Did you know there is a Chicago based Jewish a cappella group?

Jewish Performer of the Week, Sari Greenberg, tells ChiTribe more about being the “SheBrew” and the power of Jewish music.

Listen Up! is proud to be the only professional Jewish A Cappella group with a female member. The vocal band started about 20 years ago as an all male group, and over time has evolved into the egalitarian group it is today. Sari joined them a year and a half ago.

It’s a small Jewish world. Sari tells us how she ended up joining the group in the most “Jewish way”. Since she has experience working with cantors and leading services, Sari was invited to sing and substitute as a service lead at Beth Emet in Evanston. Over three years ago, when Cantor Pavel Roytman tried to start a Shabbat Shira with a full music service, he reached out to Sari to join him in leading the service. Freddie Feldman, one of the members of Listen Up! was at this Shabbat Shira service at Beth Hillel B’nai Emunah in Willamette. Two years later, Listen Up! was looking for a female singer and Freddie reached out to Sari.

The group later confessed that they didn’t think I’d be into this kind of music, because they had seen photos and videos of my previous “Bad Romance” tour where I played Lady Gaga. But Listen Up! was exactly what I needed in my life.

In the Jewish world, there are plenty of opportunities for all male singing groups. As some Jewish customs demand, people still contact the group to request men only, but Listen Up!’s policy is egalitarian. You get the whole group and nothing but.

The group is made up of Steve Singer, Freddie Feldman, Eli Taylor, and “The Shebrew”: Sari Greenberg.

The group is made up of Steve Singer, Freddie Feldman, Eli Taylor, and Shebrew: Sari Greenberg.

More about Listen Up!’s Upcoming Performance on January 13th

Listen Up! tours internationally and performs at Jewish Community Centers, synagogues, theatres, festivals, and more. This week they are performing at the Metropolis Performing Centre in Arlington Heights. It is a celebration commemorating 70 years of Jewish music in honor of Israel’s birthday.

Sari tells us that she loves performing at this venue and is excited to return with this energetic, interactive and just plain fun show.

The spectrum of songs in their repertoire includes 60’s Israeli music to secular modern Hebrew and American pop tunes. Listen Up! will be singing the historical Tzena, modern Mosh Ben Ari, and classics like Chai and Yachad.