Born in Poland to two Holocaust survivors, Frieda Enoch has made it her life’s mission to keep Holocaust music alive. The local vocalist will perform at the Bender Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington’s Jan. 27 International Holocaust Remembrance Day Concert, a tradition she’s upheld for years.
Enoch has served as the director of the Bender JCC’s Coming of Age adult engagement program for 20 years. She lives in North Potomac with her husband.
She said she uses music to commemorate the Holocaust because of the “powerful, beautiful, expressive” nature of song.
“Some of the music we perform was written in the ghettos and were sung in [concentration] camps,” Enoch said. “There were, ironically, performances [during the Holocaust]. Why was there music during this horrific time? It’s because of the power of music and what keeps hope alive and makes you more resilient and gives you an outlet for the hard times that you’re living through.”
She said music as a tool of resilience continues to be relevant today with the Israel-Hamas war, as music brings communities together and offers a celebration of life.
Enoch will sing on Jan. 27 alongside the Iris Music Project, a trio made up of a pianist, a cellist and a violinist.
“We will be [singing] a mix of classical music and the songs that I mentioned, many of them written in the ghettos and camps,” Enoch said of the upcoming concert. “However, I feel that joy and hope should be part of the experience as well, and that’s reflected in perhaps more uplifting and joyful songs.
“There are certainly a lot of the heavy, serious, sad ballads, but [the Jewish people in the Holocaust] didn’t lose sight of finding joy where they could.”
Enoch has always been drawn to music from a young age. Her parents initially raised Enoch and her brother in Poland, then brought the family to the United States on a German quota in 1960. She grew up in the Bronx.
“Music was prevalent in the house,” Enoch said. “My parents, though they came out of a horrific several years of the Holocaust, gave my brother and me gifts such as the joy of life, joy of Judaism and the beauty of music.”
Both of her parents sang. “My mother and father both have beautiful voices.”
When Enoch’s father came to the U.S., he became the cantor at a small shul in the Bronx, inspiring Enoch to pursue her passion for music.
“I love to sing,” Enoch said. “After college, that was my first career.”
As a professional singer, she started two bands, which performed at simchas, b’nai mitzvah, weddings and other events. She also performed as a solo vocalist at celebrations and Jewish holiday functions.
The highlights of her career included singing at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum with actor and singer Theodore Bikel and performing with her band, the Capitol Klezmer Band, in Tzfat, Israel and at a wedding in Tel Aviv.
“You can’t ask for a better job; you see so much joy and love,” Enoch said. “I just hold very dear to my heart these wonderful opportunities that I have.”
She eventually became ready for a career change: “I think I was tired of schlepping the equipment that being a full-time performer requires.”
These days, Enoch leads the Bender JCC’s Coming of Age program, coordinating social opportunities and programs for older adults. She recently revitalized a women’s connection group.
“I organize, I research, I manage, I lead all kinds of programs,” Enoch said of her role at the JCC. “I do excursions to theaters and museums, and there’s a hunger for programs that I know will fill the bus, so to speak.”
Older community members thrive with this programming, she said.
“People, as they get older, [experience] whatever kinds of limitations that come along the way, but we don’t lose our desire for living a full life,” Enoch said. “We still enjoy theater, we still want to learn, we still want to be active, and that’s what I love about this program.”
She described the Bender JCC as a home that promotes adults’ well-being, which is more than visits to the doctor or taking medication.
“Well-being is using the fitness center, attending a theater event, concert or book event,” Enoch said. “I partner with [Bender JCC’s] Arts & Culture to bring some wonderful programs for adults to provide these opportunities. It’s important to bring older adults together.”
Coming of Age also incorporates programming with a Jewish lens, including a Jewish and Israeli film series, a program on author Elie Wiesel, speakers on Jewish topics, panels of Holocaust survivors and holiday celebrations. Enoch said she hopes to add matinees at the JCC to expand access for those who can’t travel at night.
One of her favorite aspects of the job is the “almost immediate gratification” she sees in community members’ faces when they’re enjoying themselves.
Enoch described how COA’s first international trip, an excursion to Cuba in January 2024, had impacted an 80-year-old man who had been initially nervous to travel.
“The first thing he did is call his daughter and say, ‘I didn’t fall; I had a wonderful time and I did it,’ and that just brought me pure joy,” Enoch said. “They trust us. They feel safe with us.”
Between singing music from the Holocaust or bringing joy and engagement to Greater Washington’s aging population, Enoch works full-time and loves what she does.
