Lag B’Omer usually marks the beginning of the wedding season. During the Sefira days, the custom is not to get married because of the mourning for the students of Rabbi Akiva who perished in a plague which struck during this period. Some people do not get married until Shavuot. Then, between Lag B’Omer or Shavuot and October (except for the Three Weeks), it’s wedding season, as the weather is good and you can have an outdoor wedding. So in this column, I’d like to review some of the current trends in music that you might hear at weddings. For this, I spoke with musicians who perform at weddings, as well as listened on YouTube to some of the leading wedding bands today in order to learn about the current trends.
Mordy Weinstein is one of the most popular singers in the last couple of years on the a cappella scene, but besides that, he is also a very popular wedding singer who performs with the leading wedding bands. You may remember Mordy from a recent column of mine (“Mordy Weinstein – Not Just A Cappella”), and if you haven’t read it yet, I encourage you to read his story. (You can search for it on jewishpress.com.)
Actually, after I interviewed him for that column, we spent the last minutes of the interview speaking about trends in music. I asked him: What are the current trends in music for weddings?
A lot more songs during dance sets are rock or electronic style, Mordy says. It used to be more “freilach,” but recently the music has more of a rock, electronic, and trance vibe.
One of the reasons for this trend – this is my own view – is the emergence in the last few years of arranger keyboards which can be programmed by programmers to create their own beats. This created an industry where musicians create sets of samples and beats and sell them to other keyboardists. Most of the sets today are very electronic and dance style. Even in the charedi world, at many weddings the music sounds very electronic and trance-style. Maybe that itself is worth a column… Let me know if you want me to expand on this trend and write about it for a future column.
“What other trends are happening today?” I ask Mordy. A lot more Israeli music, he says. The clients are asking for it. Not only during the dancing, but also in between the dances while people eat. For example, Rami Kleinstein is very popular, he says.
When Mordy mentioned Rami Kleinstein, I was a little surprised because I didn’t think that people in the U.S. were familiar with his music. I grew up on his music and when I was younger, I had his album Tapuchim U’Tmarim which I think was one of his best, if not the best. So I was happy to hear from Mordy that people are playing his music.
Another trend that Mordy mentions is very popular at Modern Orthodox weddings is DJs.
I also spoke to Yossi Schwartz, who serves as the musical director at Park East Day School and as the chief cantor of Skylake Synagogue in Miami during the Yamim Nora’im. As part of his role as musical director of Park East Day School, he is also involved with the musical events at Park East Synagogue.
But Yossi is also very active in the wedding world. He mostly performs under the chuppah.
Yossi, a Seattle native born in 1991, grew up in Israel in a family steeped in musical talent. His passion for music emerged early, inspired by the great cantors of previous generations. As a teenager, Yossi immersed himself in the vibrant musical traditions of the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem, absorbing the artistry of renowned cantors and professional choirs.
Under the mentorship of esteemed figures such as Shlomo Goldhar, Maestro Elli Jaffe, and Cantor Yisrael Rand, Yossi refined his skills in music, harmony, and conducting. In 2011, he founded the acclaimed vocal ensemble Pamonim, recognized as one of the world’s premier cantorial vocal ensembles. He has performed across Israel, Europe, and the U.S., where he currently lives, in synagogues and at Jewish festivals, concerts, and weddings.
So far Yossi has performed at about 40 chuppahs in the U.S. Sometimes his clients also ask him to sing during the meal. He started to perform at weddings following his solo performances around the world, from Krakow to Broadway, where he sings in five languages: Hebrew, English, Spanish, Yiddish, and Italian. He performs with only a pianist.
I asked both Mordy and Yossi what clients have been asking for since October 7. They both told me that many couples ask for “Acheinu [Kol Beit Yisrael]” as well as “MiSheberach LeChayalei Tzahal.” Also on demand are “Am Israel Chai” by Eyal Golan, “Tamid Ohev Otim,” and “Shir LaMaalot.”
Yossi mentioned that at some of the weddings Yossi has performed at in synagogues, the chatan and kallah approach the Aron Kodesh, open the holy ark, and ask the audience to raise their voices and pray for the soldiers. And then they all begin to sing “MiSheberach” and “Acheinu.”
At many weddings the clients ask to stick to songs with Jewish and Hebrew lyrics. Even when the audience is not necessarily frum but is rather traditional, they still ask for classical Jewish melodies, in addition to popular American pop music.
Clients also ask for Israeli music – sometimes only Israeli music. Yossi did a wedding where about 150 people walked down the aisle to only Israeli music. The chuppah took about one-and-a-half hours, and the entire time Yossi was singing Israeli songs such as “Al Hadvash ve’al Ha’okets,” “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav,” “Bereishit Olam” (a song by Shlomi Shabbat), “Bo’ei Kallah,” etc. Furthermore, the audience often wants to join in and sing with him. At one wedding, he sang “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav” and the whole audience joined him.
Some clients ask for world music, and some want world music put to Jewish lyrics – for example, “Time to Say Goodbye,” “You Raise Me Up,” and “Perfect.” He has even been requested to sing Disney songs with the full Disney lyrics under the chuppah (for example, the song “A Million Dreams”).
From my experience at weddings that I attended recently, as well as wedding bands I’ve listened on YouTube, popular songs right now are “Heimoh Heimoh” by Avraham Fried, Yaakov Shwekey songs including “Shehecheyanu,” “Maaminim” by MBD, “Ahallelu Ahallelu” which is very popular at both haredi and Modern Orthodox weddings, “Yama” by Benny Friedman, obviously “Tamid Ohev Oti,” “Machshavot Tovot” by Motty Weiss, “L’Chai Olamim” by Benny Friedman, Matt Dubb, and Mordechai Shapiro, and “Shuvi” by Simcha Leiner.
Next week is Shavuot, which is also called Chag haKatzir – the Harvest Festival. One of my favorite songs that I sometimes enjoy listening to before this holiday is “Yam Hashibolim” by HaGevatron. Hashibolim means crops. And Chag Shavuot is also Chag Matan Torateinu. One of my favorites songs on this theme is Mordechai Ben-David’s “Torah Hakedosha” from the Maaminim Bnei Maaminim album.
Chag Sameach!
