Kol Zimrah (Hebrew for “Voice of Song”) was founded in 1996 by Cantor Richard Cohn, to offer lay singers a high-quality experience connected to the global Jewish choral movement.

Cantor Cohn served as the group’s musical director until 2007. He was succeeded by Maestro Richard Boldrey and, later, Cantor Pavel Roytman. During Maestro Boldrey’s tenure and continuing with Cantor Roytman, Margo Schwartz-Newton has been Kol Zimrah’s pianist and Assistant Music Director.  In 2026, Marissa Simmons joined as the Associate Conductor of KZ City--our first satellite location.  

Kol Zimrah’s recent performances include Chicago-area venues Orchestra Hall, Old St. Patrick’s Church, Chicago Theater, the UIC Pavilion, Millennium Park, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, Lyric Opera, and the Chicago Cultural Center – as well as area synagogues such as KAM Isaiah Israel in Hyde Park, Congregation Har Zion in River Forest, and the Chicago Loop Synagogue.

Building bridges across the community, Kol Zimrah has appeared at the Lieberman Geriatric Health Center and the Weinberg Community for Senior Living.  We regularly perform Hanukkah concerts at the Union League Club of Chicago and the Selfhelp Home in Chicago.  Kol Zimrah has also collaborated with the Second Baptist Church Choir and Bright Star Church of God Choir in joint performances of Jewish and gospel music.

And extending bridges to other communities, we have performed in Milwaukee, Detroit, New York, and Indiana, and at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. In  November of 2025, we built bridges through our music in the South with performances in Atlanta and Montgomery, Alabama. Our international appearances include Paris, Berlin, and Toronto.