Beth Sholom Congregation is preparing for a musical spectacle in early December with three highly talented musicians joining the congregation’s cantor, Jacob Agar, for a Sunday concert blending Jewish and Georgian musical styles.
Georgian opera and folk singer Gocha Abuladze, cellist Jessie Reagen, and pianist Margarita Shatilova are coming to the Elkins Park synagogue on Dec. 7 for a roughly 90-minute recital of opera alongside Agar.
“It’s going to be a very, very high caliber performance, on par with some of the best theaters in in the country. This whole concert and project is part of my work and desire as the cantor of the synagogue to transform the synagogue into a musical center in Philadelphia,” Agar said.
The three visiting musicians bring significant experience and talent to the performance.
Abuladze, who is a winner of 10 international musical competitions, previously performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and toured around the world before moving to the U.S. in 2022.
Reagen has played in concert alongside several high-profile artists, including Beyoncé, Adele, Jay-Z, Frank Ocean, and several more. She also performed at a state dinner for President Barack and first lady Michelle Obama in 2010 and has appeared on several popular TV shows, including “Saturday Night Live,” “The View,” “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “Good Morning America” and “Today,” among others.
Shatilova is also an international competition prizewinner who spent several years working at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory before moving to the U.S. and becoming a staff pianist in Temple University’s Vocal Arts Department.
Agar rounds out the group as an operatic tenor, composer and musical arranger. The concept for this concert began when a family friend of Agar who had attended Abuladze’s performance in New York introduced the two men.
“He’s a very warm, very friendly person. We became instant friends, and we discussed that we would both love to sing together and also create a concert, fusing our two cultures,” Agar said. “He has a lot of Jewish friends. He’s very involved in the Jewish community in New York. He goes to Shabbat dinners. He actually [knows] a good deal of Jewish music, even though he is not Jewish.”
Given their mutual love for operatic music, Agar said, he and Abuladze agreed that songs from that genre would be part of the concert, along with Jewish and Georgian music.
Agar said he’s trying to make Beth Sholom a “musical haven,” adding that this concert is the first major performance where he’s invited outside artists since he started working at the congregation.
But it’s far from the first time music has been incorporated into the synagogue’s observance. Agar explained for the past few years, Beth Sholom has hosted musical services every Friday.
“Our community is very into music, and they very much appreciate a high level of music. For me, music is the language of God. Many people say music is a universal language, but for me music is the direct connection to God. My goal as a cantor is to, through music, uplift people spiritually, to bring them closer to a higher power, and do it through different kinds of music and different avenues,” Agar said.
The Dec. 7 concert is just the first step in bringing more music to the synagogue. Agar said the synagogue will present local klezmer band Hot Club of Philadelphia on March 15, showcasing their “gypsy jazz” style.
The cantor said excitement about the winter concert is rising at the synagogue and they’ve started ramping up the marketing for the event.
He said they’re hoping to draw people from across the Philadelphia Jewish community along with the non-Jewish community to experience the concert in their historic building, the only synagogue built by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
“We want to create this afternoon of sitting in a beautiful, minimalist Frank Lloyd Wright space that will be filled with beautiful and classy music,” Agar said.