair!!).
- The biggest challenge for the founders is finding the right song. They search for a well known song that they can create a new arrangement for using 3 voices – that will be easy enough to teach to a mass of people in less then an hour! Not an easy feat!
- The name Koolulam comes from a combination of the Hebrew words koolam (everyone), kol (voice) and olam (world).
- Today the videos have been shared millions of times across the world.
How can you join a Koolulam Event?
- Tickets are required for each event and lately tickets have been getting sold out within minutes!! So how can you get a ticket? Sign up for their newsletter and be one of the first people to receive an announcement about their next event.
Special Koolulam Events
- The Yom Hashoa Koolulam Concert was particularly emotional. Koolulam invited Holocaust survivors and their children and grandchildren to come together to sing “Ani Od Chai” (I am still alive) at Beit Avi Chai. This special event was created together with Zicharon BaSalon – a social initiative where Holocaust Survivors are invited to peoples homes to talk and share stories about their experiences and hosted at Beit Avichai.
- In honor of Yom HaAtzmaut, 70 Years of the State of Israel, together with the President Reuven Rivlin, the Mayor of Tel Aviv and famous musician Shlomi Shabat – Koolulam has arranged the biggest event yet – 12,000 people gathered to sing together!! (Video coming soon)
- In honor of Good Deeds Day – they arranged 5 simultaneous Koolulam events – in Jerusalem, Dimona, Ashkelon, Rishon Letzion, Kiryat Motzkin
- As a social initiative they try to focus on different parts of society for each event. This moving video is of a Koolulam concert at Shneiders Hospital in Israel. Bring doctors, nurses, patients and their families together.
To find out about upcoming events, find Koolulam on Facebook or signup for their newsletter!
