TORONTO — Students from the Anne and Max Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto’s Kimel Family Education Centre in Vaughan performed medieval seder music on Mar. 27 as part of their “Sounds of Spring” musical concert at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts.

It was likely the first performance of the two pieces in almost 400 years, according to a news release from the school. The school’s TCK singers – eight boys and 16 girls – sang Adir Hu and Ki Lo Naeh, Ki Lo Yaeh to tunes that were published in a 1644 Haggadah by Christian scholar Johannes Ringel.

The Haggadah came to the attention of TanenbaumCHAT’s director of education Paul Shaviv through a blog (onthemainline.blogspot.ca). Music teachers Jacklyn Klimitz and Janice Rose decoded and transcribed the music with the help of computer software.

The concert featured an eclectic selection of music including jazz, classic, Klezmer and a song from the musical Wicked.

“The medieval music is a rare window into how seder evenings must have sounded four centuries ago,” Rose said. The performance can be seen at http://bit.ly/GXh3XA.