Adon Olam - The Portnoy Brothers & the United Synagogue Schools Coronation Choir

Produced, Arranged and Performed by: The Portnoy Brothers
Composed by: Stephen Levey
Children's Choir: The United Synagogue Schools Coronation Choir
Choir recorded by: Glenn Keiles
Mixed & Mastered by Yaron Saffer
Video Shot by: Robert Campbell
Video Edited by: Mati Shriki

Adon Olam gets the Royal treatment!

As part of the Jewish community’s celebrations in honour of the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III on May 6th 2023, a brand new adaptation of an ancient Jewish song composed by Stephen Levey and arranged by The Portnoy Brothers is being released digitally on Friday 28 April 2023. A musician ensemble based in the Ukraine participated in the production by providing all the strings and orchestration.

‘Adon Olam’ – which translated means ‘Lord of the Universe’ – is a hymn that has been part of the Jewish daily and Sabbath liturgy since the 15th Century and which speaks of God in both cosmic terms and as a personal presence in our lives.

Wienerworld worked in partnership with the United Synagogue to invite 200 primary school children from five Jewish schools in the London area to learn the song and come together to record this new composition together with featured artists The Portnoy Brothers. The United Synagogue is the largest synagogue body in Europe, supporting some 60 Jewish communities across England.

King Charles III has always been a stalwart personal friend to the Jewish community. It is hoped that this new recording of ‘Adon Olam’ will act as further recognition of the community’s affection for the Royal Family and our gratitude that Jews can observe their customs and traditions safely and openly in the UK.

‘Adon Olam’ is being released as a single on all streaming and download platforms together with a video on all social media channels, with proceeds going to charity.

Jo Gross, Chief Executive for the United Synagogue, commented "While the world has changed dramatically since we were founded in 1870, two constants throughout our 153-year history have been the recital every week in our shuls of the Prayer for the Royal Family and ending our services with Adon Olam. The United Synagogue is delighted therefore to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III with this new version of Adon Olam thanks to Wienerworld. Adon Olam is often sung by the young members of our community so we're particularly pleased to have brought together some 200 children from across our Jewish schools to perform with the Portnoy Brothers. We hope you'll enjoy listening to it and singing it during the Coronation Shabbat and beyond!"

Anthony Broza, CEO of Wienerworld, commented “Wienerworld are very proud to partner with the United Synagogue, the Portnoy Brothers and 200 young voices to produce and distribute this brand new Stephen Levey composition of Adon Olam in honour of the Coronation.”

Artist Background:
Mendy and Israel Portnoy, who together form The Portnoy Brothers, have been making music together for as long as they can remember. Their music spans many genres and their most recent album “No Complaints” (recorded between Nashville and Jerusalem) charted in the TOP 10 Billboard Heatseekers Chart and features a duet with Alex Clare. They have also shared the stage with Idan Raichel and Ivri Lider as well as performed with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Their time is split between Jerusalem and New York.

Stephen Levey started writing and performing music from a young age and has worked with some of the biggest names in the world of Jewish music. For thirty years, Stephen was the Musical Director and Conductor of the Shabbaton Choir. During this time, he toured extensively both in the UK and abroad including 11 Solidarity Through Song tours to Israel and appearing in concerts in the UK, Germany, Poland, Sweden and on three major tours of America.

Stephen's strengths lie both in performing and composing uplifting music that has been sung worldwide. Stephen began to write music for the Shabbaton Choir in 1996 and has gone on to compose many notable pieces. His most popular, ‘Oseh Shalom’, was commissioned for Emeritus Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks Home of Hope CD. ‘Oseh Shalom’ has found enduring worldwide popularity – with over 3.2 million hits on YouTube – becoming one of the modern Jewish anthems of our time.

Wienerworld is the UK’s leading independent music, record, audio visual and digital distributor.

[mbhk]

I can listen to your beautiful voices ALL day ! Such a heartwarming melody. Absolutely LOVE this. You " pick me up " when life is challenging. Thank you! You are such a gift to the World- ALL of you!

[theportnoybrothers]

It was such a pleasure to arrange and produce this song and to get to sing it with all of you amazing children....Magical! 🙏❤

[mattikarosenthal]

I wish Lord Jonathan Sacks was still with us to watch this. A very fitting tribute, after all his grandmother on his father side was Princess Anna of Greece, where she saved Greek Jews, by putting them in the palace right under the Nazis noses. She is buried in Israel, in the memorial of the righteous Gentiles.

[TheGrahamWalsh]

So proud that my son was performing in this. Beautifully sung by everyone.

[batmitzvahlessonsUK]

Huge kol hakavod to everyone involved. What a wonderful way to pay respect. Thank you

[hunterholt]

Absolutely beautiful! Always a Jew and Proud!!!

[maxwellsmart]

Beautiful kol ha’kavod, incredible composition, the magnificent voices of the children with love of ‘adon olem’- Am Israel Chai

[EliUnityGoldsmith]

Yes 🙌🏻 😮 😊 Unity song with the portnoy bros - good bookings

[estellebehrens]

B beautiful. Brought tears to my eyes.

[simonjester]

So proud to be a Great British Jewish person.

[dotsinger]

Beautiful and touching. Yasher Koach from Philadelphia.

[irabloomgarden]

Am Israel Chai! Le D'or V'ador

[danielgoldman]

Simply beautiful and wonderful, Amy Israel Hai..!🔯

[LaurenMoshal]

Wow this is magnificent!!! Kol hakavod !!!

[mbhk]

Inspiring, uplifting, unified and absolutely BREATHTAKING !!! Yes, I had tears in my eyes. Kol hakavod to ALL of you involved in this ! Yes, it's " fit for a King ", in every sense of the word. It's been said that before he took the throne, King Arthur learnt from ALL creatures ( it may be a fable, his journeys with Merlin, but the book "The Once and Future King ", has had an indelible impression in my life. And the realisation that G-d, Hashem is in charge and above all of us, is a perfect seed to plant. ) kol hakavod. Yaashar kochachem !! Can I give 1000 💜?
אתם מרוממו אותי מירקתי
תודה רבה וברכות והצלחה.

[saulzneimer]

What a great tribute. Really moving. Continuing a great tradition!! Thank you Stephen and the Portnoy brothers and the children from the schools! Saul Zneimer

[davidharrisberg]

An amazing composition. So proud of all involved. What a wonderful tribute to our new King.

[mbhk]

Just love watching this. Can watch it over and over ! Gmar chasima toiva !!!! Best regards to your family ❤

[jeremyfreedman]

This is absolutely wonderful. The kids were absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for sharing ❤️

[petersheldon]

This is a worthy partner for the magnificent Oseh Shalom which the equally magnificent Stephen Levey composed for the Shabbaton Choir and has been seen and sung around the world. Beautifully directed and sung. It will, rightly, become a classic in our synagogue services and such fun to sing for our kids, wherever they get together..