LISTEN: Musician plays Leonard Cohen on the shofar

Trumpeter Amit Sofer can make a shofar sound like a trumpet and is in the process of registering the world’s longest shofar in the Guiness Book of Records.

With the beginning of the Jewish month of Elul last week, the shofar will be heard daily in synagogues around the world, but it will only sound three kinds of blasts – the traditional tekiah (a long single note), shevarim (triple) and teruah (nine staccato notes).

Trumpeter Amit Sofer has made the ritual instrument much more versatile. Sofer can play a medieval fanfare on the shofar.

He also performs in concert on the shofar, playing popular Hebrew songs such as Jerusalem of Gold, Hava Nagila and Mi Haish.

But perhaps his most unusual feat is pushing the shofar to perform classical pieces such as Aram Khachaturian's Sabre Dance and contemporary favourites such as Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.

In concert, Sofer uses three different shofars, each producing a different musical scale and works in small musical groups so that other instrumentalists can fill in notes the shofar cannot produce.

Sofer also claims to own the longest Shofar in the world - 1.74 meters long, which he is in the process of registering in the Guinness Book of Records.

He says trumpet, trombone and French horn players find it easier to blow the shofar, but the ancient instrument is still technically challenging. “The shofar requires a high level of concentration, because, similar to violin, it feels like wandering in the dark, you don’t know exactly where to hit in order to reach the right note.”

READ MORE
The musician who transforms shofar into musical instrument, aims for world record (Ynet)

Photo: Sofer plays the shofar in front of the Knesset in Jerusalem (YouTube)