LAJLC was founded in 2017 by two busy mothers who have a strong passion for Jewish music and singing. Since then, we have grown into a dedicated group of talented Jewish women throughout the Los Angeles area, who thoroughly enjoy the art and camaraderie of singing three part harmony to uplift audiences with meaningful Jewish music.
We comprise various levels of musical background and religious affiliations, across many ages and stages. We are proud to be called the LAJLC family!
Our Staff
Co-Founder and Producer
Chaya Rochel was born into a musical family with a legacy of prominent musicians and cantors. Her musical parents saw her enjoying singing and being able to harmonize at an early age.
In her youth, Chaya Rochel participated in school and camp choirs, and sung in a chamber choir in High School. Her talent and leadership abilities led her to run teen choirs before she got married and raised her 5 children.
Since then, Chaya Rochel dreamed of the opportunity to sing in a women’s choir, and made it happen when she met Alexandra Blaker and created the LAJLC in 2017. Wanting to make the choir come to fruition, she fell into the role of producer, and has enjoyed it more and more each season. “This has been a fulfilling journey, with an incredibly supportive team of volunteer staff. I look forward to continue inspiring women with Jewish music in harmony and unity!”
Co-Founder and Director Human Resources
Alexandra has enjoyed music since she was a little girl, twirling in her parents’ living room to the likes of Rachmaninov’s composition and The Bells. As a teen, she fondly remembers gathering with her brothers around the Shabbos table and raucously enjoying the latest song from Jewish summer camp.
Alexandra has sung in choirs since high school and college, being especially moved by the spiritual moments of singing with others in harmony. She and Chaya Rochel Lipsker were the inspiration to bring the first Jewish women’s choir to Los Angeles, and she is thrilled to see how it has taken wings!
She is incredibly grateful to be part of this family of talented performers that have worked so hard to make her vision a reality. She hopes to see the LAJLC continue to uplift audiences for many years to come.
Musical Arranger and Composer
The day her parents bought a piano was a dream come true for incredibly talented Ita. She began to play at the age of 9, and quickly progressed in her traditional classical training.
Longing to play Jewish music and looking to increase her creative opportunities, Ita began to study chords and was soon playing her favorite songs by ear and composing some songs of her own. Around that time, Ita picked up the guitar, followed by alto sax. Her sax teacher, a Jazz musician, introduced her to the popular jazz concept of improvisation. This had a profound influence not only on the way she played the sax, but on her entire approach to piano as well.
Ita’s first accompaniment and arrangement opportunities were Siddur and Chumash plays for a local day school. Next, she went on to compose, arrange, direct, and play for choirs at school and camp performances and kumzitses, as a student and then as a consultant.
Today, Ita maintains a website at www.playjewishmusic.com where she teaches people to play Jewish music (without reading scores of notes!) and provides sheet music (for those who prefer to play from notes). She also teaches piano via Facetime, enabling Jewish women to further their music education even if they can’t easily get out of the house or don’t have a local teacher to teach them Jewish music.
Arranging harmony and musical accompaniment for LAJLC has been a wonderful and fulfilling opportunity for Ita to share her musical creativity and enable other Jewish women to do the same!
Development Coordinator
Kari Gila grew up writing poetry, playing guitar and harmonizing with her mother and sisters at the Shabbos table. Whether at Camp Ramah or in her Phoenix home, the musical ruach of her youth sparked her great love for Judaism.
Kari Gila took many voice lessons, and in high school, loved the creative camaraderie of being in musicals. In college, her most beloved performance was as Hodel in Fiddler on The Roof at Hebrew University Jerusalem.
Over the last 33 years, being observant has deepened her inner connection to prayerful music. Now, Kari Gila is thrilled to be returning to the stage to inspire and uplift others.
“Thank you, LAJLC sisters, for making this singing dream come true in harmony with you. Thank you, Hashem, for this opportunity to share my voice in Your service.”
Outreach Coordinator
Hannah has always loved singing. From the age of 6, she performed in musical theater productions in her local Denver Jewish community and in high school, was part of an elite choir that performed in Europe.
For more than ten years, while her priorities were becoming a psychiatric nurse practitioner and a mother of 2, her singing became limited to the shower and the Shabbos table!
Hannah says, being part of LALJC has been a beautiful way to share her voice with other women and spend time with a close-knit group who share this passion. “It has been wonderful finding such a meaningful and spiritually uplifting way to bring singing and performing back into my life”.
Choir Director
Melissa Faye Klein is so happy to have joined as the Conductor of LAJLC for their 3rd season. Originally from New Jersey, Melissa moved to California with her family mid-High School. She has always had a love for music and singing. Her passion led her to degrees in Music, Vocal Performance and Musical Theatre from CSU,Chico as well as studying with prominent coaches in NY.
She is an accomplished SAG-AFTRA vocalist, session singer, voice-over artist, vocal teacher, music director and conductor.
Melissa has toured and performed professionally in most of the continental US as well as abroad with musical theatre and classical music. She has performed as a back-up vocalist for several Pop/R&B artists and also as half of the Cabaret duo known as The Happenstances.
Locally, she can be seen performing jazz, cabaret, classical and choral with the Metropolitan Master Chorale, California Philharmonic Chorale, Marina Del Rey Symphony, Life Choir, The Ikeda Kings Orchestra and Christmas Matters Holiday Carolers.
Melissa is also a Music Director for Village Arts Theatre and A Time for Dance Musical theatre programs for kids.
“It is my mission to enrich people’s lives through music.”
Instagram: @melissafayeklein
Vocal Coach
Penina Plotkin hails from New Jersey, where she grew up singing and studying both vocal performance and music education at Mason Gross School of the Arts.
Over the years, her talent and passion for music has earned her the opportunity to perform with a variety of professional Ensembles, Chorales, Musical Theatre and Opera productions in the Northeast and Los Angeles.
Penina’s enthusiasm for voice lead her to choose a careeer in Speech Pathology, specializing in rehabilitating the professional voice and dysphagia for individuals recovering from head and neck cancer.
Penina feels being a part of LAJLC is the perfect creative addition to her love for Judaism. She is excited and honored to sing beautiful Jewish music with this talented group of women. “It is special to have this opportunity to sing and coach with the LALJC. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this spiritual journey.”