A baal menagen and kashrus professional from Iowa is preparing to release a new instrumental album of rare Chabad nigunim, produced with a highly accomplished and internationally recognized arranger, composer, and producer.

The album, set to be released by R’ Levi Goldstein from Iowa, will be produced together with acclaimed arranger and pianist Yaron Gershovsky, known for his previous albums of Chabad nigunim, and is set to feature ten mostly rare Chabad nigunim.

“He has a certain edelkeit, a certain vibe, which I thought would be very suitable,” Goldstein told Anash.org about working with Gershovsky. “By nature, Yaron has a softness to himself; he has an appreciation and sensitivity to nigunim.”

Goldstein has been playing keyboard since he was a young boy and began dabbling in arrangements himself early on. He helped his uncle, Rabbi Zalman Goldstein, with his Chabad Classics albums, and plays for simchas as a one-man band.

In yeshiva, he regularly helped the baalei menagnim with various tnuos (notes) and is known for his expertise in Chabad nigunim. Between raising his family and his kashrus work for the OU in Iowa, the idea of producing an album of his own stayed with him for years.

Starting the project wasn’t easy. Despite making up to meet in New York multiple times, something always came up. Finally, the two made up to meet at the Ohel, and Goldstein flew in to New York. “It was his first time there, despite living only twenty to twenty-five minutes away in Queens. I showed him exactly what to do, and he was very moved,” Goldstein said.

On the way back to Crown Heights, Goldstein found himself telling a bochur who had joined in the car about the album. The bochur pulled up a tablet and showed him a letter from the Rebbe, which he said he had just come across.

Printed in the Hosafos of Likkutei Sichos on page 515 (which Goldstein notes incidentally is his area code in Iowa), the Rebbe was writing to someone who wanted to produce an album of Chabad nigunim, telling him to make sure every tnuah was done correctly.

“It was a clear sign from the Rebbe,” Goldstein says. “We had just met up at the Ohel for this exact thing, and moments later the Rebbe sent us a message.”

Gershovsky had previously seen the Rebbe once in his lifetime during a visit to 770, and although he doesn’t recall much from that visit, he says he remembers the Rebbe’s holy face and the Rebbe’s deep, penetrating eyes.

“That’s also my goal in this album,” Goldstein added. “I’ve listened to many different albums that people have made, and every so often I see they have not gotten a particular tnuah accurate. I want to correct that.”

The album, called “Shir Chabad,” is based on the vort from the Alter Rebbe that a shir, a song, lifts a person up from the constraints of olam hazeh and elevates him. Shir Chabad will feature ten nigunim, most of them rare and not widely known today.

“I specifically chose nigunim that are not so popular and known,” Goldstein said. “This way it would bring them back to life, almost like Techiyas Hameisim for these, you can call them, lost songs.”

He did include some more familiar ones, such as Adir Hu, so that those who aren’t as familiar with the rarer nigunim can still connect to the album.

The album will be fully instrumental, with no vocals, featuring a full orchestra with piano, saxophones, and strings. Gershovsky is overseeing the musical arrangements, writing out the notes in full, and playing the piano for the project.

When questions arise over differing nuschaos for a given nigun, Goldstein consults with Reb Dovid Horowitz, a noted expert in nigunim, who offers exact and expert advice.

“We’re looking at a masterpiece of niggunim that are produced in the most authentic way,” Goldstein said.

The album is being produced and mixed at a high level, with plans for release in the near future. If you would like to get involved in this project, click here: Tinyurl.com/Shir-Chabad

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