The Synagogal Ensemble Berlin was founded in 2002 as a concert ensemble by Regina Yantian and cantor Isaac Sheffer.

It consists of eight to 16 professional singers, who work at international opera houses and as freelance concert singers in the choir of Pestalozzistrasse synagogue in Berlin.

The aim of the Synagogal Ensemble Berlin is to acquaint a broad public with Jewish liturgical and cantorial music, the focus lying on the German-Jewish tradition of Louis Lewandowski, a musical genre that had almost fallen into oblivion and that the festival aspired to revive.

Over the years, the Synagogal Ensemble Berlin has acquired a wide repertoire of synagogue music, ranging from baroque to 19th century composers from Western and Eastern Europe.

Modern and choral works from Israel have also become a well-received contribution to the festival.

In over 15 years of its existence,  the Synagogal Ensemble Berlin has given countless concerts in synagogues, churches or concert halls in Germany, Poland, Serbia, Sweden, England, Italy, Israel and South Africa – a capella, with organ accompaniment or with orchestra.

Since 2011 the Synagogal Ensemble Berlin has hosted the guest choirs at the annual Louis Lewandowski Festival in Berlin. Festival director Nils Busch-Petersen is also member of the board of the Association of Friends and Promoters of the Synagogal Ensemble Berlin . Once a year in December, choirs from all over the world are invited to Berlin, making the treasures of synagogue music from different periods and regions resound throughout the city.