Professional Biography

Micah Hendler is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Jerusalem Youth Chorus (JYC), an Israeli-Palestinian music and dialogue project he has brought from a dream to the global stages of TED and America’s Got Talent to the New York Times and the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Through the co-creation of music and the sharing of stories, JYC empowers young singers from East and West Jerusalem to speak and sing their truths as they become leaders in their communities and inspire singers and listeners around the world to join them in their work for peace, justice, inclusion, and equality. Even in times of war, JYC continues to meet, and its singers’ commitment to each other, and the power of their voices raised in harmony, has only grown.

In addition to his ongoing bridge-building work in Jerusalem, Micah has brought his JYC experience back home, collaborating with several organizations working to depolarize America, including Braver Angels, the One America Movement, and Convergence. Music is a powerful access point for Americans to engage with one another differently, and by leading community singing, facilitating deep dialogue, and weaving disparate voices together through collaborative songwriting, Micah is working to build bridges in the US as well.

Micah has a degree in Music and International Studies from Yale and brings decades of musical experience from different global traditions to this work: he has founded, directed, sung with, or played with dozens of musical ensembles of varying styles, including the Yale Whiffenpoofs, and has studied Community Singing and CircleSinging with GRAMMY-winning composers Ysaye Barnwell and Roger Treece, using these techniques to open up the concept of who is allowed to sing and what singers can do together.  He has also been involved in dialogue work for 20 years and has written and presented in many local and global fora about his work with the Jerusalem Youth Chorus, including in a main stage TED Talk with JYC Executive Director Amer Abu Arqub, and the keynote presentation of the East-West Philosophers’ Conference with leading Palestinian intellectual and peacemaker Dr. Sari Nusseibeh.

Micah was selected for the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Music in 2017 and has written extensively for Forbes.com on music, society, and social change in a global context, using this platform to uplift marginalized voices that are not often heard in mainstream media.  He currently lives in Washington, DC, where he leads regular community sings.